Field observations, preliminary model analysis, and aquifer thermal efficiency
In May 1980, the University of Minnesota began a project to evaluate the feasibility of storing heated (150 degrees Celsius ([degrees]C)) water in the deep (180 to 240 meters (m)) Franconia-Ironton-Galesville aquifer and later recovering it for space heating. The Aquifer Thermal-Energy Storage (ATES) system was a doublet-wall design in which the injection and withdrawal wells were spaced approximately 250 m apart. High-temperature water from the university's steam-generation facilities supplied heat for injection. Water was pumped from one of the wells through a heat exchanger, where heat was added or removed. Water then was injected back into the aquifer through the other well. The experimental plan for testing the ATES system consisted of a series of short-term hot-water injection, storage, and withdrawal cycles, Each cycle was 24 days long, and each injection, storage, and withdrawal step of the cycle was 8 days. The effects of various injection and withdrawal rates and durations on computed values of aquifer relative-thermal efficiency and final well-bore temperature were studied for five 1-year hypothetical test cycles of injection and withdrawal. The least efficient scheme was 8 months injection of 150[degrees]C water at 18.9 L/s and 4 months of withdrawal of hot water at 18.9 L/s. The most efficient scheme was obtained with 6 months of injection of 150[degrees]C water at 18.9 L/s and 6 months of withdrawal of hot water at 37.8 L/s. The hypothetical simulations indicate that the calibrated model of the doublet-well system would be a valuable tool for use by the university in selecting a highly efficient system operation. In the second model, analytical solutions of anisotropic hydraulic flow around the doublet-well system were obtained to provide fluid-flux boundary conditions around the heat-injection well in three dimensions.
- OSTI ID:
- 7276924
- Journal Information:
- United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper; (United States), Vol. 1530-A
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
University of Minnesota aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) project report on the third long-term cycle
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Related Subjects
AQUIFERS
THERMAL EFFICIENCY
SENSIBLE HEAT STORAGE
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
FIELD TESTS
GROUND WATER
INJECTION WELLS
SPACE HEATING
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY STORAGE
HEAT STORAGE
HEATING
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SIMULATION
STORAGE
TESTING
WATER
WELLS
250600* - Energy Storage- Thermal