Research Overview
The naturally occurring heat within the Earth’s crust between 3 and 10 km depth is the largest in-place energy resource on the planet. It represents a potentially steady supply of clean and ultimately renewable energy. This heat energy is brought to the surface by circulating a working fluid, which is typically natural water or possibly supercritical CO2 with the added benefit of sequestration. However, hot rock at these depths is commonly largely impermeable or contains only small volumes of in place water. Thus, several scientific and technical challenges must be overcome before it can become a safe primary energy resource within the United States and abroad.
Faculty Research
Davatzes Group studies natural faults, fractures, and geomechanics to support engineering of heat exchangers in hot rock as a necessary step to developing clean geothermal energy resources.
Technical Capabilities
– Geologic mapping of fault geometry, fault zone architecture, and fracture patterns
– Geomechanical analysis including the characterization of natural fracture populations and in situ stress
– Laboratory characterization natural fractures including alteration mineralogy, healing history, porosity (including 3D porosity mapping with high resolution
– Borehole geophysical analysis of stress, permeability, and rock mechanical properties
– Numerical modeling of stress field variation and fracture formation and slip prediction
– Time series analysis of pumping, seismicity, and deformation records
– Statistical characterization of fracture and stress heterogeneity
Recent Publications
1. Preliminary investigation of reservoir dynamics monitored through combined surface deformation and micro-earthquake activity: Brady’s Geothermal Field, Nevada.
Davatzes, N.C., Feigl, K.L., Mellors, R.J., Foxall, W., Wang. H.F., and Drakos, P.
PROCEEDINGS, Thirty-Eighth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, Stanford, California, February 11-13, SGP-TR-194, 20 (2013) (paper)
