The high enthalpy geothermal energy resource of the Battonya–Pusztaföldvár High (Part I):hydrodynamic and heat transport model

Abstract

Hungary's largely unexploited high enthalpy geothermal energy resources are an incentive for the installation of geothermal power generation systems. The determination of the deep geothermal potential and the rate of exploitation has a considerable uncertainty, which can be reduced by numerical modelling based on archival research results. Hydrocarbon exploration and structural geology research has made crystalline basement ridges the focus of such developments.

In our study, 3D hydrodynamic and heat transport cross-border model of the Battonya–Pusztaföldvár High was developed on a subregional scale using the equivalent porous method, with the aim of mapping the thermal anomaly and flow space caused by the geometry. The relevance of the area is given by recent research projects, and the special position of the basement high and deep basins. In the simulation, anomalous temperature condition of the high detected by the measurements was modelled as the result of the difference in rock quality between the trough and the high and the intense fluid flow in the weathered, loosened zone of the basement. Our regional numerical simulation provides a good basis for predicting the interactions between different pore space usages, for determining the production yields to be protected, and can also be a useful tool for geothermal protection zone.