Worldwide occurrence of geothermal systems, introductory geology, volcanoes and volcanic rocks, New Zealand geothermal systems, structure of the TVZ, hydrothermal alteration, permeability and porosity, introduction to geochemistry of geothermal systems, geothermal surface manifestations, water compositions, geothermometry, silica geochemistry, overview of geophysics for geothermal exploration, geothermal resource assessment.
Worldwide geothermal development, types of geothermal systems, thermodynamics, properties of water and steam tables, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, steam- field equipment, geothermal power stations, geothermal drilling, wellbore processes, completion tests, downhole measurements, reinjection, corrosion, stored heat, Darcy's law, cold groundwater, geothermal reservoirs, direct use, reservoir modelling, reservoir monitoring and steam-field management.
Hydrothermal alteration, clays, fluid inclusions, direct use, subsidence, scaling and corrosion in geothermal wells, production geochemistry, environmental aspects of geothermal development, feasibility study, physical properties of rocks and self-potential (SP), magnetics, thermal methods, gravity, seismic methods, electrical methods, magneto-tellurics (MT).
Completion tests, wellbore flow, two-phase flow, geothermal power cycles, flow measurements, direct use of geothermal energy, environmental effects, scaling and corrosion in geothermal wells, drilling engineering, flow measurements, steam-field operation and maintenance, subsidence, waste heat rejection, heat exchangers, geothermal well-test analysis, stimulation, pipeline design, feasibility study, reservoir modelling theory, TOUGH2, reservoir modelling process, case study (data and conceptual model, natural state modelling), Wairakei model.
Based on a study using field, lab or theoretical methods, students are required to submit a report on some aspect of geothermal exploration, development or exploitation.
Topics include: worldwide geothermal development, types of geothermal systems, geothermal geology, resource estimation, thermodynamics, properties of water and steam, steam-field equipment, geothermal power cycles, direct use of geothermal energy, completion tests, two- phase flow, flow measurements, geothermal reservoir engineering modelling theory, reinjection, scaling and corrosion, drilling engineering, heat exchangers, geothermal well-test analysis, stimulation, sedimentary geology, oil and gas formation, petroleum reservoir engineering.