The Impact of Subsurface Heterogeneity on the Performance of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) Systems

地下非均质性对含水层热能储存 (ATES) 系统性能的影响

• 批准号: 2788219
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2788219
• 关键词: Impact; Subsurface; Heterogeneity; Performance; Aquifer

Global energy needs are steadily rising with a predicted increase of 45% within the next 15 years. In the long-term, sustainable energy is hoped to connect economic growth to increased social equity while preserving natural resources in line with the UN sustainable development goals. In this context, geothermal energy present one of the potential key pillars to achieve this goal. The application of shallow geothermal energy systems has been increasing over the past decades with >1.7 million units installed across the EU in 2015. One of the commonly applied designs for geothermal installations are open loop systems consisting of abstraction and re-injection wells installed in the aquifer system/groundwater body to extract heat from or to inject/store heat into the aquifer. A particular design of open loop geothermal installations support Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) systems which allow the seasonal storage of waste heat in the subsurface for subsequent use to meet heating demands. The efficiency of the system relies on the productivity of the well installations as well as suitable aquifer properties (incl. aquifer permeability & porosity and thermal properties). The planned research project will investigate the impact of subsurface heterogeneity on the performance of ATES installations. Subsurface heterogeneities may be associated with depositional features of sedimentary aquifers or discontinuities such as fractures, igneous intrusions or faults and may affect hydraulic and thermal properties of the host rock. These heterogeneities may affect the groundwater flow regime within the aquifer unit and impact on ability of the aquifer to store and conduct heat. This in turn may ultimately affect the overall efficiency and sustainability of the ATES installation. The project will use the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer as a case study example. The Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer is an important regional aquifer across central England and Northern Ireland that hosts deep potable groundwater to depth >100m. The study will combine full-scale field experiments utilising existing borehole installations at Queen's University Belfast with numerical modelling studies. The study will combine the baseline characterisation of the aquifer system by completing a series of active borehole geophysical measurements, hydraulic borehole tests, with the long-term monitoring of experimental thermal injection tests using fibre optic distributed temperature sensing. Collected monitoring data will be integrated into numerical heat transport models to evaluate field-scale subsurface properties to better understand the impact of aquifer heterogeneity on system performance.

全球能源需求在未来15年内稳步上升，预计将增加45％。从长远来看，希望可持续能源能够将经济增长与增加的社会公平联系起来，同时与联合国可持续发展目标保持一致的自然资源。在这种情况下，地热能是实现这一目标的潜在关键支柱之一。在过去的几十年中，浅层地热能系统的应用一直在增长，2015年在欧盟整个欧盟安装了> 170万台单位。一种常用的地热装置设计是一个开放式循环系统，这些循环系统包括抽象和重新注入的井以及安装在Aquififer System/Grouts/offerswater体内的重新注入井，以从或者从Aquififififer中提取热量。开放环地热安装的特殊设计支持含水层的热量存储（ATES）系统，该系统允许在地下中季节性存储废热，以便随后使用以满足加热需求。系统的效率依赖于井安装的生产力以及合适的含水层特性（包括含水层的渗透率和孔隙率和热性能）。计划的研究项目将调查地下异质性对ATES安装性能的影响。地下异质性可能与沉积含水层的沉积特征或不连续性（例如裂缝，火成岩侵入或断层）有关，并且可能影响宿主岩石的液压和热性质。这些异质性可能会影响含水层单元内的地下水流动状态，并影响含水层储存和进行热量的能力。反过来，这最终可能会影响ATES安装的整体效率和可持续性。该项目将以三叠纪舍伍德砂岩含水层作为案例研究示例。 Sherwood砂岩含水层是英格兰中部和北爱尔兰的重要区域含水层，可容纳深层地下水，深度> 100m。该研究将使用贝尔法斯特皇后大学的现有钻孔装置与数值建模研究结合全尺度现场实验。该研究将通过完成一系列活跃的钻孔地球物理测量，液压钻孔测试以及使用光纤分布温度感测的实验热注射测试来结合含水层系统的基线表征。收集的监视数据将集成到数值热传输模型中，以评估现场尺度的地下属性，以更好地了解含水层异质性对系统性能的影响。