Numerical manifold method for thermal–hydraulic coupling in fractured enhance geothermal system

Abstract

The geothermal production from enhance geothermal system (EGS) involves complex thermal–hydraulic (TH) coupling process, which may affect the production efficiency and performance of EGS reservoir. In the study, a numerical manifold method (NMM) for TH coupling in fractured EGS is proposed. The EGS reservoir is considered to be formed from intact rock matrix blocks and discrete fractures networks. TH coupling control equations are firstly established using discrete fracture networks model. Then, the weight residual method was used to establish the discretized governing equation for transient heat conduction. Furthermore, the element sub-matrixes for heat conduction were presented. NMM approach simulating the fluid flow, heat conduction in fracture and rock matrix and TH coupling process was established. Finally, a single fracture heat extraction example was used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method for solving a simplified TH coupling problem. Furthermore, a 2D fracture networks case was conducted to predict the performance of an EGS reservoir. The results in here validate the capability and accuracy of the proposed method and extend the application of NMM.