Stanford Geothermal Program Interdisciplinary Research in Engineering and Earth Sciences.
MA, Stanford University, 2011 - 75 pages.
The feasibility of using nanosensors to measure temperature distribution and predict thermal breakthrough in geothermal reservoirs is addressed in this work.
Contents.
Abstract.
Acknowledgments.
Contents.
List of Tables.
List of Figures.
Introduction.
Background & Motivation.
The Role of Geothermal Energy.
The Importance of Temperature Distribution in Geothermal Reservoirs.
Previous Efforts To Measure Reservoir Temperature and Predict Thermal Breakthrough.
Nanosensors as Tools to Measure Reservoir Temperature.
Objectives and Challenges.
Mobility.
Collection and Detection.
Irreversible Sensing Mechanism.
Knowing the Geolocation of Temperature Measurement.
Nanosensor Candidates.
. Melting tin-bismuth alloy nanoparticles.
Silica nanoparticles with covalently attached fluorescent dye.
Hollow silica nanoparticles with encapsulated dye and impermeable melting shells.
Time-temperature indicators.
Slim-tube Injection Experiment.
Experimental Methods.
Transducer Calibration.
Gas permeability measurement.
Liquid permeability measurement.
Slim-tube injection experiment.
Results.
Magnetic Collection of Nanoparticles.
Experimental Methods.
Results.
Analysis of Tracer Return Curves to Estimate Measurement Geolocation.
Simple Analytical Model for Return Curve Analysis.
Example Problem.
Tin-bismuth Alloy Nanosensors.
Synthesis of tin-bismuth alloy nanoparticles.
Characterization of tin-bismuth alloy nanoparticles.
Tin-bismuth nanoparticle heating experiment.
Tin-Bismuth Nanoparticle Injection Experiments.
Conclusions and Future Work.
Nomenclature.
References.