Investigation and evaluation methods of shallow geothermal energy considering the influences of fracture water flow

Abstract

The energy replenishment and heat convection induced by fracture water flowing through the rock mass impact the shallow geothermal energy occurrence, transfer and storage mechanisms in it. In this article, a suitability evaluation and categorization system is proposed by including judgement indexes that are more closely aligned with the actual hydrogeological conditions in fracture developed regions; an assessment approach of regional shallow geothermal energy is proposed by coupling the influences of fracture water into the calculation methods of geothermal capacity, thermal balance and heat transfer rate. Finally, by taking two typical fracture aperture distributions as examples, the impacts of fracture water on the investigation and evaluation of shallow geothermal energy are quantitatively analyzed. Although the fracture apertures only share 1.68% and 0.98% of the total length of a borehole, respectively, in the two examples, the fracture water convection contributes up to 11.01% and 6.81% of the total heat transfer rate; and the energy replenishment potential brought by the fracture water is equivalent to the total heat extraction of 262 boreholes. A single wide aperture fracture can dominate the aforementioned impacts. The research results can support more accurate evaluation and efficient recovery of shallow geothermal energy in fracture developed regions.