The use of supercritical CO2 in deep geothermal reservoirs as a working fluid: Insights from coupled THMC modeling

Simulation of induced seismic ground motions using coupled geomechanical and seismic wave propagation models

Numerical simulations of seismic wave propagation usually rely on a simple source modelconsisting of an idealized point location and a moment tensor. In general, this is a validapproximation when the source dimensions are small relative to the distance of points at whichthe seismic wave motions are to be evaluated. Otherwise, a more realistic...

3-D mechanical analysis of complex reservoirs: A novel mesh-free approach

Building geomechanical models for induced seismicity in complex reservoirs poses a major challenge, in particular if many faults need to be included. We developed a novel way of calculating induced stress changes and associated seismic moment response for structurally complex reservoirs with tens to hundreds of faults. Our specific target was to...

Mitigating induced seismicity around depleted gas fields based on geomechanical modeling

Mitigation of induced seismicity associated with large-scale energy production from subsurface resources requires models beyond the current state of the art. In countries with long histories of conventional gas production, such as the Netherlands, issues are mainly associated with depletion-induced seismicity caused by fault reactivation due to...

How earthquakes are induced

Conditions within Earth’s crust determine whether human subsurface activities lead to earthquakes.

On the Importance of Thermo-elastic Stressing in Injection-Induced Earthquakes

The sustainability of geothermal fields is based on a paradox. On one side, fractures are targeted on heat-flow improvement, and on the other side, the same fractures are avoided because of induced seismicity risk. In this context, we developed analytical approaches for estimating (1) thermo–poro-elastic stresses in a fractured geothermal system...

GHGT-10: Assessing the integrity of fault- and top seals at CO2 storage sites

Induced stress changes due to CO2 injection into geological reservoirs can mechanically damage bounding fault- and top seals creating preferential pathways for CO2 migration from the containment or trigger existing faults causing seismic activity at storage sites. In this paper we present geomechanical simulations of the poro-mechanical effects,...

Assessing the short-term and long-term integrity of top seals in feasibility studies of geological CO2 storage

The geomechanical effects of past hydrocarbon production and subsequent CO2 injection in depleted gas reservoirs were evaluated as a part of several recently accomplished feasibility studies of CO2 storage in the Netherlands. The objectives of geomechanical studies were to assess the mechanical integrity of a reservoir-seal system, i.e. the...

ADEMA: Advances in exploration methods and applications