Operation Research in Geothermal Reservoir Engineering

Ágúst Valfells, Egill Júlíusson, Halldór Pálsson, Hlynur Stefánsson, María Sigríður Guðjónsdóttir

Scope of the topicOptimal operation of geothermal energy utilization:• How does a geothermal system react to utilization?• Are simple models sufficient to describe the dynamics of

geothermal systems?• What are the main criteria when optimizing the

utilization operation?

Simple reservoir tank models

Extended tank models

Complex models in three dimensions

A favorite case study

Data for model training and validation

Operational optimization

Thesis contributions2008: Lárus Þorvaldsson, Optimal decision making of geothermal utilization

for district heating under uncertainty, University of Iceland, MSc.2011: Björn Sveinbjörnsson, A lumped parameter modelling method for high-

temperature geothermal reservoirs, RES School for Renewable Energy Science, MSc.

2013: Silja Rán Sigurðardóttir, Optimization for sustainable utilization of low temperature geothermal systems, Reykjavík University, PhD.

2014: Sven Scholtysik, The Role of Uncertainty for Lumped Parameter Modeling and Optimization of Low Temperature Geothermal Resources, Reykjavík University, MSc.

Thesis contributions, cont.2015: Ximena Guardia Muguruza, Numerical modeling of the Hágöngur

Geothermal Reservoir in Central Iceland, Reykjavík University, MSc.2016: Basil Alexander Ira Jefferies, Optimal Well Placement in the

Theistareykir Geothermal Field for the Next Well in Succession, Reykjavík University, MSc.

2016: Guðlaugur Árnason: Notkun og samanburður tölulegra líkana til ákvörðunar niðurdráttar á lághitasvæðum, University of Iceland, MSc.

2016: Yuxi Li, Complexity Analysis of Lumped Parameter models: Development of Complexity Reduction Algorithm, Reykjavík University, MSc.

Future work in progress• Cari Covell: Machine Learning and Data Fusion for

Geothermal Reservoir Characterization• D Keith Smithson: Stochastic Method for Determining

Data Reliability of Geophysical Measurements• Dagur Helgason: Optimizing the Well Placement

Process Through the Use of Algorithms

Acknowledgements

For financial support of selected projects and supply of data:• Reykjavík Energy• Landsvirkjun

Thank you!