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HERO ID
1624783
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Steam flow measurement using alcohol tracers
Author(s)
Lovelock, BG
Year
2001
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Geothermics
ISSN:
0375-6505
EISSN:
1879-3576
Publisher
Elsevier Science Ltd., Pergamon, P.O. Box 800 Kidlington Oxford OX5 1DX UK, [mailto:nlinfo-f@elsevier.nl], [URL:http://www.elsevier.nl]
Volume
30
Issue
6 (Dec 2001)
Page Numbers
641-654
Web of Science Id
WOS:000172566500004
Abstract
Tracer flow testing procedures are increasingly being used for routine measurement of well output in operating geothermal fields. A new procedure developed in New Zealand uses low boiling-point, liquid alcohol (isopropanol or butan-2-ol) as the steam-phase tracer. The use of alcohol tracers allows major simplifications to field procedures, including injection with conventional liquid-dosing pumps, sampling into open sample bottles and preparation of composite steam/water tracers. These practical benefits far outweigh the only drawback of alcohol tracers, which is the need to correct for alcohol gas dissolved in the liquid phase. This paper reviews development work with alcohol tracers over the past five years and discusses the properties of alcohols and the practical aspects of their use in tracer-dilution testing.
Keywords
New Zealand; Testing Procedures; Hydrothermal fields; Streamflow; Geothermal springs; Tracers; Tracer techniques; Geothermal Studies; Measurement; Discharge Measurement; Analytical techniques; Freshwater; Alcohols; Stream flow rate
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