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Lookup NU author(s): David Banks
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The origins of modern groundwater flow theory in heat conduction theory were recognised by Charles Theis in 1935. So strong is the analogy between groundwater flow and subsurface heat transport that we can construct a new scientific substructure of thermogeology to support the rapidly expanding ground source heat pump industry in Ireland, Britain and many other European nations. Although the word may be novel, the science is not: much of the theoretical work on subsurface heat conduction and convection was performed in the middle decades of the 20th Century by workers such as the Ingersolls, Zobel and Alain Gringarten. The sciences of thermogeology and hydrogeology overlap strongly in the case of “open loop doublet” systems, where groundwater is abstracted from a well and used as either a source of heat (to a heat pump) or a sink for waste heat from a building or industry. The thermally “spent” (i.e. heated or cooled) water is then re-injected to the aquifer via the second well of the doublet. Contrary to popular belief, such systems may not be indefinitely sustainable and may have a finite life, due to the phenomenon of thermal feedback of warm (or cold) water to the abstraction well. Although numerical models such as HST3D or SHEMAT can be used to simulate open loop doublet performance, relatively simple analytical techniques may also be used as a “first level” screening tool. These techniques are summarised in this paper.
Author(s): Banks D
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Unknown
Conference Name: 27th Annual Conference of the Irish Group of the IAH
Year of Conference: 2007
Publisher: International Association of Hydrogeologists, Irish Group
