Excessive scaling in the geothermal loop
When entering the reservoir, the fluid composition and gas content may differ from expectation leading to unexpected scaling or corrosion inside the wellbore. This may result in unplanned additional cost and interruption of operations if unplanned (e.g. placement of inhibitor injection line, cleaning of well, work-over) and damages to the geothermal loop.
Informations
- Category: Risks due to subsurface uncertainties
- Id: D-12
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Phases:
- Drilling / Testing
- Exploitation / Development
- Post-closure
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Consequences:
- Economic / Performance / Acceptability
Mitigation
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Prevention:
- Perform adequate evaluation of scaling potential
- Use of inhibitors to prevent scaling and adapted flowrates
- Injection of nitrogen in surface iron conduit to avoid air going into the geothermal loop and precipitation phenomena
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Monitoring:
- New sampling and chemical analyses
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Corrective measures:
- Installation of inhibitor dosing station
- Temperature Maintenance
- Regular maintenance of the equipment, replacement or patch if needed
- Adapt the material selection to the chemical/physical properties of the fluid
More information is available on the project deliverable (link), or navigate on the online version.
