ATES Contribution to the Housing Energy Balance: a Simple Assessment Methodology

Abstract

The reduction of Green-House Gas Emissions (GHGE) goes through a sum of solutions that need to be tuned to the local context in terms of energy needs and resources, and also to the demand and offer variations with time. The housing heat consumption is particularly concerned as it is seasonal and rarely in phase with the deliverability of alternative or renewable energy sources. This paper studies heat storage in saline untapped aquifers as a solution to overcome the time lag between production and consumption. This process applies to heat networks that supply dense housing complexes. Firstly, a methodology is described to size an Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) project as a function of the heat production and consumption characteristics on the one hand, and of the recovery factor of the stored heat on the other hand. The major role played by this recovery factor leads to a review of thermal losses of various origins and to a sensitivity study of influent reservoir parameters such as the aquifer thickness, productiv.ity and heterogeneity, for the purpose of aquifer selection and storage project management. © 2011 IFP Energies nouvelles.