energies-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Advances in Underground Thermal Energy Storage

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "H2: Geothermal".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2024) | Viewed by 4058

Special Issue Editors

James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Interests: geoenergy engineering; geomaterials; numerical modelling; geothermal energy; renewable energy; thermal energy storage

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Interests: geothermal energy; modelling and engineering; subsurface modelling; ground source heat pumps

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany
Interests: geothermal energy; reservoir simulation; thermal engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to submit an original contribution to the Special Issue ‘Advances in Underground Thermal Energy Storage’. There is a global drive towards a net-zero carbon economy, which could be achieved with the help of underground thermal energy storage. Heating and cooling have to be decarbonised, since they account for much of the energy spent globally. For instance, within the EU, this accounts for half of the energy consumed. Presently, fossil-fuel-based heating is the main source of energy, and has to be replaced with alternative energy sources. The mismatch in demand and supply remains an issue to potential sources of renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Therefore, underground thermal energy storage could serve as the technology to enable the subsurface storage of heat to allow for a greater efficiency of renewable technologies. Heat can be stored underground (i) using borehole heat exchangers, (ii) in aquifers, (iii) in caverns or mines, (iv) in pits or (v) in tanks close to ground level. There are various sources of heat, such as renewables (e.g., solar–thermal collectors or curtailed wind) and waste-heat from industrial, domestic or nondomestic processes.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present advances in underground thermal energy storage. This can include case studies, theoretical studies, studies that involve system design, modelling, control, implementation, monitoring or optimisation, as well as reviews. Please also note that studies are not limited to subsurface technologies only, and the implementation of charge sources and demand (i.e., through heat networks) is also of interest.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Borehole thermal energy storage;
  • Aquifer thermal energy storage;
  • Pit thermal energy storage;
  • Mine thermal energy storage;
  • Geothermal heating and cooling;
  • Thermal response tests;
  • Whole-system modelling;
  • Heat networks;
  • Surface analysis of demand and charge;
  • Waste heat recovery;
  • Energy efficiency;
  • System optimisation;
  • Economic analysis;
  • Technological advances (including materials).

Dr. Isa Kolo
Dr. Christopher Brown
Dr. Chaofan Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • borehole thermal energy storage
  • aquifer thermal energy storage
  • pit thermal energy storage
  • mine thermal energy storage
  • geothermal heating and cooling
  • thermal response tests
  • whole-system modelling
  • heat networks
  • surface analysis of demand and charge
  • waste heat recovery
  • energy efficiency
  • system optimization
  • economic analysis
  • technological advances (including materials)

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 8863 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Influence of Groundwater Flow and Charge Cycle Duration on Deep Borehole Heat Exchangers for Heat Extraction and Borehole Thermal Energy Storage
by Christopher S. Brown, Hannah Doran, Isa Kolo, David Banks and Gioia Falcone
Energies 2023, 16(6), 2677; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062677 - 13 Mar 2023
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3173
Abstract
Decarbonisation of heat is essential to meeting net zero carbon targets; however, fluctuating renewable resources, such as wind or solar, may not meet peak periods of demand. Therefore, methods of underground thermal energy storage can aid in storing heat in low demand periods [...] Read more.
Decarbonisation of heat is essential to meeting net zero carbon targets; however, fluctuating renewable resources, such as wind or solar, may not meet peak periods of demand. Therefore, methods of underground thermal energy storage can aid in storing heat in low demand periods to be exploited when required. Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) is an important technology in storing surplus heat and the efficiency of such systems can be strongly influenced by groundwater flow. In this paper, the effect of groundwater flow on a single deep borehole heat exchanger (DBHEs) was modelled using OpenGeoSys (OGS) software to test the impact of varying regional Darcy velocities on the performance of heat extraction and BTES. It is anticipated that infrastructure such as ex-geothermal exploration or oil and gas development wells approaching the end of life could be repurposed. These systems may encounter fluid flow in the subsurface and the impact of this on single well deep BTES has not previously been investigated. Higher groundwater velocities can increase the performance of a DBHE operating to extract heat only for a heating season of 6 months. This is due to the reduced cooling of rocks in proximity to the DBHE as groundwater flow replenishes heat which has been removed from the rock volume around the borehole (this can also be equivalently thought of as “coolth” being transported away from the DBHE in a thermal plume). When testing varying Darcy velocities with other parameters for a DBHE of 920 m length in rock of thermal conductivity 2.55 W/(m·K), it was observed that rocks with larger Darcy velocity (1e-6 m/s) can increase the thermal output by up to 28 kW in comparison to when there is no groundwater flow. In contrast, groundwater flow inhibits single well deep BTES as it depletes the thermal store, reducing storage efficiency by up to 13% in comparison to models with no advective heat transfer in the subsurface. The highest Darcy velocity of 1e-6 m/s was shown to most influence heat extraction and BTES; however, the likelihood of this occurring regionally, and at depth of around or over 1 km is unlikely. This study also tested varying temporal resolutions of charge and cyclicity. Shorter charge periods allow a greater recovery of heat (c. 34% heat injected recovered for 1 month charge, as opposed to <17% for 6 months charge). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Underground Thermal Energy Storage)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop