Heat storage efficiency, ground surface uplift and thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena for high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage

• Published in: Geothermal Energy
• Main Authors: Vidal Montes, Rubén, Olivella Pastallé, Sebastià, Saaltink, Maarten Willem, Diaz-Maurin, François Carlos León
• Other Authors: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Doctorat en Enginyeria del Terreny, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Civil i Ambiental, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. GHS - Grup d'Hidrologia Subterrània
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Enginyeria ambiental::Tractament dels residus; Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Energia nuclear; Radioactive waste disposal in the ground; HT-ATES; Heat; Modelling; Dimensional analysis; Thermo-hydraulic fluxes; Uplift; Residus radioactius > Emmagatzematge; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/375800; https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-022-00233-3

High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) systems can help in balancing energy demand and supply for better use of infrastructures and resources. The aim of these systems is to store high amounts of heat to be reused later. HT-ATES requires addressing problems such as variations of the properties of the aquifer, thermal losses and the uplift of the surface. Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) modelling is a good tool to analyse the viability and cost effectiveness of HT-ATES systems and to understand the interaction of processes, such as heat flux, groundwater flow and ground deformation. The main problem of this modelling is its high computational cost. We propose a dimensional and numerical analysis of the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of a pilot HT-ATES. The results of this study have provided information about the dominant thermo-hydraulic fluxes, evolution of the energy efficiency of the system and the role of the hydraulic and thermal loads generated by the injection and extraction of hot water. We acknowledge the financial support received from the ERANET project HEATSTORE (170153–4401). This project has been subsidized through the ERANET cofund GEOTHERMICA (Project n. 731117), from the European Commission, RVO (the Netherlands), DETEC (Switzerland), FZJ-PTJ (Germany), ADEME (France), EUDP (Denmark), Rannis (Iceland), VEA (Belgium), FRCT (Portugal), and MINECO (Spain). We wish to thank the Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya by supporting RV with a grant (2021 FI_B 00940). Peer Reviewed Postprint (published version)