Injection plume behavior in fractured, vapor-dominated reservoirs Page: 8 of 11
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Cumulative Injected Mass (kg)plume temperature stabilizes after the early-time
transient. Average liquid saturations in the plumes
show very similar trends for three of the four
heterogeneous fractures (Fig. 6). In the homogeneous
fracture, average liquid saturation is considerably
higher than in three of the four heterogeneous
fractures. As was true for temperature, the liquid
saturation of the homogeneous plume also stabilizes,
after an initial transient, at a nearly constant value.1.0x106
Figure 4. Growth of liquid mass in two-phase injection
plumes with time for the four heterogeneous fractures
and the homogeneous fracture.
A remarkable behavior is shown by Fracture # 3:
liquid mass in the plume reaches a maximum at 7 x
104 seconds (7 x 105 kg injected), and subsequently
actually declines even as injection is continuing (Fig.
4). Thus, in the period after 7 x 104 seconds, the rate
of vaporization exceeds the rate of fluid injection! A
more detailed analysis of plume behavior reveals that
this surprising phenomenon is caused by an interplay
between vapor pressures and liquid flows: in response
to continuous vaporization fluid pressures in the
fracture evolve, causing liquid flow patterns to
change. Initially, liquid flow in Fracture # 3 is
primarily downward, but there is also considerable
lateral flow, some of which goes to the left, away
from the constant pressure boundary. The liquid
diverted to the left is vaporizing only slowly, because
of flow resistance and pressure buildup over the long
and circuitous flow path for the steam towards the
right boundary. The lateral vapor pressure gradients
eventually increase to a level where they divert a
considerable fraction of liquid in the direction of the
right P ~ 10 bar boundary, where vaporization occurs
much more readily due to the shorter steam flow path.
Average plume temperatures (Fig. 5) show trends
consistent with vaporization behavior and
accumulation of liquid mass. Higher plume
temperature generally corresponds with less
vaporization, hence larger liquid mass. For the
heterogeneous fractures, plume temperatures reach
maximum values at early time and subsequently
decline, although not necessarily in monotonic
fashion. In contrast, for the homogeneous fracture2.5x105
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Cumulative Injected Mass (kg)Figure 5. Average plume temperature as a function of
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Pruess, Karsten. Injection plume behavior in fractured, vapor-dominated reservoirs, article, January 24, 1996; Berkeley, California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc873947/m1/8/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.