Feasibility Study of Controlled-Source Electromagnetic Method for Monitoring Low-Enthalpy Geothermal Reservoirs

Tracking temperature changes by measuring the resulting resistivity changes inside low-enthalpy reservoirs is crucial to avoid early thermal breakthroughs and maintain sustainable energy production. The controlled-source electromagnetic method (CSEM) allows for the estimation of sub-surface resistivity. However, it has not yet been proven that...

An overlooked aquifer in the Netherlands: Medium depth geothermal potential of the Breda Formation in the Zuiderzee Low: Reservoir characterization, dynamic simulation and legislation in a medium deep aquifer

Geothermal energy in the Netherlands is growing in general, however, medium deep geothermal (200 - 1500 m depth) is lagging behind while the potential at these depths could be very high. Development is held back by little geologic knowledge of this interval as well as legislative constraints. Better understanding of the reservoir characteristics...

Optimisation of heat recovery from low-enthalpy aquifers with geological uncertainty using surrogate response surfaces and simple search algorithms

Optimisation of doublet well spacing in low-enthalpy geothermal systems is addressed by defining a novel objective function that is based on the Coefficient of Performance (CoP) and energy sweep efficiency. The definition of objective function that separates performance-based criteria from economic factors, allows us to better observe the...

Influential factors on the development of a low-enthalpy geothermal reservoir: A sensitivity study of a realistic field

A realistic deep low-enthalpy geothermal reservoir based on real data with high detail and complicated sedimentary structure is utilized to perform sensitivity analyses of the geological features influencing reservoir properties. We perform simulations using the Delft Advanced Research Terra Simulator (DARTS). Compelling numerical performance...

Interdependencies between physical, design and operational parameters for direct use geothermal heat in faulted hydrothermal reservoirs

Interest in direct use geothermal systems is increasing due to their ability to supply renewable, environmentally friendly heat. Such systems are mostly developed in conduction dominated geological settings where faults are often encountered. Interdependencies between physical, design and operational parameters make it difficult to assess the...

Geology of the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous geothermal aquifers in the West Netherlands Basin - An overview

In the past 10 years the mature hydrocarbon province the West Netherlands Basin has hosted rapidly expanding geothermal development. Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous strata from which gas and oil had been produced since the 1950s became targets for geothermal exploitation. The extensive publicly available subsurface data including seismic...

Reservoir Simulation for Play-based Development of Low Enthalpy Geothermal Resources: Application to the Delft Sandstone

As implementation of deep geothermal energy projects in the Netherlands increases, reservoir simulation for these geothermal systems stands to play a key role in understanding how these systems will behave and how large scale projects can be optimised to save cost and reduce risk. In this thesis, an extensive simulation study has been conducted...

Proxy-model for Flow and Transport in Geothermal Reservoirs

The hot water produced from a geothermal doublet possesses energy, which once utilized, the water cools down and is re-introduced back into the same reservoir at a sufficient distance using an injector well. As cold water flows through the reservoir, it acquires thermal energy from surrounding in-situ rocks. This process recurs until a...

Towards optimisation of geothermal heat recovery: An example from the West Netherlands Basin

The Netherlands experienced the fastest European expansion of geothermal energy exploitation in the past decade. The first Dutch geothermal sites proved that Hot Sedimentary Aquifers exploitation can play an important role in a future low-carbon energy mix. In this study, we estimate that with the expansion rate of the past four years,...

The impact of reduction of doublet well spacing on the Net Present Value and the life time of fluvial Hot Sedimentary Aquifer doublets

This paper evaluates the impact of reduction of doublet well spacing, below the current West Netherlands Basin standard of 1000 to 1500 m, on the Net Present Value (NPV) and the life time of fluvial Hot Sedimentary Aquifer (HSA) doublets. First, a sensitivity analysis is used to show the possible advantage of such reduction on the NPV. The...

Doublet deployment strategies for geothermal Hot Sedimentary Aquifer exploitation: Application to the Lower Cretaceous Nieuwerkerk Formation in the West Netherlands Basin

Huge amounts of heat are stored in sedimentary aquifers in the Dutch subsurface. The amount of heat would be sufficient to provide our national heat demand for decades without any greenhouse gas emissions. Exploitation of this type of resource started some 10 years ago in the Netherlands. In 2016, 16 geothermal doublet systems had been installed...

Operator-based Linearization for Modeling of Low-enthalpy Geothermal Processes

Simulation of geothermal processes is based on the solution of strongly nonlinear governing equations describing flow of mass and energy in the subsurface. The solution of this problem requires a linearization of governing equations. Recently, a new approach based on the operator-based multi-linear representation of conservation equations was...