A coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling of fracture aperture alteration and reservoir deformation during heat extraction from a geothermal reservoir

Hot water extraction and cold water injection into an underground geothermal reservoir cause mechanical deformation of rock matrix and rock joints/fractures. That leads to alteration of hydraulic transmissivity. To study the evolution of reservoir transmissivity we performed coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) simulations using a robust code called Finite Element for Heat and Mass Transfer (FEHM) for a 3-D domain with a single fracture connecting the injection and production wells. Rock fracture was modeled as a thin equivalent porous medium. We established dynamic relations between the properties of the equivalent porous medium and fracture aperture. In this paper we discuss the alteration of fracture aperture due to heat extraction. The channeling of flow between injection and production wells by THM effects causes faster temperature drawdown and reduces energy production. The model also predicted fracture opening near injection well and closure at far field locations. We also simulated the aperture alteration for different joint stiffness, thermal expansion coefficients and rock matrix permeabilities. Increase in rock matrix permeability not only causes the leakage of injected water but also increases matrix contraction due to cooling and therefore the aperture growth. Additionally we reported the effect of thermo-poro-elastic deformation on the expansion and contraction of the formation for different reservoir properties. We established that in the early-stages the compaction/expansion of the formation was controlled by pore pressure change but in the late-stage it was controlled by thermal contraction.