Numerical simulation to study the feasibility of using CO2 as a stimulation agent for enhanced geothermal systems

A major concern in the development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) is achieving and maintaining adequate injectivity, while avoiding the development of preferential short-circuiting flow paths such as those caused by thermally-induced stress cracking. Past researches have tended to focus primarily on thermal and hydraulic stimulation. Recent studies suggest that chemical stimulation may improve the performance of EGS reservoirs. Geothermal injection wells are often drilled into formations containing reactive minerals such as calcite. Injecting aqueous chemical agents such as mineral acids, could be effective for mineral dissolution and porosity enhancement at distances of several meters around a well. An alternative to treatment with strong acids is the use of supercritical (SC) CO{sub 2} as stimulation agent for an aqueous-based EGS. Reactive transport modeling is used to investigate the effectiveness of this method. We used the thermal condition and mineralogical composition from a well of Desert Peak EGS site, to examine ways in which mixtures of water and CO{sub 2} can be injected to enhance porosity