Numerical simulation of aquifer thermal energy storage using surface-based geologic modelling and dynamic mesh optimisation
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Regnier, G
Salinas, P
Jacquemyn, C
Jackson, MD
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) has significant potential to provide largescale seasonal cooling and heating in the built environment, offering a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. To deliver safe and sustainable ATES deployments, accurate numerical modelling tools must be used to predict flow and heat transport in the targeted aquifers. This paper presents a simulation methodology for ATES based on surface-based geologic modelling (SBGM) and dynamic mesh optimisation (DMO). DMO has been previously applied in other fields of computational fluid dynamics to reduce the cost of numerical simulations. DMO allows the resolution of the mesh to vary during a simulation to satisfy a user-defined solution precision for selected fields, refining where the solution fields are complex and coarsening elsewhere. SBGM allows accurate representation of complex geological heterogeneity and efficient application of DMO. The paper reports the first systematic convergence study for ATES simulations, and demonstrates the application of these methods in two ATES scenarios: a homogeneous aquifer, and a realistic heterogeneous fluvial aquifer containing meandering, channelised sand bodies separated by mudstones. It is demonstrated that DMO reduces the required number of mesh elements by a factor of up to 22 and simulation time by a factor of up to 15, whilst maintaining the same accuracy as an equivalent fixed mesh. DMO offers significant potential to reduce the computational cost of ATES simulations in both homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifers.
Date Issued
2022-06
Date Acceptance
2022-04-03
Citation
Hydrogeology Journal, 2022, 30 (4), pp.1179-1198
ISSN
1431-2174
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
1179
End Page
1198
Journal / Book Title
Hydrogeology Journal
Volume
30
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000791872000001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
Aquifer thermal energy storage
ATES SYSTEMS
CONSERVATIVE INTERPOLATION
Dynamic mesh optimisation
EFFICIENCY
Geology
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geothermal systems
HEAT-TRANSPORT
HETEROGENEITY
MULTIPHASE FLOW
Numerical modeling
PERFORMANCE
Physical Sciences
Science & Technology
STEADY-STATE
Surface-based geologic modelling
TEMPERATURE
VOLUME MESHES
Water Resources
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-05-08