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Estimation of thermal properties of soil and backfilling material from thermal response tests (TRTs) for exploiting shallow geothermal energy: Sensitivity, identifiability, and uncertainty

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  • Li, Min
  • Zhang, Liwen
  • Liu, Gang

Abstract

It is critical for designing shallow geothermal systems to accurately estimate thermal properties of soil and backfilling material. This paper reports on a new algorithm for simultaneously estimating thermal conductivities and diffusivities of soil and backfilling material. The algorithm uses a 2D composite-medium line-source solution for borehole ground heat exchangers, enabling early-time (<10 hr) data of thermal response tests (TRTs) to be used in the parameter estimation. The new algorithm is validated by a reference sandbox experimental data. Several theoretical issues of parameter estimation were explored, including sensitivity, identifiability, and uncertainty. The key findings of this study are: (1) the early-time data of TRTs can greatly reduce the linear dependence of the estimated parameters and thus improve the identifiability of the parameter estimation. (2) The accuracy of the estimates, ranked in descending order are as follows: soil thermal conductivity ks (±2%), grout thermal diffusivity ab and conductivity kb (±15%), soil thermal diffusivity as (±60%). (3) ±10% uncertainties in borehole radius, heating rate, and half-spacing of U-tube legs lead to the total deviations from the original estimates of ks, as, kb, or ab equal to 8.4%, 87.5%, 12.8%, and 15.5%, respectively.

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  • Li, Min & Zhang, Liwen & Liu, Gang, 2019. "Estimation of thermal properties of soil and backfilling material from thermal response tests (TRTs) for exploiting shallow geothermal energy: Sensitivity, identifiability, and uncertainty," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1263-1270.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:132:y:2019:i:c:p:1263-1270
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.09.022
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    3. Zhang, Changxing & Song, Wei & Liu, Yufeng & Kong, Xiangqiang & Wang, Qing, 2019. "Effect of vertical ground temperature distribution on parameter estimation of in-situ thermal response test with unstable heat rate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 264-274.
    4. Zhang, Xueping & Han, Zongwei & Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Hongzhi & Li, Xiuming, 2021. "Thermal response tests for the identification of soil thermal parameters: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1123-1135.
    5. Choi, Wonjun & Kikumoto, Hideki & Ooka, Ryozo, 2022. "Probabilistic uncertainty quantification of borehole thermal resistance in real-world scenarios," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    6. Du, Yufang & Li, Min & Li, Yong & Lai, Alvin CK., 2023. "Tikhonov regularization stabilizes multi-parameter estimation of geothermal heat exchangers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    7. Yu, Likui & Wu, Xiaotian & Wang, Yadan & Ma, Weiwu & Liu, Gang, 2020. "Stratified rock hydraulic fracturing for enhanced geothermal system and fracture geometry evaluation via effective length," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 713-723.
    8. Nian, Yong-Le & Wang, Xiang-Yang & Xie, Kun & Cheng, Wen-Long, 2020. "Estimation of ground thermal properties for coaxial BHE through distributed thermal response test," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1209-1219.
    9. Ignacio Martín Nieto & Cristina Sáez Blázquez & Arturo Farfán Martín & Diego González-Aguilera, 2020. "Analysis of the Influence of Reducing the Duration of a Thermal Response Test in a Water-Filled Geothermal Borehole Located in Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Pasquier, Philippe & Marcotte, Denis, 2020. "Robust identification of volumetric heat capacity and analysis of thermal response tests by Bayesian inference with correlated residuals," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    11. Zhang, Xueping & Han, Zongwei & Meng, Xinwei & Li, Gui & Ji, Qiang & Li, Xiuming & Yang, Lingyan, 2021. "Study on high-precision identification method of ground thermal properties based on neural network model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1838-1848.
    12. Showmitra Kumar Sarkar & Saifullah Bin Ansar & Khondaker Mohammed Mohiuddin Ekram & Mehedi Hasan Khan & Swapan Talukdar & Mohd Waseem Naikoo & Abu Reza Towfiqul Islam & Atiqur Rahman & Amir Mosavi, 2022. "Developing Robust Flood Susceptibility Model with Small Numbers of Parameters in Highly Fertile Regions of Northwest Bangladesh for Sustainable Flood and Agriculture Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, March.
    13. Cristina Sáez Blázquez & Laura Piedelobo & Jesús Fernández-Hernández & Ignacio Martín Nieto & Arturo Farfán Martín & Susana Lagüela & Diego González-Aguilera, 2020. "Novel Experimental Device to Monitor the Ground Thermal Exchange in a Borehole Heat Exchanger," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, March.
    14. Sang Mu Bae & Yujin Nam & Jong Min Choi & Kwang Ho Lee & Jae Sang Choi, 2019. "Analysis on Thermal Performance of Ground Heat Exchanger According to Design Type Based on Thermal Response Test," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, February.
    15. Urchueguia, Javier F. & Badenes, Borja & Mateo Pla, Miguel A. & Armengot, Bruno & Javadi, Hossein, 2024. "New trilobular geometry using advanced materials for experimentally validated enhanced heat transfer in shallow geothermal applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).

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