MSc Thesis: Effect of Wellbore Scaling on Exergy in a Geothermal Fluid - A Computational Fluid Dynamic Wellbore Model Estimate
REYKJAVIK, June 2 - MSc in Sustainable Energy Engineering candidate, Ilham Narendrodhipo, successfully defended his master's thesis where he investigated the effect of wellbore scaling on exergy in a geothermal fluid by performing a computational fluid dynamic wellbore model estimate. Ilham's work was supervised by Dr. María Sigríður Guðjónsdóttir from Reykjavik University, Dr. Guðrún Arnbjörg Sævarsdóttir from Reykjavik University, and Dr. Vijay Chauhan from Reykjavik University. With examination by Dr. Einar Jón Ásbjörnsson from Reykjavik University.
In his thesis, two-phase modeling and an exergy analysis were performed in a geothermal wellbore dealing with a silica scaling problem. In particular, Ilham's study pertains to one of the wells in Svartsengi , Iceland where the scaling of the well has a thickness ranging up to 2 inches for a length of 100 meters in the borehole.
During his literature review on the subject of geothermal scaling, Ilham gathered studies demonstrating that scaling affects output productivity adversely. By applying the two-phase modeling on wellbore fluid flow using the computational fluid dynamic method, Ilham's work allows an estimate of how the fluid thermodynamic properties change in a borehole under these scaling conditions.
Furthermore, Ilham's user-defined function code is integrated with the solver in order to analyze the exergy changes occurring due to scaling. His work provides a method to model the two-phase flow in the geothermal wellbore dealing with calcite scaling and exergy calculation within it.
Ilham's study is a part of future development to analyze various factors contributing to exergy distribution in the wellbore.
Congratulations Ilham for an excellent thesis defense!