Description:
Non-condensible gas and stable isotope data from the
extreme northwest end of The Geysers steam field indicate
that this part of the reservoir consists of a deeper zone,
below about -8,000 feet msl, where gas concentrations arc as
high as 100,000 ppm-wt, and a shallower zone with steam
containing 15,000 ppm-wt gases, generally conforming to
stratification of the reservoir previously reported from a
production area several miles to the cast. Production wells
may tap the shallow zone, the deep zone, or both, depending
upon the positions of their production zones with respect to
the interface. In addition to high gas content, the deeper
zone is characterized by anomalously high temperatures,
heavy isotopes of oxygen (and pcrhaps hydrogen) in the
steam, and high total carbon in the gases. Shifts of gas
composition during production can be interpreted in terms
of dilution of steam in the shallow zone by boiling of
reservoir liquid, and mixing between deep and shallow
steam. Reservoir steam saturation after 1-1/2 years of
production is caleulated to be about 0.3 in the shallow zone,
and about 0.9 in the deep zone. There is some problem
with saturation caleulations which involve the concentration
of hydrogen, which yields deep zone saturation values as
high as 2.5, which is impossible. This is discussed in relation
to the possible presence of "excess" hydrogen in the steam.