@article{HofmannZimmermannFarkasetal.2019, author = {Hofmann, Hannes and Zimmermann, G{\"u}nter and Farkas, M{\´a}rton P{\´a}l and Huenges, Ernst and Zang, Arno and Leonhardt, Maria and Kwiatek, Grzegorz and Martinez-Garzon, Patricia and Bohnhoff, Marco and Min, Ki-Bok and Fokker, Peter and Westaway, Rob and Bethmann, Falko and Meier, Peter and Yoon, Kern Shin and Choi, JaiWon and Lee, Tae Jong and Kim, Kwang Yeom}, title = {First field application of cyclic soft stimulation at the Pohang Enhanced Geothermal System site in Korea}, series = {Geophysical journal international}, volume = {217}, journal = {Geophysical journal international}, number = {2}, publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0956-540X}, doi = {10.1093/gji/ggz058}, pages = {926 -- 949}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Large-magnitude fluid-injection induced seismic events are a potential risk for geothermal energy developments worldwide. One potential risk mitigation measure is the application of cyclic injection schemes. After validation at small (laboratory) and meso (mine) scale, the concept has now been applied for the first time at field scale at the Pohang Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) site in Korea. From 7 August until 14 August 2017 a total of 1756 m(3) of surface water was injected into Pohang well PX-1 at flow rates between 1 and 10 l s(-1), with a maximum wellhead pressure (WHP) of 22.8 MPa, according to a site-specific cyclic soft stimulation schedule and traffic light system. A total of 52 induced microearthquakes were detected in real-time during and shortly after the injection, the largest of M-w 1.9. After that event a total of 1771 m(3) of water was produced back from the well over roughly 1 month, during which time no larger-magnitude seismic event was observed. The hydraulic data set exhibits pressure-dependent injectivity increase with fracture opening between 15 and 17 MPa WHP, but no significant permanent transmissivity increase was observed. The maximum magnitude of the induced seismicity during the stimulation period was below the target threshold of M-w 2.0 and additional knowledge about the stimulated reservoir was gained. Additionally, the technical feasibility of cyclic injection at field scale was evaluated. The major factors that limited the maximum earthquake magnitude are believed to be: limiting the injected net fluid volume, flowback after the occurrence of the largest induced seismic event, using a cyclic injection scheme, the application of a traffic light system, and including a priori information from previous investigations and operations in the treatment design.}, language = {en} } @article{KwiatekSaarnoAderetal.2019, author = {Kwiatek, Grzegorz and Saarno, Tero and Ader, Thomas and Bl{\"u}mle, Felix and Bohnhoff, Marco and Chendorain, Michael and Dresen, Georg and Heikkinen, Pekka and Kukkonen, Ilmo and Leary, Peter and Leonhardt, Maria and Malin, Peter and Martinez-Garzon, Patricia and Passmore, Kevin and Passmore, Paul and Valenzuela, Sergio and Wollin, Christopher}, title = {Controlling fluid-induced seismicity during a 6.1-km-deep geothermal stimulation in Finland}, series = {Science Advances}, volume = {5}, journal = {Science Advances}, number = {5}, publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science}, address = {Washington}, issn = {2375-2548}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aav7224}, pages = {11}, year = {2019}, abstract = {We show that near-real-time seismic monitoring of fluid injection allowed control of induced earthquakes during the stimulation of a 6.1-km-deep geothermal well near Helsinki, Finland. A total of 18,160 m(3) of fresh water was pumped into crystalline rocks over 49 days in June to July 2018. Seismic monitoring was performed with a 24-station borehole seismometer network. Using near-real-time information on induced-earthquake rates, locations, magnitudes, and evolution of seismic and hydraulic energy, pumping was either stopped or varied-in the latter case, between well-head pressures of 60 and 90 MPa and flow rates of 400 and 800 liters/min. This procedure avoided the nucleation of a project-stopping magnitude M-W 2.0 induced earthquake, a limit set by local authorities. Our results suggest a possible physics-based approach to controlling stimulation-induced seismicity in geothermal projects.}, language = {en} } @article{KwiatekMartinezGarzonPlenkersetal.2018, author = {Kwiatek, Grzegorz and Martinez-Garzon, Patricia and Plenkers, K. and Leonhardt, Maria and Zang, Arno and von Specht, Sebastian and Dresen, Georg and Bohnhoff, Marco}, title = {Insights into complex subdecimeter fracturing processes occurring during a water injection experiment at depth in Aspo Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden}, series = {Journal of geophysical research : Solid earth}, volume = {123}, journal = {Journal of geophysical research : Solid earth}, number = {8}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {2169-9313}, doi = {10.1029/2017JB014715}, pages = {6616 -- 6635}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We investigate the source characteristics of picoseismicity (M-w < -2) recorded during a hydraulic fracturing in situ experiment performed in the underground Aspo Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden. The experiment consisted of six stimulations driven by three different water injection schemes and was performed inside a 28-m-long, horizontal borehole located at 410-m depth. The fracturing processes were monitored with a variety of seismic networks including broadband seismometers, geophones, high-frequency accelerometers, and acoustic emission sensors thereby covering a wide frequency band between 0.01 and 100,000Hz. Here we study the high-frequency signals with dominant frequencies exceeding 1000 Hz. The combined seismic network allowed for detection and detailed analysis of 196 small-scale seismic events with moment magnitudes M-W < -3.5 (source sizes of decimeter scale) that occurred solely during the stimulations and shortly after. The double-difference relocated hypocenter catalog as well as source parameters were used to study the physical characteristics of the induced seismicity and then compared to the stimulation parameters. We observe a spatiotemporal migration of the picoseismic events away and toward the injection intervals in direct correlation with changes in the hydraulic energy (product of fluid injection pressure and injection rate). We find that the total radiated seismic energy is extremely low with respect to the product of injected fluid volume and pressure (hydraulic energy). The radiated seismic energy correlates well with the hydraulic energy rate. The obtained fault plane solutions for particularly well-characterized events signify the reactivation of preexisting rock defects under influence of increased pore fluid pressure on fault plane orientations in good correspondence with the local stress field orientation.}, language = {en} }