Evidence of localized groundwater flow during thermal response test using distributed thermal sensing

TL;DR

This study uses distributed thermal sensing during thermal response tests to detect localized groundwater flow in boreholes, revealing significant flow variations at different depths within the same geological setting.

Contribution

It demonstrates the effectiveness of distributed thermal response testing combined with advanced modeling to identify and analyze localized groundwater flow in geothermal boreholes.

Findings

Localized enhanced heat transfer detected at 25-40m depth.

Groundwater flow influences heat transfer in some boreholes.

Distributed thermal sensing can discriminate between conductive and advective heat transfer.

Abstract

Four Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHE) were installed at the BRGM Shallow Geothermal Research Facility (BRGM-SGRF) in Orl{\'e}ans, France. They are sixty meters deep and eight meters apart on a line. The facility is localized in the Parisian sedimentary basin. The boreholes are in the Beauce Limestones geological layers, which are locally eroded and karstified. A special type of grouting materiel was used in order to investigate if the boreholes are actually grouted. These measures have confirmed that the four boreholes are grouted along the whole depth. Distributed Thermal Response Tests (DTRT) using optic cables alongside the heat exchangers were performed on each borehole. The distributed thermal sensing, combined with the thermal response test, allows discriminating the heat transfer between geological layers. While the first two boreholes temperature variations with respect to the depth is almost constant, again indicative of a purely conductive heat transfer, the DTS measurement technique gave evidence of a localized enhanced heat transfer on the last two boreholes, between 25 and 40 meters deep. This enhanced heat transfer is believed to be generated by a fast groundwater flow at these depths. What is remarkable is that such a rapid flow can be observed on roughly 15 meters height, while a borehole 8 meters apart exhibits a purely conductive temperature profile. The BRGM has develop a borehole heat exchanger model called SAMBA (Semi Analytical Model for Borehole heat exchanger). It discretizes the heat transfer according to the depth of the borehole, using the thermal resistance and capacity model of Bauer et al. (2011) to model heat transfer inside the borehole, and a moving infinite cylindrical source (MICS) for heat transfer in the ground. Inversion of the SAMBA model for the boreholes exhibiting groundwater flow has been performed to determine the mean ground thermal conductivity and the groundwater flow between 25 to 40 meters deep.