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.

地热能是为数不多的可以持续可靠地提供低碳热量的可再生能源之一，在某些情况下还可以提供电力。在英国，在常规钻井深度（2-5公里）内，辐射热花岗岩是中/中-高焓（100-200摄氏度流体温度）地热能源的最佳潜在目标之一。苏格兰拥有英国最高的产热花岗岩，主要位于凯恩戈姆。到目前为止，在苏格兰花岗岩中开发项目缺乏投资的主要原因之一是不知道在深度上存在多大程度的渗透性（裂缝和/或蚀变）带。在地下探测这些特征是非常重要的，因为它们不容易用地震测量方法观察到。然而，使用电磁测深技术，如大地电磁测深（MT）方法，可以在宿主岩石（花岗岩）的电阻率远高于蚀变、多孔和/或裂缝带的深度对这些特征进行成像，因为这些区域可能存在地热流体。通过我们与英国地质调查局和TownRock能源公司的合作，成功的候选人将领导开创性的多学科研究，以更好地了解苏格兰东北部花岗岩的地热能潜力，收集和整合来自现场，实验室和地下成像方法的新数据。具体来说，博士项目将包括对苏格兰东北部有辐射热花岗岩的地区（如Cairngorms）进行一系列实地考察，绘制地表特征（如裂缝、断层、蚀变带），进行MT调查，并收集样本，使用实验室方法测量潜在储层岩石的岩石物理性质。这些不同数据集的整合将直接影响苏格兰地热能勘探的下一阶段，但它们对了解全球其他类似系统也很重要。