• Korea Journal of Geothermal Energy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.43-49
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• 2012

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.561-571
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• 2013

Various experiences on enhanced geothermal system (EGS) has been accumulated from the Soultz project through various scientific experiments and research activities for more than 20 years since it started in the year of 1984 until the 1.5 MW Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) binary power plant has been built up in Soultz-sous-$\hat{e}$ area, France. They have been applied to Cooper basin in Australia, Landau and Insheim in Germany and so forth. This report summaries the experiences from Soultz in the aspect of artificial reservoir creation, expecting to be helpful for reducing any trial and errors or unnecessary expenses in ongoing Korean EGS project in Pohang area, where the geological features are similar to Soultz area.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.547-560
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• 2013

The importance of renewable energy has increased continuously due to the energy insecurity and the necessity of reducing carbon dioxide which is causing global climate change. In such a situation, the Pohang Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) power plant project which is launched in December 2010 shall be a new opportunity for the development of EGS related technologies in Korea. In this paper, the case studies of Fenton Hill project in the USA and Hijiori project in Japan are introduced in order to help a part of the domestic EGS demonstration project. As a result, it could be helpful to minimize the trial and error of the domestic EGS project by acquiring the achievements and limitations of existing EGS projects.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.197.1-197.1
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• 2011

Target generation capacity of geothermal power generation pilot plant project through the Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) with a doublet system down to 5 km depth was estimated. Production and re-injection temperatures of geothermal fluid were assumed $160^{\circ}C$ and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively, based on reservoir temperature of $180^{\circ}C$ calculated from the geothermal gradient of $33^{\circ}C$ in Pohang area. In this temperature range, 0.11 of thermal efficiency of the binary generation cycle is a practical choice. Assuming flow rates of 40 kg/sec, which is possible in current EGS technology, gross power generation capacity is estimated to reach 1.848 MW. Net generation considering auxiliary power including pumping power for geothermal fluid and condensing (cooling) energy of working fluid can be 1.5 MW.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.196.2-196.2
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• 2011

지구온난화와 화석연료 고갈에 대한 우려로 전세계적으로 신재생에너지의 개발 및 활용이 본격화되고 있다. 특히, 다양한 신재생에너지원 중에서 날씨 및 계절에 의한 영향, 기저부하 담당, 지상 점유 면적, 소음 등 생활환경 영향, 경제성 등을 고려할 때 지열에너지는 미래 청정에너지원로서 기대와 관심이 집중되고 있다. 화산이 존재하지 않는 우리나라에서의 지열발전은 거의 불가능한 것으로 인식되어 지금까지의 심부 지열에너지 개발 프로젝트는 대부분 지역난방, 시설영농 등 직접이용을 목표로 추진되어 왔다. 그러나, 2003년부터 한국지질자원연구원에서 수행한 포항 심부지열에너지 개발사업의 결과로 얻어진 다양한 지질학적/지열학적 증거들을 토대로 분석한 결과, 국내 일부 지역에서는 지하 5 km 심도에서 최대 약 $180^{\circ}C$의 지온이 예상되어 국내에서도 심부 지열에너지를 이용한 지열발전에 대한 가능성이 제기되어 왔다. 여기에, 유럽과 미국 그리고 호주 등 선진국을 중심으로 비화산 지역에서 지하 심부에 인공적으로 지열저류층(파쇄대)을 생성하고 이를 통해 열매체(물)를 순환시킴으로써 생산된 증기를 발전에 활용하는 EGS (Enhanced Geothermal System) 기술이 개발되고 몇몇 성공사례가 발표되었다. 또한, 이러한 기술개발에 힘입어 EGS 지열발전에 대한 선진국의 과감한 연구비 투자가 이어졌다. 이러한 기술적 배경에 발맞추어 우리나라에서도 2010년 12월에 EGS 지열발전 과제가 착수되었다. 이 프로젝트는 아시아에서는 최초로 수행되는 EGS 기술 개발과제로서 2015년까지 약 480억원의 R&D 예산을 투입하여 MW급의 지열발전 pilot plant의 구축을 목표로 하고 있다. 프로젝트가 성공적으로 추진될 경우 국내외적인 파급효과는 매우 클것이다. 특히 2015년까지 1.5 MW의 pilot plant의 구축이 성공적으로 추진될 경우 국내에서는 2017년까지 3 MW 이상, 2020년까지 20 MW이상, 2030년까지 200 MW 이상의 지열발전이 가능할 것으로 기대된다. 또한 축적된 기술개발 경험을 바탕으로 인도네시아, 필리핀 등의 해외의 지열발전 사업에도 진출할 수 있는 계기가 될 것이다. 프로젝트는 넥스지오를 주관기관으로 하고 한국지질자원연구원, 한국건설기술연구원 및 서울대학교 등의 지질자원 관련 연구 및 교육기관과 포스코, 이노지오테크놀로지 등의 산업체가 참여하여 컨소시엄 형태로 추진하고 있으며, 향후 관심있는 여러 기관 및 산업체의 지원과 참여를 기대한다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.144-144
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• 2011

We have estimated power generation potential in Korea following the recently announced EGS protocol. According to the protocol, we calculated the theoretical potential first, which assumes 30 year operation, minimum temperature being surface temperature+$80^{\circ}C$, depth range being from 3 km to 10 km. In this new assessment the in-land area was digitized by 1' by 1' blocks, which is much finer than suggestion of the protocol (5'by 5'). Thus estimated theoretical potential reaches 6,975 GWe which is 92 times of the total power generation capacity in 2010. In the estimation of technical potential, we limited the depth range down to 6.5 km, assumed recovery factor as 0.14 and also counted for temperature drawdown factor of $10^{\circ}C$ following the protocol. Accessible in-land area excluding steep mountains, residence and industrial region, wet area and others covers 40.7% of total area. Finally, we could come up with 19.6 GWe for technical potential, which would be 56 GWe if we do not account for the temperature drawdown factor. These are important results in that we made the first potential assessment for geothermal power generation.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.784-791
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• 2012

The casing has been used as a protective conduit during all phases of drilling operations and productions for the oil and gas industries. The casing is manufactured in various diameters, wall thicknesses, lengths, strengths, and connections. When the casing is designed, it has to be considered to withstand a variety of forces, such as collapse, burst, and tensile failure, as well as chemically aggressive brines. Once the casing is damaged, serious problems in geothermal well have been detected continuously. Therefore, this paper describes the casing design for stability of geothermal well to determine influence of casing parameters on the strength and load. In addition, the casing design program was developed. The estimated collapse, burst, tension and depth pressure can provide benefit in the casing design and completion method. This program provides a safety factor and predicts the casing stress more easily.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.513-523
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• 2011

We estimated geothermal power generation potential in Korea through Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) technology following the recently proposed protocol which was endorsed by international organizations. Input thermal and physical data for estimation are density, specific heat and thermal conductivity measurements from 1,516 outcrop samples, 180 heat production, 352 heat flow, and 52 mean surface temperature data. Inland area was digitized into 34,742 grids of $1'{\times}1'$ size and temperature distribution and available heat were calculated for 1 km depth interval from 3 km down to 10 km. Thus estimated theoretical potential reached 6,975 GW which is 92 times total generation capacity of Korea in 2010. Technical potential down to 6.5 km and considering land accessibility, thermal recovery ratio of 0.14 and temperature drawdown factor of $10^{\circ}C$ was 19.6 GW. If we disregard temperature drawdown factor, which can be considered in estimating economic potential, the technical potential increases up to 56 GW.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.38-46
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• 2012

Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) among geothermal system types enables to produce sustainable energy even in non-volcanic region while conventional geothermal energy has been restricted to obtain only from hot and permeable formation such as in volcanic regions. Successful EGS project in terms of economy, however, can be expected only when the project is managed effectively considering most of influencing factors (e.g., tangible and intangible resources, cost, time, risks, etc.). In particular, well construction is of the utmost importance in geothermal project as it dominantly influences on time and cost in the whole project. Therefore, when it comes to viable geothermal project without abundant experience, managing drilling economically and efficiently is inevitable. In this study, a project management system for well construction in geothermal project based on project control system including work breakdown structure and cost account was developed to predict and assess the performance of drilling and to visualize the progress.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2021

The hydraulic fracturing developed to improve permeability of tight reservoir is one of key stimulation technologies for developing unconventional resources such as shale gas and deep geothermal energy. The experimental study was conducted to improve disadvantage of hydraulic fracturing which has simple fracture pattern and poor fracturing efficiency. The fracturing experiments was conducted for tight rock using various fracturing fluids, water, N2, and CO2 and the created fracture pattern and fracturing efficiency was analyzed depending on fracturing fluids. The borehole pressure increased rapidly and then made fractures for hydraulic fracturing with constant injection rate, however, gas fracturing shows slowly increased pressure and less fracture pressure. The 3D tomography technic was used to generate images of induced fracture using hydraulic and gas fracturing. The stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) was estimated increment of 5.71% (water), 12.72% (N2), and 43.82% (CO2) respectively compared to initial pore volume. In addition, permeability measurement was carried out before and after fracturing experiments and the enhanced permeability by gas fracturing showed higher than hydraulic fracturing. The fracture conductivity was measured by increasing confining stress to consider newly creating fracture and closing induced fracture right after fracturing. When the confining stress was increased from 2MPa to 10MPa, the initial permeability was decreased by 89% (N2) and 50% (CO2) respectively. This study shows that the gas fracturing makes more permeability enhancement and less reduction of induced fracture conductivity than hydraulic fracturing.