Effects of injection parameters on heat extraction performance of supercritical CO2 in enhanced geothermal systems

Abstract

Abstract Supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) is considered as a promising alternative heat extraction fluid in the enhanced geothermal system (EGS) which can reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions and water waste. However, the heat extraction performance of SCCO2 is greatly affected by its thermophysical properties, which are high sensitivity to temperature/pressure. In this study, by considering the impacts of temperature and pressure on thermophysical properties of SCCO2, a thermo‐hydro‐mechanical coupling numerical model was established to investigate the effects of the initial reservoir temperature as well as the SCCO2 injection pressure and temperature on heat extraction. The variations of reservoir permeability and mass productivity as well as the net heat extraction rate (HER) were simulated by implementing the model into COMSOL Multiphysics, which showed a good consistency compared with the high‐temperature/pressure triaxial seepage experiments. Simulation results indicate that there are three distinct stages in mass productivity including the slow decline stage, the rapid increase stage, and the stabilization stage. Increasing the initial reservoir temperature or the injection temperature will reduce the net HER to varying degrees. Appropriate increase of the injection pressure and injection temperature can extend Stage 2 duration which can subsequently enhance the mass productivity and the net HER. Meanwhile, the higher injection pressure or the lower injection temperature will inhibit heat compensation within rock masses and accelerate the reservoir heat depletion. This study provides guidance for optimizing the injection parameters of CO2‐EGS and aims to enhance the net HER while ensuring a reasonable reservoir production life.

Keywords

• enhanced geothermal system
• heat extraction experiment
• high temperature/pressure
• numerical simulation
• supercritical CO2