Controls of low injectivity caused by interaction of reservoir and clogging processes in a sedimentary geothermal aquifer (Mezőberény, Hungary)

Controls of low injectivity caused by interaction of reservoir and clogging processes in a sedimentary geothermal aquifer (Mezőberény, Hungary) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Controls of low injectivity caused by interaction of reservoir and clogging processes in a sedimentary geothermal aquifer (Mezőberény, Hungary) Ábel Szabolcs Markó, Maren Brehme, Daniele Pedretti, Günter Zimmermann, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4426626/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Oct, 2024 Read the published version in Geothermal Energy → Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Low injectivity is often experienced in geothermal doublets installed in sandstone reservoirs. This even led to a shut-down of the Mezőberény (Hungary) geothermal site. An on-site campaign was carried out in January 2021 to prepare a stimulation aiming to enhance the transmissivity of the sedimentary reservoir and the near well-bore zone of this site. Previous studies have concluded that insufficient injectivity may be linked to a high skin effect in the near well-bore zone and pore clogging in combination with the low net sandstone content of the fluvio-deltaic reservoir. A chemical soft stimulation based on the injection of hydrochloric acid (HCl) was successfully used to unclog and recover the well injectivity. Despite of such empirical evidence, the geochemical mechanisms leading to both, detrimental formation of clogging and the HCl-driven transmissivity restoration, have not been elucidated yet. This work presents the results of a novel analysis aiming at (a) predicting the dominant type of clogging forming in the near well bore zone, (b) quantifying the drop in hydraulic conductivity as clogging occurs and (c) support the optimization of the HCl dosage during the chemical soft stimulation. The study is supported by new experimental datasets never presented before from the Mezőberény site and a geochemical model simulating the main mechanisms involved in the clogging and unclogging processes. It is concluded that the biofilm formation was the dominant, while the precipitation of calcite and amorphous ferrihydrite – later reduced to magnetite by microbes – was the secondary clogging mechanism: In the long-term (yearly scale) simulating the hydraulic conductivity showed a decline with forming scales, therefore biofilm was presumably responsible for the experienced rapid (one month) clogging. When modelling the chemical stimulation, the estimated amount of precipitated minerals (Case 1) was dissolved already with 2.5 moles of HCl per liter water (~ 10 m/m%). Therefore, the chosen 20 m/m% of HCl might had a beneficial effect dissolving the potentially higher amount of scaling (Case 2) and/or the carbonate minerals of the matrix near the well-bore. Overall, it is concluded that the chemical and the microbial analysis together with the geochemical model was critical to tailor the remediation attempts and to propose further development or reconstruction of the surface system before going into operation to prevent recurrent impairments. geothermal reinjection clogging sandstone aquifer thermal water geochemical modelling injectivity enhancement Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Oct, 2024 Read the published version in Geothermal Energy → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 17 Jul, 2024 Reviews received at journal 15 Jul, 2024 Reviews received at journal 27 Jun, 2024 Reviews received at journal 14 Jun, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Jun, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Jun, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 May, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 20 May, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 17 May, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 17 May, 2024 First submitted to journal 15 May, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4426626","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":306624332,"identity":"b65cdc29-0381-4a9c-8f33-97a01b5b6ac3","order_by":0,"name":"Ábel Szabolcs Markó","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACZoYKEJUA5sgAMRsRWs4wSIC1HGBg4OEhSgtjGyladNvPPvxcOK+uzuB48rHHHxhseOzZG9ge8+DRYnYm3Vh65rbDEgZnnqUbHGBI4+HhOcBujFfLgTQGad5tByQMbuSYSRxgOMzDI5HAJo1Xy/lnzL9559QBteR/A2r5z8Mj/4CAlhtpbNK8DcwgW9iAWg4AbWEgpOUZm/WMY4clZ555ZiZxxiCZh+dMYpvkHLwOS2O+XVBTx893PPmZREWFnRx7++FjEm/waEEDBiCCsYF4DaNgFIyCUTAKsAIAsj1FajuQdZoAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Eötvös Loránd University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ábel","middleName":"Szabolcs","lastName":"Markó","suffix":""},{"id":306624333,"identity":"f21d3c36-ce74-4961-b867-2e4d6831f41d","order_by":1,"name":"Maren Brehme","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ETH Zurich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maren","middleName":"","lastName":"Brehme","suffix":""},{"id":306624334,"identity":"7639255e-2c4a-4f8f-9b69-bc99dc100911","order_by":2,"name":"Daniele Pedretti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Università degli Studi di Milano (UNIMI)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniele","middleName":"","lastName":"Pedretti","suffix":""},{"id":306624335,"identity":"bbfa0ccb-c192-4b07-89fc-d1510b1b553a","order_by":3,"name":"Günter Zimmermann","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - 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This even led to a shut-down of the Mezőber\u0026eacute;ny (Hungary) geothermal site. An on-site campaign was carried out in January 2021 to prepare a stimulation aiming to enhance the transmissivity of the sedimentary reservoir and the near well-bore zone of this site. Previous studies have concluded that insufficient injectivity may be linked to a high skin effect in the near well-bore zone and pore clogging in combination with the low net sandstone content of the fluvio-deltaic reservoir. A chemical soft stimulation based on the injection of hydrochloric acid (HCl) was successfully used to unclog and recover the well injectivity. Despite of such empirical evidence, the geochemical mechanisms leading to both, detrimental formation of clogging and the HCl-driven transmissivity restoration, have not been elucidated yet. This work presents the results of a novel analysis aiming at (a) predicting the dominant type of clogging forming in the near well bore zone, (b) quantifying the drop in hydraulic conductivity as clogging occurs and (c) support the optimization of the HCl dosage during the chemical soft stimulation. The study is supported by new experimental datasets never presented before from the Mezőber\u0026eacute;ny site and a geochemical model simulating the main mechanisms involved in the clogging and unclogging processes. It is concluded that the biofilm formation was the dominant, while the precipitation of calcite and amorphous ferrihydrite \u0026ndash; later reduced to magnetite by microbes \u0026ndash; was the secondary clogging mechanism: In the long-term (yearly scale) simulating the hydraulic conductivity showed a decline with forming scales, therefore biofilm was presumably responsible for the experienced rapid (one month) clogging. When modelling the chemical stimulation, the estimated amount of precipitated minerals (Case 1) was dissolved already with 2.5 moles of HCl per liter water (~\u0026thinsp;10 m/m%). Therefore, the chosen 20 m/m% of HCl might had a beneficial effect dissolving the potentially higher amount of scaling (Case 2) and/or the carbonate minerals of the matrix near the well-bore. Overall, it is concluded that the chemical and the microbial analysis together with the geochemical model was critical to tailor the remediation attempts and to propose further development or reconstruction of the surface system before going into operation to prevent recurrent impairments.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Controls of low injectivity caused by interaction of reservoir and clogging processes in a sedimentary geothermal aquifer (Mezőberény, Hungary)","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-05-29 06:16:39","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4426626/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-07-17T18:50:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-07-15T06:21:05+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-06-27T10:55:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-06-14T09:18:51+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"249230126276369856875728149028057254345","date":"2024-06-12T07:08:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"118981258723101688291336555957443557696","date":"2024-06-03T03:07:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"310065543289617382048072461197734190816","date":"2024-05-20T11:05:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-05-20T08:33:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-05-18T01:56:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-05-18T01:56:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Geothermal Energy","date":"2024-05-15T17:12:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"geothermal-energy","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"geen","sideBox":"Learn more about [Geothermal Energy](https://geothermal-energy-journal.springeropen.com/about)","snPcode":"40517","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/40517/3","title":"Geothermal Energy","twitterHandle":"@SpringerOpen","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3e79190f-d180-4392-b5a5-eed3f08186bc","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 29th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-10-28T15:59:09+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-4426626","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-024-00317-2","journal":{"identity":"geothermal-energy","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Geothermal Energy"},"publishedOn":"2024-10-22 15:57:01","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 22nd, 2024"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-05-29 06:16:39","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s40517-024-00317-2","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-024-00317-2","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4426626","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4426626","identity":"rs-4426626","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}