Energy Studies, Volume 9, Number 2, November/December 1983 Page: Front Cover
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Energy
StudiesVolume 9 Number 2
November/December 1983
Newsletter of the Center for Energy
Studies of The University of Texas
at Austin
Energy Studies reports on activities
* of the Center for Energy Studies
and other energy-related news from
The University of Texas at Austin.
Subscription is free upon request
(six issues a year).
The Center for Energy Studies is a
multidisciplinary research center,
the central liaison for energy re-
search, education, and public ser-
vice at The University of Texas at
Austin. Dr. Herbert H. Woodson is
director.
Editor: Jennifer Evans
*TEXAS STATE
DOCUMENTS COLLECTION
NT LIBRARYCreep, Compressibility
Differences Emerging
in Geothermal StudiesResearchers studying subsurface
geopressured formations have
learned that these deep rocks be-
have in unexpected ways.
Not much information existed pre-
viously on geopressured rocks, said
Dr. Ken Gray, who is director of the
UT Center for Earth Sciences and
Engineering. Differences in com-
pressibility and creep (rock distor-
tion) are emerging that will affect
estimates of the commercial poten-
tial of future geothermal wells and
perhaps other deep wells.
Dr. Gray's research is part of the
overall geothermal research pro-
gram of the UT Center for Energy
N i
f.
Pressure vessels such as this one, being
worked on by Charles Stephenson of the
Center for Earth Sciences and Engineering,
are used to test the properties of geother-
mal sandstone samples.Studies and Bureau of Economic
Geology. Dr. William T. Thompson,
UT associate professor of petroleum
engineering, has carried out many
of the creep studies. Two research
engineers formerly with UT, Pushkar
Jogi and Nobuo Morita, also con-
tributed to the work.
The geopressured-geothermal for-
mations that lie along the curve of
the US Gulf Coast may some day
provide a new source of energy to
the country.
Unusual formations. Geopressured
formations lie at depths of 12,000
to 15,000 feet and below, deeper
than most oil and gas wells. They
are unusual in that they are
trapped formations in which enor-
mous pressure and heat have built
up. They consist mainly of sand-
stone containing salty water, as well
as certain amounts of methane
gas, dissolved in the water.
Researchers generally assume
that a commercially feasible geo-
thermal reservoir is one that will
achieve a production rate of about
40,000 barrels of water per day per
well for something like 20 years, Dr.
Gray said.
"To be able to predict the
economic capacity of the reservoir,
you must be able to describe the
reservoir physically," he said. Reser-
voir engineers use measurements
taken in the well and data from
laboratory tests. From this informa-
tion they build mathematical models
of reservoir performance.
(Continued on next page)
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University of Texas at Austin. Center for Energy Studies. Energy Studies, Volume 9, Number 2, November/December 1983, periodical, November 1983; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1032319/m1/1/: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.