Computer simulation of operation of an open geothermal system consisting of multiple wells

Abstract

The diffculties related to open loop geothermal systems using includes, in particular, the fact that there is a reverse injection of the cold water through an injection well into an underground aquifer from which hot water is extracted. This necessity for an injection well presence is caused the thermal water from an underground reservoir possible to be high mineralize and to contain toxic compounds and metals, and in most cases one have to avoid to discharge these waters into ground surface natural water systems. An open loop geothermal system of three wells is considered, which can be both productive and injection wells. The developed algorithms and programs allow to select an optimal system configuration of three wells for a specific geothermal deposit. The results of numerical calculations for various variants of the geothermal system are presented. © 2018 Author(s).