Itasca was involved in the first commercial Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) project in the EU and for over 15 years has undertaken international research programs for the monitoring of rock damage at reservoir scale. Itasca’s seismic processing software InSite is used for the processing of induced microseismicity and regional seismicity by commercial companies and research institutions managing geothermal projects in the U.S., Australia, Germany, and the Republic of Korea. Microseismic monitoring allows engineers to image and visualize active fracture networks within developing or producing geothermal fields, providing the following outcomes.
- Real-time monitoring and optimization of hydraulic, chemical or thermal stimulation of geothermal fields. The location and characteristics of induced events provide feedback of information to engineers on the position, growth, and effectiveness of a hydrofracture stimulation, or can map extraction and injection paths in a producing field.
- Post-processing yields a greater understanding of the treatment history and fluid migration. Analysis of microseismic parameters and clustering yields treatment hot zones and provides for an assessment of the completion objectives.
- Gain information on the development of Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) and enhance understanding of long-term reservoir behavior.
- Increase the productivity and recovery of the reservoir and assist in the design and optimal location of production wells.
- Map the position, growth, and effectiveness of hydrofracture stimulation to assess completion objectives.
- Map extraction and injection paths, treatment history, and fluid migration.
Itasca provides an integrated processing service from array design, through data management, processing and reporting, to advanced interpretations with dynamic numerical models to better understand the growth and activation of the fracture structures. Itasca’s advanced analysis of microseismic data yields information on fracture networks such as distribution, persistence, and orientations, and can describe the mechanisms behind the fracture growth. This leads to a better understanding of stimulation of geothermal fields. Itasca provides the following services for stakeholders of the geothermal energy sector.
- Advanced post-processing, analysis and interpretation of client data using a range of techniques and software functionality developed in-house.
- Analysis of baseline regional seismicity.
- Seismic processing software for manual and automatic processing of induced and natural seismicity, incorporating customizable alarm systems adapted to local traffic-light-system regulations for induced seismicity.
- Design, optimization and quality check of seismic monitoring arrays.
- Active and passive source tomography for imaging of fractured reservoir volumes.
- Acquisition system-independent seismic processing software for automatic, real-time processing of induced seismicity.
- In-depth understanding of fracture mechanisms through the integration of acquired data and synthetic rock mass models built with Itasca’s geomechanical models.
- Structure imaging and velocity inversion combining the illumination capability of controlled seismic sources and passive seismic events.
- P-and S-wave time-lapse tomography to image the degradation of reservoir and host rock and structures in terms of elastic modulus and fracture density.
- Fully-featured microseismic training courses focused on the principles behind the technology, processing algorithms and hands-on experience of using processing software.