Permeability of Kayenta Sandstone to Hypersaline Brine at 10.3 MPa Confining Pressure and Temperatures to 90" C

Abstract

The ability to inject "spent" geothermal brine may be a critical and perhaps limited factor in the development of fluid-dominated geothermal resources. In order to understand and evaluate changes in formation permeability and porosity at depth as a result of injection of brine effluents, experiments were carried out (7Oo-90"C at 10.3 MPa confining pressure) in conjunction with the ongoing brine chemistry and materials evaluation effort at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Field Test Station located in the Salton Sea Geothermal Field, Imperial Valley, California .