Geothermal energy prospecting in radiothermal granites in the Cairngorms, Scotland, using an integrated geological, geophysical and petrophysical appr

采用综合地质、地球物理和岩石物理方法在苏格兰凯恩戈姆的放射热花岗岩中进行地热能勘探

• 批准号: 2893424
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Heriot-Watt University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2893424
• 关键词: Geothermal; energy; prospecting; radiothermal; granites

Geothermal energy is one of the few renewable energy sources that can supply a constant and reliable source of low-carbon heat, and in some cases electricity. In the UK, radiothermal granites offer one of the best potential targets for medium/medium-high enthalpy (100-200 degrees C fluid temperature) geothermal energy resources, within conventional drilling depths (2-5 km). Scotland hosts the highest heat producing granites in the UK, primarily situated in the Cairngorms. Until now, one of the main reasons why there has been a lack of investment in developing projects within the Scottish granites is that it is not known to what extent permeable (fractured and/or altered) zones exist at depth. Detecting these features in the subsurface is non-trivial, given that they are not easily observable using e.g. seismic surveying methods. However, using electromagnetic deep-sounding techniques like the magnetotelluric (MT) method offers the potential to image such features at depth where the electrical resistivity of the host rock (granite) will be much higher than in altered, porous and/or fractured zones, where geothermal fluids are likely to exist.Through our collaborations with the British Geological Survey and TownRock Energy, the successful candidate will lead groundbreaking multidisciplinary research to better understand the geothermal energy potential of the granites in the NE of Scotland, collecting and integrating new data from a combination of field, lab and subsurface imaging methods. Specifically, the PhD project will involve carrying out a series of field excursions to areas where there are radiothermal granites in NE Scotland (e.g. the Cairngorms) to map surface features (e.g. fracture, faults, alteration zones), carry out an MT survey and collect samples to measure the petrophysical properties of potential reservoir rocks using laboratory methods. The integration of these different data sets will directly influence the next stage of geothermal energy exploration in Scotland, but they will also be important in understanding other similar systems worldwide.

地热能是可以提供低碳热的恒定可靠来源的少数可再生能源之一，在某些情况下是电力。在英国，放射性花岗岩提供了中等/中高焓（100-200摄氏度流体温度）地热能资源的最佳潜在目标之一，该目标是在常规的钻井深度（2-5 km）内。苏格兰在英国拥有最高的热量生产花岗岩，主要位于凯恩戈尔斯。到目前为止，为什么缺乏投资在苏格兰花岗岩中发展项目的主要原因之一是，尚不清楚在多大程度上存在渗透性（破裂和/或改变）区域。鉴于它们不容易使用例如使用例如地震测量方法。但是，使用电磁深层技术（如磁电磁（MT）方法）提供了对宿主岩石（花岗岩）（花岗岩）的电阻率（花岗岩）的深度特征进行成像的潜力，将比改变，多孔和/或骨折的区域（花岗岩）高得多通过与英国地质调查局和镇岩能源的合作，地热流体可能存在。场，实验室和地下成像方法的组合。具体而言，博士学位项目将涉及进行一系列田间游览，到苏格兰NE（例如Cairngorms）中有放射性花岗岩的区域，以绘制表面特征（例如裂缝，断层，变化区），进行MT调查并收集MT调查并收集MT使用实验室方法测量潜在储层岩石岩石物理特性的样品。这些不同数据集的整合将直接影响苏格兰地热能探索的下一阶段，但它们对于理解全球其他类似系统也很重要。