Large-scale thermo-hydrodynamic modeling of a flooded underground mine for geothermal applications

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

8-11-2016

Abstract

The concept of recovering geothermal energy from water in abandoned underground mines has been gaining momentum worldwide in recent years. This is possibly because mine water and surrounding geologic formations can be used for a higher-grade geothermal reservoir than other low-enthalpy geothermal applications. However, the scientific understanding of this application is still in a preliminary stage, leading to a limited number of detailed numerical simulations involving both hydrodynamics and physical process in porous materials. This paper pioneers large-scale hydrodynamics modeling of mine water coupled with heat transfer between mine water and surrounding geologic formations for geothermal applications. For this purpose, a numerical model was implemented and validated against documented experiments. Based on that, a representative case was simulated to shed light on the question regarding how the buoyancy-driven flow is triggered and maintained by the temperature difference that results from the geothermal gradient.

Publisher's Statement

© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers. Publisher's version of record: https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480137.008

Publication Title

Geo-Chicago 2016: Geotechnics for Sustainable Energy

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