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Comments on ‘Theory of heat extraction from fractured hot dry rock’ by A. C. Gringarten, P. A. Witherspoon, and Yuzo Ohnishi

1976; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 81; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/jb081i002p00359

2156-2202

R. P. Lowell,

Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis

The recent paper by Gringarten et al. (1975) points out the very significant result that the extraction of geothermal energy is much more efficient if the water passes through a multiple fracture system than if the water passes through a single fracture. In particular, their results show that a given flow rate divided among N fractures gives a higher outlet temperature over a period of time than if the same amount of fluid flows through a single fracture. It appears, however, that their model is unnecessarily complicated and hence the physical significance of the model may be partially obscured. For this reason it is shown that essentially the same results may be obtained by solving the heat transfer equation for a single fracture and by treating the geothermal system as a number of N independent, vertical fractures. (WDM)