Short Summary
Reducing Cost and
Environmental Impact of Geothermal Power Through
Modeling of
Chemical Processes in the Reservoir
Subir Sanyal
99-25
EISG Project Title: Reducing Cost and
Environmental Impact of Geothermal Power Through Modeling of Chemical Processes
in the Reservoir
EISG Grant Number: 99-25
PIER Area: Renewable Energy Technologies
Principal Investigator: Subir Sanyal
Contact Information: (510) 527-9876 mw@geothermex.com
Organization: GeothermEx, Inc.
Grant Amount: $71,390
Grant Term: 12 Months
Project Description:
The purpose of this project is to research the feasibility of incorporating the recently developed TOUGHREACT code for chemical interactions into the existing TOUGH2 simulation model used for geothermal operations. The integrated code will be debugged and tested on five real-world problems that are relevant to California geothermal operations.
Proposed Outcomes:
· Comprehensive geothermal model that integrates TOUGHREACT code with the TOUGH2 model.
· Feasibility assessment based on model’s ability to perform under real-world conditions.
Anticipated Benefits:
· Reduce the cost of electricity generated by geothermal operations by .25 cents/kWh for a projected savings of $35 million per year in California.
· Optimize mineral extraction strategies for California’s high-salinity geothermal reservoirs.