# Flow Test At Fenton Hill HDR Geothermal Area (Dash, 1989)

GEOTHERMAL ENERGYGeothermal Home

## Exploration Activity: Flow Test At Fenton Hill HDR Geothermal Area (Dash, 1989)

Exploration Activity Details
Location Fenton Hill HDR Geothermal Area
Exploration Technique Flow Test
Activity Date 1986 - 1986

Usefulness useful
DOE-funding Unknown

Exploration Basis
A short flow test, referred to as the Initial Closed-Loop Flow Test (ICFT), was conducted in 1986 to test the hydrological and volumetric properties of the newly created Phase II reservoir.

Notes
The Phase II reservoir was flow tested in 1986 during the Initial Closed-Loop Flow Test (ICFT), and again from 1992 to 1995 during the Long-Term Flow Test (LTFT). During the ICFT, cold water was injected into well EE-3A, and hot water was successfully recovered from EE-2 at temperatures as hot as 192°C, with production of up to 10 $MW_T$. Produced waters were cooled to 20°C using a water-to-air heat exchanger prior to reinjection. The ICFT also showed that the flow impedance of the Phase II reservoir was concentrated at the production wellbore, with less than 10% of the overall flow impedance located in the body of the reservoir itself. Low impedance was also encountered at the injection well, accounting for less than 1% of the overall impedance. These effects relate to pressure-propping of flowing joints within the reservoir by a mean pressure of 27.5 MPa above hydrostatic (compared to 10 MPa least principal earth stress) and to thermal dilation near the injection well.

References

• John T. Whetten, Bert R. Dennis, Donald S. Dreesen, Leigh S. House, Hugh D. Murphy, Bruce A. Robinson, Morton C. Smith (1987) The US Hot Dry Rock Project