Impacts of groundwater flow on borehole heat exchangers: Lessons learned from Estonia

K. Piipponen, A. Soesoo, T. Arola, H. Bauert and S. Tarros

Renewable Energy, 2024, vol. 237, issue PB

Abstract: The production of geothermal energy relies on subsurface properties. In low-enthalpy geothermal regimes, thermal energy extracted with a borehole heat exchanger (BHE) is the subsurface heat conducted from the rock and grout to the BHE fluid. Estonian geology provides a good opportunity to investigate how groundwater flow impacts BHE heat production. The hundreds of metres thick sedimentary rock sequence holds four main aquifers. We modelled single BHEs with lengths of 400 m, 500 m and 1000 m and a BHE field of ten 400-m wells at three sites across Estonia. Then, we parametrized different hydraulic conditions to compare how the groundwater flow velocity impacts the thermal energy yield of the systems.

Keywords: Geothermal heat; Groundwater flow; Borehole heat exchangers; Finite-element modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:237:y:2024:i:pb:s0960148124015167

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121448

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