Association Between Injection and Microseismicity in Geothermal Fields With Multiple Wells: Data-Driven Modeling of Rotokawa, New Zealand, and Husmuli, Iceland

Understanding injection-induced microseismicity in geothermal systems can provide insight into reservoir connectedness. However, fault and reservoir complexity are difficult to represent in simple analytical models, which makes it difficult to discern clear relationships from incidental associations...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Main Authors: Yu, Pengliang, Dempsey, David, Rinaldi, Antonio Pio, Calibugan, Aimee, Ritz, Vanille A, Archer, Rosalind
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10072/428914
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025952
Description
Summary:Understanding injection-induced microseismicity in geothermal systems can provide insight into reservoir connectedness. However, fault and reservoir complexity are difficult to represent in simple analytical models, which makes it difficult to discern clear relationships from incidental associations. Here, we have used data-driven models to study how fluid injection and microseismicity are related in the Rotokawa (New Zealand) and HellisheiĆ°i (Iceland) geothermal fields. We tested two classes of model: (a) lagged linear regression of seismicity rate as a function of well injection rates; and (b) systematic extraction of injection time series features that are then evaluated for associations with the seismicity. These models allowed us to determine which wells had the greatest correlation with microseismicity and to explain this association in a reservoir context. Finally, exploring different data types and transformations, we were unable to establish a link between rapid changes in injection rate and seismicity spikes, as suggested by some theoretical models. Full Text