A novel radial jet drilling stimulation technique for enhancing heat recovery from fractured geothermal reservoirs

In this study, the application of the Radial Jet Drilling (RJD), a novel stimulating technique for enhancing productivity in the existing wells in deformable naturally fractured reservoirs was investigated using a robust three-dimensional finite element DFM (discrete fracture-matrix) model. Results showed that the RJD laterals were more effective in enhancing injectivity/productivity in cases with lower fracture density, i.e. lower equivalent permeability, while they had no significant effect on the heat production in these cases.

In higher fracture density cases, the RJD laterals improved the heat production while had no significant effect on the injectivity/productivity. Results also showed that in reservoirs with very low permeability matrix, the RJD laterals can be used to connect the wells to the fracture network and hence enhance the well performance.

The sensitivity analysis on the average net energy production rate with respect to the length of the RJD laterals showed that in the situations where the wells were not connected directly to the fractures, the length of RJD laterals played a crucial role in enhancing the average net energy rate. However, the 100 m laterals almost removed the dependency of the average net energy production rate on the well placement for low, medium and high fracture density cases.