Cracking into Geothermal: NA GTS 2024

“You’re seeing in real-time what's going on in the subsurface, amazing!” – Dr. Peter Duncan on microseismic monitoring. This sentiment was heard by the attendees of the 2024 North American Geothermal Transition Summit (NA GTS) who visited the MicroSeismic booth. This year, the Offshore Network partnered with Geothermal Rising for the Houston-based event. The partnership is indicative of the focus of GTS, the transfer of technology between the oil and gas industry, and the geothermal industry.

This year's presentations ranged in topics, from challenges facing well casing and cementing in high-temperature environments to the economics behind project activation, to project updates, and even to external perceptions of geothermal. There were fantastic speakers and thoughtful conversations during the breaks of the two-day event.

The importance of geophysics was emphasized several times during the event. There were two geophysics presentations, one by Pheonix Geophysics on using Magnetotelluric (MT) surveys for exploration, and one by MicroSeismic, Inc. on microseismic monitoring during reservoir creation and long-term monitoring. During the panel before MicroSeismic’s presentation, the importance of microseismic monitoring was emphasized, being the perfect segway into Dr. Duncan’s presentation.

MicroSeismic’s CEO, Dr. Peter Duncan, delivered a dynamic presentation at the 2024 NA GTS about the history and importance of seismic monitoring in geothermal operations. He described the role microseismic monitoring has played for the last 50 years in enhanced geothermal system (EGS) projects, and how it can be used in natural and induced fractures. A dense arrays of geophones around a geothermal well, effectively creates a “stethoscope” that listens for fractures. The data captured by the geophones is turned into a map of fluid flow pathways.

Fracture network maps created with microseismic data have been used for over 20 years in the oil and gas industry. The maps show the precise direction and size of the fractures allowing for the interpretation of fluid flow pathways by modeling changes in rock permeability based on the microseismic data. This gives incredible insights to how subsurface heat exchangers characteristics and how they evolve over time. This knowledge enables optimizing the longevity of a geothermal reservoir.

While detailed fracture network maps are crucial to understanding a geothermal reservoir, the first and primary focus is always safety. Another critical application of microseismic monitoring is mitigating induced seismicity issues. Felt seismic events are rare but could be detrimental. Sparse geophone arrays monitor events and enable the ability to manage induced events quickly. As the geothermal industry moves into broader commercialization, having microseismic monitoring in place to proactively manage seismicity risk will be critical for maintaining public acceptance and regulatory approval.

The future is bright for geothermal with technologies like microseismic monitoring enabling more effective implementation. The energy transition is in action and all subsurface professionals are needed to help to tap into the virtually unlimited heat reserves sitting in the hot dry rocks across the globe.

Join Us at World Geothermal Energy Day – October 17th

Sponsored by MicroThermal Energy and MicroSeismic

Visit Microseismic - World Geothermal Energy Day to buy your ticket.

Houston is an ideal place to connect with subsurface professionals in all industries and a great place for the geothermal industry to grow. MicroSeismic is invested in bringing broader public awareness to geothermal and will be celebrating World Geothermal Energy Day in Houston on October 17th.

The 2024 Houston celebration of World Geothermal Energy Day is a community event open to everyone and hosted at the Karbach Brewery from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.

Tickets are $10 per person and dogs are welcome.

Sponsoring:

If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Analiese Andersen, [email protected] 262-391-2781