A preliminary study of the effect of groundwater flow on the thermal front created by borehole heat exchangers

Abstract

An analysis of the effects that groundwater flow has on the thermal regime created by a ground source energy system is presented. The change in the development of the sub-surface thermal regime caused by a groundwater flow across a site, relative to a scenario where groundwater flow does not exist, is examined. Analysis is performed using bespoke finite-element formulations of both single- and multi-borehole systems. The results of this work show that even a modest groundwater flow across a site can lead to a significant change in the development of the sub-surface thermal regime.