New Computational Framework for Fracture-Controlled Reservoir Performance Optimization

Abstract

We build an efficient, open-source computational framework for the automated search for the injection and production well placements in hot, fracture-controlled reservoirs that sustainably optimize geothermal energy production. This search is carried out through 3D simulations of groundwater flow and heat transfer. We model the reservoirs as geologically consistent randomly generated 3D discrete fracture networks, where the fractures are approximated by 2D planar manifolds with polygonal boundaries embedded in a 3D porous medium, and the wells are represented by line sources and sinks. The flow and heat transfer in this system is modeled by solving the balance equations for mass, momentum, and energy, where the numerical solver combines the finite element method with semi-implicit time-stepping, algebraic flux correction, and the approximation of the wells via the non-matching approach. To perform the optimization, we use several gradient-free algorithms. We will present our latest results, considering geologically and physically realistic scenarios.