Roles of heat and stress transfer in triggering fault instability in conjugate faulted reservoirs

Abstract

The presence of multiple conjugate but non-intersecting faults in geothermal reservoirs presents issues related to fault interaction in the presence of complex coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in influencing the triggering of seismicity. We examine alternate strategies in stimulating such a conjugate-faulted geothermal reservoir analogous to that hosting the Mw 5.5 Pohang earthquake (2017). We evaluate the response of the reservoir to both short-term stimulation (1y) and long-term production (10y), both with and without thermal effects – for a large fault (F1) adjacent to a non-intersecting smaller fault (F2) and in a reverse faulting stress regime. Results suggest that the slip on either fault impacts the stress state on the other fault through stress transfer. Reactivation of the minor fault (F2) transfers stress towards to the upper part of primary fault (F1), inducing instability. The slip of the major fault is delayed by positioning the location of injection away from the junction between the two faults – decreasing the injection depth from 4087.5 m to 3712.5 m delays the time to slip by 2.61 y. Furthermore, thermal stress plays a decisive role in prompting late-stage fault reactivation for long-term fluid circulation where pore pressures have already reached steady state. The pattern of thermal unloading follows the path of fluid transport and heat transfer along the faults. Overall, this study not only advances our understanding of mechanisms of injection-induced fault instability in EGS reservoirs with multiple and closely-interacting faults, but also provides insights into how different injection strategies can delay or mitigate induced seismicity.