Geysers and geothermal power production

摘要

Both in the United States and other countries, development of geothermal energy resources is being pushed 17(Fig. 9). A geothermal area is a complicated mechanical and thermal system (Fig. 6). It is important that efforts be made to better understand the gross heat and mass transfer in static geothermal basins; to describe flow patterns, discharge rates, and surface heat transfer in well defined thermal hot spots; and to appreciate the effect of mechanical forces on geothermal phenomena arising from alterations in porosity and permeability distributions due to deformation of the basin. Incisive studies of geysers are contributing significantly to the development of a more complete understanding of these matters.