Assessment of Seasonal Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage as a Groundwater Ecosystem Service for the Brussels-Capital Region: Combining Groundwater Flow, and Heat and Reactive Transport Modeling

Anibas, Christian; Kukral, Janik; Possemiers, Mathias; Huysmans, Marijke

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2016.10.048

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In Belgium, 20 ATES systems are already used in Flanders in 2011 [7], four are operating in Brussels [8], and the first one is currently under construction in Wallonia [9]. The number of ATES systems is relatively low in Belgium, mainly because of the conflictual use of aquifers for ATES and drinking water supply, raising concerns among drinking water companies and environmental regulators [1,7,10].…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Modeling of the Interference of Thermally Unbalanced Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Systems in Brussels (Belgium)

Bulté

Duren²,

Bouhon³

et al. 2021

Energies

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A numerical model was built using FEFLOW® to simulate groundwater flow and heat transport in a confined aquifer in Brussels where two Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) systems were installed. These systems are operating in adjacent buildings and exploit the same aquifer made up of mixed sandy and silty sublayers. The model was calibrated for groundwater flow and partially for heat transport. Several scenarios were considered to determine if the two ATES systems were interfering. The results showed that a significant imbalance between the injection of warm and cold water in the first installed ATES system led to the occurrence of a heat plume spreading more and more over the years. This plume eventually reached the cold wells of the same installation. The temperature, therefore, increased in warm and cold wells and the efficiency of the building’s cooling system decreased. When the second ATES system began to be operational, the simulated results showed that, even if the heat plumes of the two systems had come into contact, the influence of the second system on the first one was negligible during the first two years of joint operation. For a longer modeled period, simulated results pointed out that the joint operation of the two ATES systems was not adapted to balance, in the long term, the quantity of warm and cold water injected in the aquifer. The groundwater temperature would rise inexorably in the warm and cold wells of both systems. The heat plumes would spread more and more over the years at the expense of the efficiency of both systems, especially concerning building’s cooling with stored cold groundwater.

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Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Modeling of the Interference of Thermally Unbalanced Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Systems in Brussels (Belgium)

Bulté

Duren²,

Bouhon³

et al. 2021

Energies

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“…The mass-energy density of zeolite is defined as the heat of discharging divided by the mass of zeolite and can be expressed using Equation (14).…”

Section: Performance Evaluation Indexesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can be further classified into short-term and long-term heat storage based on the heat-storage period. The seasonal TES (STES) system can solve the time-and space-discrepancy problems of solar energy utilization, and thus, it has been used in space heating [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Performance of a Solar Heating System with Seasonal and Cascade Thermal-Energy Storage

Yue

Xu²,

Zhou³

et al. 2022

Energies

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Seasonal solar thermal-energy storage systems used for space heating applications is a promising technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A novel solar heating system with seasonal and cascade thermal-energy storage based on zeolite water is proposed in this study. The system's efficiency is improved through cascade storage and the release of solar energy. The energy storage density is improved through the deep coupling of daily energy storage and cross-seasonal energy storage. A mathematical model of the system-performance analysis is established. The system performances in the non-heating and heating seasons and throughout the year are analyzed by considering the Chifeng City of China as an application case. The results indicate that the average collection efficiency of the proposed system is 2.88% higher in the non-heating season and 7.4% higher in the heating season than that of the reference system. Furthermore, the utilization efficiency of the proposed system is 37.16%, which is 3.26% higher than that of the reference system. Further, the proposed system has a supply heat of 2135 GJ in the heating season, which is 9.66% higher than the reference system. This study provides a solution for the highly efficient solar energy utilization for large-scale space-heating applications.

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“…While the Netherlands are considered to be in the maturity market phase, Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark are still in the growth market phase and all the other countries are only in the emerging market phase. When taking a closer look at the regional level in Belgium, a striking observation is that all the running ATES systems are located in Flanders and the Brussels-Capital Region [3,22,23]; none of these were present in Wallonia before the Province of Liège decided to undergo the whole authorization process which was recently granted [24]. The development of ATES applications is known to be influenced by local geological and climatic conditions, together with economical, technical, and regulatory conditions, among others [3,25].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigations into the First Operational Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage System in Wallonia (Belgium): What Can Potentially Be Expected?

Schepper¹,

Bolly

Vizzotto³

et al. 2020

Geosciences

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In the context of energy transition, new and renovated buildings often include heating and/or air conditioning energy-saving technologies based on sustainable energy sources, such as groundwater heat pumps with aquifer thermal energy storage. A new aquifer thermal energy storage system was designed and is under construction in the city of Liège, Belgium, along the Meuse River. This system will be the very first to operate in Wallonia (southern Belgium) and should serve as a reference for future shallow geothermal developments in the region. The targeted alluvial aquifer reservoir was thoroughly characterized using geophysics, pumping tests, and dye and heat tracer tests. A 3D groundwater flow heterogeneous numerical model coupled to heat transport was then developed, automatically calibrated with the state-of-the-art pilot points method, and used for simulating and assessing the future system efficiency. A transient simulation was run over a 25 year-period. The potential thermal impact on the aquifer, based on thermal needs from the future building, was simulated at its full capacity in continuous mode and quantified. While the results show some thermal feedback within the wells of the aquifer thermal energy storage system and heat loss to the aquifer, the thermal affected zone in the aquifer extends up to 980 m downstream of the building and the system efficiency seems suitable for long-term thermal energy production.

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Assessment of Seasonal Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage as a Groundwater Ecosystem Service for the Brussels-Capital Region: Combining Groundwater Flow, and Heat and Reactive Transport Modeling

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

Numerical Modeling of the Interference of Thermally Unbalanced Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Systems in Brussels (Belgium)

Numerical Modeling of the Interference of Thermally Unbalanced Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Systems in Brussels (Belgium)

Study on the Performance of a Solar Heating System with Seasonal and Cascade Thermal-Energy Storage

Investigations into the First Operational Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage System in Wallonia (Belgium): What Can Potentially Be Expected?

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