Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer

Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) exploits the high volumetric heat capacity of rock-forming minerals and pore water to store large quantities of heat (or cold) on a seasonal basis in the geological environment. The BTES is a volume of rock or sediment accessed via an array of borehole heat exc...

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Main Authors: Helge Skarphagen, David Banks, Bjørn S. Frengstad, Harald Gether
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-01-01
Series:Geofluids
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4961781
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author Helge Skarphagen
David Banks
Bjørn S. Frengstad
Harald Gether
author_facet Helge Skarphagen
David Banks
Bjørn S. Frengstad
Harald Gether
author_sort Helge Skarphagen
collection DOAJ
description Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) exploits the high volumetric heat capacity of rock-forming minerals and pore water to store large quantities of heat (or cold) on a seasonal basis in the geological environment. The BTES is a volume of rock or sediment accessed via an array of borehole heat exchangers (BHE). Even well-designed BTES arrays will lose a significant quantity of heat to the adjacent and subjacent rocks/sediments and to the surface; both theoretical calculations and empirical observations suggest that seasonal thermal recovery factors in excess of 50% are difficult to obtain. Storage efficiency may be dramatically reduced in cases where (i) natural groundwater advection through the BTES removes stored heat, (ii) extensive free convection cells (thermosiphons) are allowed to form, and (iii) poor BTES design results in a high surface area/volume ratio of the array shape, allowing high conductive heat losses. The most efficient array shape will typically be a cylinder with similar dimensions of diameter and depth, preferably with an insulated top surface. Despite the potential for moderate thermal recovery, the sheer volume of thermal storage that the natural geological environment offers can still make BTES a very attractive strategy for seasonal thermal energy storage within a “smart” district heat network, especially when coupled with more efficient surficial engineered dynamic thermal energy stores (DTES).
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language English
publishDate 2019-01-01
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series Geofluids
spelling doaj-art-c3d161c091374176879c83ea1813aefc2025-02-03T01:06:55ZengWileyGeofluids1468-81151468-81232019-01-01201910.1155/2019/49617814961781Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat TransferHelge Skarphagen0David Banks1Bjørn S. Frengstad2Harald Gether3Gether AS, Bakkeveien 12, N-3292 Stavern, NorwaySchool of Engineering, James Watt Building (South), Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UKDepartment of Geoscience and Petroleum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, NorwayGether AS, Bakkeveien 12, N-3292 Stavern, NorwayBorehole thermal energy storage (BTES) exploits the high volumetric heat capacity of rock-forming minerals and pore water to store large quantities of heat (or cold) on a seasonal basis in the geological environment. The BTES is a volume of rock or sediment accessed via an array of borehole heat exchangers (BHE). Even well-designed BTES arrays will lose a significant quantity of heat to the adjacent and subjacent rocks/sediments and to the surface; both theoretical calculations and empirical observations suggest that seasonal thermal recovery factors in excess of 50% are difficult to obtain. Storage efficiency may be dramatically reduced in cases where (i) natural groundwater advection through the BTES removes stored heat, (ii) extensive free convection cells (thermosiphons) are allowed to form, and (iii) poor BTES design results in a high surface area/volume ratio of the array shape, allowing high conductive heat losses. The most efficient array shape will typically be a cylinder with similar dimensions of diameter and depth, preferably with an insulated top surface. Despite the potential for moderate thermal recovery, the sheer volume of thermal storage that the natural geological environment offers can still make BTES a very attractive strategy for seasonal thermal energy storage within a “smart” district heat network, especially when coupled with more efficient surficial engineered dynamic thermal energy stores (DTES).http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4961781
spellingShingle Helge Skarphagen
David Banks
Bjørn S. Frengstad
Harald Gether
Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer
Geofluids
title Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer
title_full Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer
title_fullStr Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer
title_full_unstemmed Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer
title_short Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer
title_sort design considerations for borehole thermal energy storage btes a review with emphasis on convective heat transfer
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4961781
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