Investigating the influence of aquifer heterogeneity on the potential for thermal free convection in the Yarragadee Aquifer, Western Australia

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• 作者：Dylan J. Irvine (1) (2)
  Heather A. Sheldon (2)
  Craig T. Simmons (1)
  Adrian D. Werner (1)
  Cedric M. Griffiths (2)
  
  1. National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training ; and School of the Environment ; Flinders University ; GPO Box 2100 ; Adelaide ; SA ; 5001 ; Australia
  2. CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering ; PO Box 1130 ; Bentley ; WA ; 6102 ; Australia
  
• 关键词：Thermal convection ; Geothermal ; Numerical modelling ; Heterogeneity ; Australia
• 刊名：Hydrogeology Journal
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：February 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：23
• 期：1
• 页码：161-173
• 全文大小：1,700 KB
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  3. Corbel S, Griffiths C, Dyt C (2012b) Hot sedimentary aquifer characterization using forward modelling, Perth Basin, Australia. Thirty-Seventh Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, Stanford, CA, 30 January鈥? February 2012
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  12. K眉hn M, Dobert F, Gessner K (2006) Numerical investigation of the effect of heterogeneous permeability distributions on free convection in the hydrothermal system at Mount Isa, Australia. Earth Planet Sci Lett 244:655鈥?71. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.02.041 CrossRef
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  16. Mory AJ, Iasky RP (1996) Stratigraphy and structure of the onshore northern Perth Basin, Western Australia. Western Australia Geological Survey Report 46, GSWA, Perth, 126 pp
  17. Philips OM (1991) Flow and reactions in permeable rocks. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  18. Playford PE, Cockbain AE, Low GH (1976) Geology of the Perth Basin. Geological Society of Western Australia Bulletin, GSWA, Perth, 124 pp
  19. Prasad A, Simmons CT (2003) Unstable density-driven flow in heterogeneous porous media: a stochastic study of the Elder 1967b 鈥渟hort heater鈥?problem. Water Resour Res 39(1), 1007. doi:10.1029/2002wr001290
  20. Reid LB, Bloomfield G, Ricard LP, Botman C, Wilkes P (2012) Shallow geothermal regime in the Perth metropolitan area. Aust J Earth Sci 59:1033鈥?048. doi:10.1080/08120099.2012.692711 CrossRef
  21. Schilling O, Sheldon HA, Reid LB, Corbel S (2013) Hydrothermal models of the Perth Metropolitan Area Western Australia: implications for geothermal energy. Hydrogeol J. doi:10.1007/s10040-012-0945-0
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  24. Simmons CT (2005) Variable density groundwater flow: from current challenges to future possibilities. Hydrogeol J 13:116鈥?19. doi:10.1007/s10040-004-0408-3 CrossRef
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  26. Simmons CT, Kuznetsov AV, Nield DA (2010) Effect of strong heterogeneity on the onset of convection in a porous medium: importance of spatial dimensionality and geologic controls. Water Resour Res 46, W09539. doi:10.1029/2009wr008606
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  30. Weatherill D, Simmons CT, Voss CI, Robinson NI (2004) Testing density-dependent groundwater models: two-dimensional steady state unstable convection in infinite and finite inclined porous layers. Adv Water Resour. doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2004.01.003 , 27
  
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Earth sciences
  Hydrogeology
  Geology
  Waste Water Technology, Water Pollution Control, Water Management and Aquatic Pollution
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1435-0157

文摘

The potential for thermal convection in aquifers is strongly influenced by permeability. Permeability is highly heterogeneous within aquifers, and spatial distributions of permeability are rarely well constrained by measurements, making it difficult to determine the potential for thermal convection in a given aquifer. In this study, this difficulty is overcome through the use of a stratigraphic forward model (SFM). The SFM simulates the processes of deposition, burial and compaction of the aquifer, yielding a geologically plausible permeability field that is conditioned through measured permeability-porosity relationships. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of aquifer heterogeneity on the potential for thermal convection in the Yarragadee Aquifer, Western Australia. Permeability distributions from the SFM of the Yarragadee Aquifer are analysed through calculation of the thermal Rayleigh number (a stability criterion) from vertically averaged permeability, and numerical hydrothermal simulations with permeability distributions taken from the SFM. Results from the numerical simulations demonstrate that thermal convection can occur with the inclusion of geologically informed heterogeneity. These findings are supported by Rayleigh number calculations that indicate that convection is most likely to occur on the eastern side of the aquifer where it is thick and has high average permeability.