Influence of mechanical deformation and mineral dissolution/precipitation on reservoir thermal energy storage

Abstract

Reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) is a promising technology to balance the mismatch between energy supply and demand. In particular, high temperature (HT) RTES can stabilize the grid with increasing penetration of renewable energy generation. This paper presents the investigation of the mechanical deformation and chemical reaction influences on the performance of HT-ATES for the Lower Tuscaloosa site. Thermo-hydraulic (TH), thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM), and thermo-hydro-chemical (THC) coupled simulations were performed with different operational modes and injection rates for a fixed five-spot well configuration and a seasonal cycle. The results show that (1) geomechanical-induced porosity change is mainly contributed by effective stress change, and the porosity change is distributed through the whole system; (2) geochemistry-induced porosity change is located near the hot well, and its change is one order of magnitude higher than the geomechanical effect; (3) both the operation mode and the injection rate have a huge influence on the RTES performance and lower injection rate with push-pull operation mode has the best performance with recovery factor around 70% for this RTES system. These results shed light on the deployment of HT-RTES in the US and around the world.