Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Coupling Processes in Carbonate Geothermal Reservoirs and Their Numerical Simulation

Abstract

Abstract Reinjecting low-temperature tailwater into geothermal reservoirs leads to complex thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling processes, making it more difficult to predict the thermal breakthrough of the reservoirs. By taking the example of the deep carbonate geothermal reservoirs of karst fissure type in the Xianxian geothermal field in China, this paper studied the thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling processes in the case of reinjection based on previous tracer tests. It established a thermo-hydro-mechanical three-field coupling model based on a two-dimensional discrete fracture network and further verified its suitability through inversion analyses. Moreover, this paper discovered the regularity of the effects of temperature and pressure changes on the deformation of the rock masses in geothermal reservoirs and clarified the mechanisms of the seepage and heat transfer in thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling processes. Meanwhile, it presented the effects of the pressure and temperature on the heat extraction efficiency and production well temperature of the geothermal production-reinjection system in the Xianxian geothermal field. As indicated by the results, the pressure and temperature of geothermal reservoirs increased and decreased, respectively, in the initial phase of the reinjection, leading to an increase in fracture aperture and reservoir permeability. Then, they tended to gradually stabilize, and the amplitude change of the reservoir permeability decreased as the reinjection proceeded. Finally, this paper proposed an optimized reinjection scheme of the study area, aiming to provide scientific support for geothermal reinjection.