Efficiency and accuracy of equivalent fracture models for predicting fractured geothermal reservoirs: the influence of fracture network patterns

We evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of equivalent fracture models with a Cartesian grid regarding the variation of fracture network patterns. We apply both the standard finite volume method and the mimetic finite difference method for discretizing the flow equation in the equivalent fracture models. The study underlines that the equivalent fracture models yield accurate and efficient results for predicting the temperature in geothermal reservoirs. The equivalent fracture models based on the mimetic finite difference method yields comparable results with those based on the standard finite volume method. Whereas their accuracy is influenced by the orientations of sparsely distributed fractures.