High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) systems can store renewable-based or waste heat in the subsurface on a seasonal scale and may thus reduce the carbon footprint of future heat supply systems. Thermal recovery, i.e. the ratio of extracted to injected heat over one cycle, is required in a pre-application assessment because it determines the operational and economic viability of a HT-ATES system. The induced temperature changes in the subsurface are required to obtain the legal permits and are of interest for the design of a monitoring network. However, uncertainty in our knowledge on subsurface hydraulic and thermal parameters translates into uncertainties of the expected thermal recovery and the temperature changes induced during HT-ATES operation. In order to address these uncertainties for a case study in Hamburg, Germany, we use numerical modeling of the coupled thermo-hydraulic processes during the design stage of a HT-ATES system, based on a realistic load curve and the local geological setting of the storage aquifer. An ensemble of 50 scenarios was parameterized based on site-specific parameter uncertainties using Latin hypercube sampling to reflect the global parameter distributions, and the HT-ATES operation was simulated over a period of 26 years in each case. Most of the scenarios show high thermal recoveries with a median of 89 % in the 26th year, with thermal recovery most sensitive to the vertical hydraulic conductivity. The expected temperature distribution is well defined by the ensemble of model simulations, with far-field temperature changes reaching for hundreds of meters and showing greater variability between scenarios than those in the near-field region of the warm HT-ATES well on the tens of meters scale. Locations with large temperature differences between scenarios are identified as suitable for the placement of temperature monitoring wells. The presented work thus contributes directly to the design and permitting of HT-ATES systems and can also be used for uncertainty assessment of future HT-ATES plants and the identification of suitable monitoring setups.

In order to compensate for the variable mismatch between heat demand and heat production from renewable sources or waste heat, high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) is a promising option. A reliable prediction of the energetic performance as well as thermal and hydraulic impacts of a HT-ATES requires a suitable model parameterization regarding the subsurface properties. In order to identify the subsurface parameters on which investigation efforts should be focused, we carried out an extensive sensitivity analysis of the thermal and hydraulic parameters for a high-temperature heat injection test (HIT) using numerical modeling of the governing coupled thermo-hydraulic processes. The heat injection test was carried out in a quaternary shallow aquifer using injection temperatures of about 75 °C over 5 days, accompanied by an extensive temperature monitoring. The sensitivity analysis is conducted for parameter ranges based on literature values, based on site investigation at the HIT site and based on a model calibrated to the measured temperature distribution following the heat injection. Comparing the parameter ranges thus obtained in this three-step approach allows to identify those parameters, for which model prediction uncertainty decreased most, which are also the parameters, that strongly affect the thermal behavior. The highest sensitivity is found for vertical and horizontal hydraulic conductivity as well as for groundwater flow velocity, indicating that investigation efforts for HT-ATES projects should focus on these parameters. Heat capacity and thermal conductivity have a smaller impact on the temperature distribution. Our work thus yields a consistent approach to identifying the parameters which can be best restricted by field investigations and subsequent model calibration. Focusing on these during field investigations thus enable improved model predictions of both HT-ATES operation and induced impacts.

The seasonal storage of heat has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since it accounts for the seasonal disbalance between heat production and demand in renewable-based energy-systems. High temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) is a heat storage technology utilising the subsurface and therefore provides high storage capacity with limited above-ground usage, which is especially required in urban areas. Since the temperature difference between the ambient groundwater and the injected water (> 50 °C) results in density differences, convective buoyancy flow can be induced by HT-ATES. This process leads to an uneven heat distribution over the aquifer thickness, reduced storage efficiency and increased thermal impacts. The occurrence and intensity of buoyancy flow is site-specific, since it depends on operational parameters, such as injection temperature, as well as geological parameters, such as aquifer thickness and especially vertical and horizontal permeability.The geological site considered for HT-ATES storage is located in Hamburg, Germany, using the Miocene Lower Braunkohlensande (brown coal sands) as storage aquifer. This sedimentological formation was deposited in a coastal transition regime between terrestrial and shallow-marine settings and consists mainly of sands. Peat swamps and lagoons formed brown coal, silt and clay layers, which have the potential to hinder convection due to their low permeability, depending on their lateral extent in relation to the size of the induced heat plume by HT-ATES. Lithological classifications of 25 wells provide the data basis for the geological analysis.The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of thin low permeability layers on induced buoyancy flow and thus HT-ATES performance, as measured by heat recovery. To this end, a site-specific numerical HT-ATES model is created, which simulates the coupled thermo-hydraulic processes. Different scenarios with varied vertical permeability as well as the number and lateral extent of low-permeability layers show the effect on density-driven buoyancy flow and HT-ATES efficiency. Increasing the vertical permeability by a factor of 10 results in an efficiency decrease from 78 % to 57 % in the 10th storage cycle. The findings serve as a process understanding basis for complex heterogeneous facies models of the HT-ATES site, which will be based on the geostatistical evaluation of site data.

High temperature Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT-ATES) is one option to compensate for the seasonal mismatch between supply and demand in a renewable dominated heating sector. The thermal impacts to be expected by a planned HT-ATES plant can be predicted by numerical modelling, which is necessary for the development of monitoring concepts, legal authorization and economical assessments. One aspect of numerical pre-investigations, which was mostly disregarded by previous studies, is the assessment of thermal impacts in layers above the storage formation, which are heated conductively by the warm well. Furthermore, a quantification of the related heat losses and the implications on storage efficiency need to be considered. The thermohydraulic processes induced by the HT-ATES are numerically simulated by a radially symmetric model neglecting ambient groundwater flow. The model includes the discretised warm ATES well, which reaches to a depth of ≈250 m and the surrounding geological layers. The geology and the operational scheme are based on a typical setting representative for northern Germany. The simplified operational scheme consists of half a year injection and half a year extraction, repeated for 50 years, with an injection temperature of 85 °C, varying return flow temperatures and an initial subsurface temperature of 13 °C. The thermal properties of the well casing are varied in a sensitivity study to estimate the influence of different material choices. The model results show, that a temperature increase of 5 °C propagates 7 m radially in cohesive layers around the well in the first year of operation. After 50 years, temperature increases of 5 °C or more are found within a distance of about 40 m, 30 °C within about 13 m and 50 °C within about 2 m. Density-driven buoyancy flow is observed in cohesionless layers, leading to heat accumulation near the top of these layers. The heat consequently propagates significantly further there than in the cohesive formations, e.g. a temperature increase of 5 °C propagates maximally 121 m from the well in 50 years. The conductive heat loss to the overlaying formations through the well casing is 2 % of the injected heat. The such derived estimation of thermal impacts in overlaying formations is conservative, since ambient groundwater flow is neglected, which would result in lower temperatures due to advective heat transport away from the well. The heat loss, however, would be larger with groundwater flow, since this would reduce temperatures around the well and thus increase the temperature gradients and the conductive heat transport. Material choices of the well material may increase or decrease the heat losses and thus the thermal impacts.

Despite their potential in heating supply systems, thus far high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storages (HT-ATES) currently lack widespread application. Reducing the potential risks by improving the predictability of hydrogeochemical processes accelerated or initiated at elevated temperatures might promote the development of this technology. Therefore, we report the results of a short-term hot water infiltration field test with subsurface temperatures above 70 °C, along with associated laboratory batch tests at 10, 40 and 70 °C for 28 sediment samples to determine their usability for geochemical prediction.Most groundwater components had lower maximal concentrations and smaller concentration ranges in field samples compared to the batch tests. This indicates that the strongest geochemical effects observed in laboratory tests with sufficient site-specific sediment samples will likely be attenuated at the field scale. A comparison of field measurements with predicted concentration ranges, based on temperature induced relative concentration changes from the batch tests, revealed that the predictive power was greatest, where the hot infiltrated water had cooled least and the strongest geochemical effects occurred. The batch test-based predictions showed the best accordance with field data for components, with significant temperature-induced concentration changes related to ion exchange and (de)sorption processes. However, accurate prediction of concentration changes based on other processes, e.g. mineral dissolution, and downstream reversals in concentrations, requires further investigation.The here presented procedure enables the prediction of maximal expectable temperature-dependant concentration changes for most environmentally relevant ancillary groundwater components, e.g. As, with limited effort.

High Temperature-Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT-ATES) is a promising option to compensate for the seasonal mismatch between heating supply and demand in the heating sector based on renewable energies. To test and verify numerical and experimental methods for predicting HT-ATES thermo-hydraulic impacts, a smallscale heat injection test with injection temperatures of >70 degrees C was conducted in a shallow aquifer and monitored using a dense temperature sensor network. Prior to the heat injection test, the hydraulic and thermal properties of the field site were investigated and a predictive high-resolution numerical simulation model of the coupled thermo-hydraulic processes was derived based only on this a priori information. The comparison of measured and predicted temperature breakthrough curves showed a good correspondence, suggesting that the model is able to predict the overall thermal behavior. The model predictions were most accurate for long-term and far-field temperature evolution, with lower accuracy for temperature peaks closer to the injection well. Density-driven buoyancy flow was identified as an active heat transport process, due to the relatively high vertical hydraulic conductivity. The numerical model, parameterized based only on a priori site investigation data, is shown suitable for predicting heat transport processes due to a high temperature heat injection, as well as the induced thermal impacts of an HT-ATES system.

This document compiles the data related to a high temperature heat injection test, which was carried out at an injection temperature of 74 °C in a shallow aquifer and is presented by Heldt et al. [1]. The data set contains transient measurements of temperatures at 18 wells in 10 depths and measurements of the experimental boundary conditions (injection temperature and flow rate) at a temporal resolution of up to 1 min. The spatial configuration and the technical details about where and how the data have been measured are provided. In addition, data of a multilevel multi well pumping test are shown. The presented data is useful to gain insights into the thermohydraulic processes induced by a high temperature heat injection test and can furthermore be used for the development and verification of numerical models of the presented experiment and similar applications like high temperature aquifer thermal energy storage.

With the transition of the heating sector towards renewable energy sources technologies are needed to compensate for the seasonal mismatch between heat supply and demand. Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is considered a promising candidate for that purpose. Especially high temperature ATES (HT-ATES) with temperatures up to 90 °C has the advantage of higher storage capacities and allows for the direct use of the stored heat without intermediate heat pumps. In order to improve the understanding of processes induced by HT-ATES and to validate numerical tools for the prediction of storage capacities, storage rates as well as thermal impacts, a heat injection field test with an injection temperature of 75 °C was conducted, densely monitored and numerically simulated. This work presents a sensitivity analysis of the governing processes and parameters, from which the parameters on which the simulation results are most dependent are derived and thus identified for future site characterization and monitoring studies. The heat injection test took place at a shallow aquifer with a low natural groundwater flow velocity of 0.07 m/d. Hot water was injected at a borehole using flow rates of 14 l/min for 4.5 days and the resulting thermal plume was monitored by a dense arrangement of thermocouples. Previous to the experiment, the field site was thoroughly investigated for the thermal and hydraulic parameters by standard hydrogeological methods, such as pumping tests, hydraulic head measurements, Hydraulic Profiling Tool (HTP) employment, liner sampling and laboratory measurements. A coupled heat transport and fluid flow model was set up and the heat injection test was simulated using high resolution numerical modelling of the coupled thermo-hydraulic processes using the OpenGeoSys (OGS) simulation code. The comparison of measured and simulated temperature breakthrough curves showed a good correspondence, indicating the capability of the model to predict the general thermal behaviour of the heat injection test. The accuracy was higher for larger distances to the injection well and at the longer time scale, while the largest deviations occurred close to the injection well and shortly after the injection. The model was then used to estimate the sensitivity of the simulated temperature distribution on thermal and hydraulic aquifer parameters, which were varied according to the span of measurements. The thermal plume development is most sensitive on the hydraulic conductivity, since this parameter influences the intensity of buoyancy driven flow and was measured in the large range 3.00E-05 to 7.15 E-04 m/s. The dispersivity and the anisotropy in hydraulic conductivity effect the same process and show a significant impact on the result as well, together with the thermal conductivity. The sensitivity of the simulated temperature distribution on the groundwater flow velocity and the specific heat capacity is a little lower compared to the previously mentioned parameters, while the result is insensitive to the specific storage. It is shown, that a heat injection test in combination with numerical simulations is suitable for identifying parameter sensitivities also on small scales, thus showing the investigation needs for HT-ATES projects.