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Abstract:
Concepts of High-Temperature Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT-ATES) (> 50 °C) are investigated in this study for system application in the Upper Jurassic reservoir (Malm aquifer) of the German Molasse Basin (North Alpine Foreland Basin). The karstified and fractured carbonate rocks exhibit favourable conditions for conventional geothermal exploitation of the hydrothermal resource. Here, we perform a physics-based numerical analysis to further assess the sustainability of HT-ATES development in the Upper Jurassic reservoir. With an estimated heating capacity of approx. 19.5 MW over half a year, our approach aims at determining numerically the efficiency of heat storage under the in situ Upper Jurassic reservoir conditions and projected operation parameters. In addition, the hydraulic performance of the HT-ATES system is further evaluated in terms of productivity and injectivity index.
The numerical models build upon datasets from three operating geothermal sites at depths of approx. 2000–3000 m TVD, located in a subset of the reservoir dominated by karst-controlled fluid fluxes. Commonly considered as a single homogeneous unit, the 500 m thick reservoir is subdivided into three discrete layers based on field tests and borehole logs from the three considered sites. The introduced vertical heterogeneity with associated layer-specific enhanced permeabilities allows to examine potentially arising favourable heat transfer, and in combination with the facilitated high operation flow rates (100 kg s−1) to evaluate thermal recoveries in the multilayered reservoir. All simulations account for fluid density and viscosity variation based on thermodynamically consistent equations of state (EOS).
