A Heat Injection and Pumping Experiment in a Gravel Aquifer Monitored with Crosshole Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Abstract

Thermal tracing experiments are becoming common in hydrogeology to estimate parameters governing heat transport processes and to study geothermal reservoirs. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has proven its ability to monitor salt tracer tests, but few studies have investigated its performances in thermal tracing experiments. In this study, we monitor the injection and pumping of heated water using crosshole ERT in a panel crossing the main flow direction. Difference inversion time-lapse images clearly show the heterogeneous pattern of resistivity changes, and thus temperature changes, highlighting the existence of preferential flow paths in the aquifer. Comparison of temperature estimates from ERT and direct measurements in boreholes show the ability of ERT to quantify the temperatures in the aquifer and to draw the breakthrough curves of the thermal tracer with a relative accuracy. Such resistivity data may provide important information to improve hydrogeological models. Our study proves that ERT, especially crosshole ERT, is a reliable tool to follow thermal tracing experiments. It also confirms that ERT should be included to in situ techniques to characterize heat transfer in the subsurface and to monitor geothermal resources exploitation.