Formation of alternating layered Ba-Sr-sulfate and Pb-sulfide scaling in the geothermal plant of Soultz-sous-Forêts

Nitschke, Fabian; Scheiber, Julia; Kramar, U.; Neumann, Thomas

doi:10.1127/0077-7757/2014/0253

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Scaling is a common phenomenon in geothermal power plants worldwide. Specific site analyses on scaling issues occurring in various geothermal plant types are reported in abundant literature [12,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30], showing the importance of this topic for the plant operation. Scales act as insulators and thus lower the thermal exchanges.…”

Section: Technical Context 21 Scaling Phenomenon In Geothermal Power Plants Worldwidementioning

confidence: 99%

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Scaling in a Geothermal Heat Exchanger at Soultz-Sous-Forêts (Upper Rhine Graben, France): A XRD and SEM-EDS Characterization of Sulfide Precipitates

et al. 2021

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The Soultz-Sous-Forêts geothermal site (France) operates three deep wells for electricity production. During operation, scales precipitate within the surface installation as (Ba, Sr) sulfate and (Pb, As, Sb) sulfide types. Scales have an impact on lowering energy production and inducing specific waste management issues. Thus scaling needs to be reduced for which a thorough characterization of the scales has to be performed. The geothermal brine is produced at 160 °C and reinjected at 70 °C during normal operation. In the frame of the H2020 MEET project, a small heat exchanger was tested in order to allow higher energy production, by reinjecting the geothermal fluid at 40 °C. Samples of scales were analyzed by XRD and SEM-EDS, highlighting that mostly galena precipitates and shows various crystal shapes. These shapes can be related to the turbulence of the flow and the speed of crystal growth. Where the flow is turbulent (entrance, water box, exit), crystals grow quickly and mainly show dendritic shape. In the tubes, where the flow is laminar, crystals grow more slowly and some of them are characterized by well-developed faces leading to cubes and derived shapes. The major consequence of the temperature decrease is the increased scaling phenomenon.

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Section: Technical Context 21 Scaling Phenomenon In Geothermal Power Plants Worldwidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential influence of the alloys on the scales will also be discussed. Mundhenk (2012) [26] proposed a ranking of metals as regards corrosion in geothermal brine conditions of the URG. The industrial exchangers currently operated at Soultz and Rittershoffen are made of 1.4410 (SDX 2507).…”

Section: Preparation Of Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling in a Geothermal Heat Exchanger at Soultz-Sous-Forêts (Upper Rhine Graben, France): A XRD and SEM-EDS Characterization of Sulfide Precipitates

et al. 2021

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“…Results distinguished Ca-poor clays suitable for the production of red stoneware and dense and frost-resistant masonry materials from Ca-rich clays suitable for the production of red earthenware as well as hard and porous masonry materials. A form of industrial mineralisation that is unwelcome was described in a report by Nitschke et al, 207 who used the XRF, XRD and SEM techniques to investigate the formation of alternating layered scaling comprising (Ba,Sr)SO 4 and PbS in a geothermal plant at Soultz-sous-Forets, Germany. The modication methods were sedimentation, chemical bleaching, the preparation of organo-kaolinite and of nanokaolinite.…”

Section: Industrial Minerals and Consequences From Mining Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

2015 Atomic Spectrometry Update – a review of advances in X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and their applications

West¹,

Ellis

Potts

et al. 2015

J. Anal. At. Spectrom.

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“…One of which the present study focused on is barite scale formation (BaSO 4 ), originating from lowering the fluid's state temperature and pressure during the production-injection cycle. Barite is a low-soluble scaling mineral, typically found at geothermal installations located in the NGB and the URG area that handle fluids produced from reservoirs of depths greater 2000 m [9,11,12]. Scalings are undesirable because they lower tubing diameters or reduce efficiency of heat exchangers, which leads to restoration costs [3,9,12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barite Scale Formation and Injectivity Loss Models for Geothermal Systems

Tranter

Lucia

Wolfgramm

et al. 2020

Water

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Barite scales in geothermal installations are a highly unwanted effect of circulating deep saline fluids. They build up in the reservoir if supersaturated fluids are re-injected, leading to irreversible loss of injectivity. A model is presented for calculating the total expected barite precipitation. To determine the related injectivity decline over time, the spatial precipitation distribution in the subsurface near the injection well is assessed by modelling barite growth kinetics in a radially diverging Darcy flow domain. Flow and reservoir properties as well as fluid chemistry are chosen to represent reservoirs subject to geothermal exploration located in the North German Basin (NGB) and the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) in Germany. Fluids encountered at similar depths are hotter in the URG, while they are more saline in the NGB. The associated scaling amount normalised to flow rate is similar for both regions. The predicted injectivity decline after 10 years, on the other hand, is far greater for the NGB (64%) compared to the URG (24%), due to the temperature- and salinity-dependent precipitation rate. The systems in the NGB are at higher risk. Finally, a lightweight score is developed for approximating the injectivity loss using the Damköhler number, flow rate and total barite scaling potential. This formula can be easily applied to geothermal installations without running complex reactive transport simulations.

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Formation of alternating layered Ba-Sr-sulfate and Pb-sulfide scaling in the geothermal plant of Soultz-sous-Forêts

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Scaling in a Geothermal Heat Exchanger at Soultz-Sous-Forêts (Upper Rhine Graben, France): A XRD and SEM-EDS Characterization of Sulfide Precipitates

Scaling in a Geothermal Heat Exchanger at Soultz-Sous-Forêts (Upper Rhine Graben, France): A XRD and SEM-EDS Characterization of Sulfide Precipitates

2015 Atomic Spectrometry Update – a review of advances in X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and their applications

Barite Scale Formation and Injectivity Loss Models for Geothermal Systems

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