Boosting the Performance of Geothermal Wells Using Progressively-Burning Propellant and High-Rate Acidizing

Abstract

Abstract Geothermal energy provides an excellent source of low-carbon power generation. Advances in well completion and stimulation techniques hold promise for increasing energy yield while reducing gas emissions. Geothermal reservoirs’ characteristics typically rely on a natural fracture system with mineral deposition due to alteration. In these systems, it's vital to achieve a high production rate. Various stimulation techniques are commonly known to the industry to remove near-wellbore damage (skin) by injecting appropriate fluids such as acid or solvents. Another approach is bypassing these near-wellbore damages by creating a fracture aiming to create a conductive flow path or improve connectivity to the natural fracture networks. Both techniques can also be used together. This paper presents a combination of creating fractures using propellant stimulation tool followed by an acid treatment. Performance improvement with the propellant tool operation followed by high-rate acidizing will be presented. The stimulation application showed that the production performance of the well was increased by 5-fold. The progressively-burning propellantcoupled with high-rate acidizing were effectively implemented to enhance the production capability of naturally fractured geothermal well. The payback of the stimulation application was less than two months.