Towards a Subsurface Geothermal Digital Twin
Efficient Construction of Geological Scenarios for Modelling Fluvial Geothermal Reservoirs
G. Song (TU Delft - Applied Geology)
S. Geiger (TU Delft - Geoscience and Engineering)
H.A. Abels (TU Delft - Applied Geology)
D.V. Voskov (TU Delft - Reservoir Engineering)
P.J. Vardon (TU Delft - Geo-engineering)
Matthew D. Jackson (Imperial College London)
Gary J. Hampson (Imperial College London)
Carl Jacquemyn (Imperial College London)
Dmytro Petrovskyy (Imperial College London)
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Abstract
During the development of subsurface geothermal energy, geological complexity and uncertainty pose challenges when developing and managing a geothermal resource. We are therefore developing a digital twin for subsurface geothermal energy that will be applied to the geothermal project on the TU Delft campus. This digital twin combines geological modelling, property modelling, reservoir simulation, and data assimilation. A core principle of our approach is to consider multiple geological models of the reservoir and use real-time production data to update them to constrain uncertainties and adapt operational strategies.
This paper focuses on the efficient exploration of geological scenarios and design of geological modelling for the digital twin. We use the Rapid Reservoir Modelling (RRM) platform, which is tailored to quickly create 3D models in data-poor situations. We have developed a novel methodology where RRM is used to design templates of individual layers for a given geological scenario. These templates are then extracted and stacked to create different 3D geological scenarios constrained by NTG and well logs. The resulting model ensemble is geologically consistent and captures a diverse range of heterogeneity, providing a robust starting point for exploring the performance of a geothermal reservoir under geological uncertainty in a digital twin.