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Free keywords:
Upper Rhine Graben
,
3D structural
model, 3D conductive
thermal model,
3D coupled heat
and fluid transport
Abstract:
The Upper Rhine Graben (URG) is one of the regions
in Germany with promising potentials for deep
geothermal energy production. As part of the EU
-
funded project “IMAGE” (Integrated Methods for
Advanced Geothermal
Exploration), we aim to
understand the processes and physical rock properties
that control the temperature distribution in the deep
subsurface of the URG.
Typically, numerical models
of geothermal reservoirs
are developed to predict the hydrothermal cond
itions
and to reduce the risk of drilling non
-productive
geothermal wells. One major problem related to such
reservoir
-scale models is setting appropriate boundary
conditions that define, for instance, how much heat
enters the reservoir from greater depths
. To address
this problem, we first develop a lithospheric
-scale 3D
structural model that differentiates the main geological
units of the lithosphere including the shallow
sedimentary basin fill but also the configuration of the
deeper crust and lithospher
ic mantle. Based on this
model we solve the steady
-state conductive heat
equation to understand the first
-order controlling
factors of the regional thermal field. Furthermore, this
regional thermal model provides the boundary
conditions for smaller and hig
her resolved models of
the basin fill, for which coupled heat and fluid
transport is simulated in a next step.
