{
  "abstract": "Thermal short circuits, where fluids preferentially connect injection and production wells, are a leading cause of premature enthalpy decline in geothermal reservoirs. These pathways accelerate cooling, reduce effective heat transfer area, and limit reservoir lifetime. We propose a temperature-responsive hydrogel microsphere suspension as an “active tracer” that dynamically redirects flow away from cooled short-circuit channels while also tracing fluid flow via fluorescence spectroscopy. Highly idealized reservoir simulations with field-informed permeability distributions indicate that a yieldstress fluid with temperature-responsive behaviors may improve reservoir thermal lifetime by a factor of at least 24 to 59x while maintaining acceptable hydraulic performance. To develop a candidate “active” tracer intended to satisfy the assumptions of the idealized simulations, we synthesized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPA) microgels, characterized their swelling and rheological behavior, and conducted a large-scale laboratory experiment in an analog parallel-plate that demonstrates short-circuited flow behavior. These lab-scale results demonstrate that injected microgels clog cooled short circuits via swelling and diverted flow into hotter regions. This proof-of-concept establishes an attractive pathway for employing engineered materials to actively manage flow and extend geothermal reservoir lifetimes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Aaron M. Baxter"
    },
    {
      "name": "Danni Tang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bryan H. Abdulaziz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Reeby J. Puthur"
    },
    {
      "name": "Patrick M. Fulton"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sarah Hormozi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christopher C. Alabi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ulrich B. Wiesner"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jefferson W. Tester"
    },
    {
      "name": "Adam J. Hawkins",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1853-0010"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c167ta2wnm1b0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010139/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "c167ta2wnm1b0",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010139/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2105|Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221194450",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010139/v1",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-09",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c167ta2wnm1b0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010139",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010139/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "source:chemrxiv",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Chemically modified hydrogels to improve geothermal reservoir performance by enabling flow control via size-shifting microspheres",
  "title_text": "Chemically modified hydrogels to improve geothermal reservoir performance by enabling flow control via size-shifting microspheres",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c167ta2wnm1b0",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}