The performance of an open or closed loop ground source heat pump system depends on local geological conditions. It is important these are determined as accurately as possible when designing a system in order to maximise efficiency and minimise installation costs.Factors that need to be considered are surface temperature, sub-surface temperatures down to 100 -200 m, thermal conductivities and diffusivities of the soil and rock layers, groundwater levels and flows and aquifer properties. In addition rock strength is a critical factor in determining the excavation or drilling method required at a site and the associated costs. The key to determining all of these factors is an accurate conceptual site scale model of the ground conditions (soils, geology, thermogeology, engineering geology and hydrogeology).The British Geological Survey has used the modern digital geological mapping of the UK as a base onto which appropriate attributes can be assigned. As a result it is possible to generate regional maps of surface and sub-surface temperatures, rock strength and depth to water. This information can be used by designers, planners and installers of ground source heat pump systems. The use of appropriate geological factors will assist in creating a system that meets the heating or cooling load of the building without unnecessary over engineering.2
The move towards a lower carbon society is likely to lead to a greater utilisation of geothermal heat as the UK meets the challenge of its EU renewable obligation to source 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020. The shallow temperature field can
Azimuthal apparent‐resistivity measurements are made for the purpose of determining the strike direction of subvertical fracture sets. Data are collected about a common centre, with an electrode array expanded along a sufficient number of azimuths to define the variation of apparent resistivity with orientation. The apparent resistivities for any one electrode spacing are then plotted in a polar diagram. If the data form an ellipse, this is often interpreted as reflecting aligned, subvertical fracturing. However, it is also possible for heterogeneity within the rockmass to manifest itself, at the scale of the measurement, as a variation of apparent resistivity with azimuth. It is recommended that the offset Wenner array is used for all measurements and that a parameter is introduced, the homogeneity index, which defines whether the variations due to homogeneous anisotropy, such as subvertical fracturing, are greater than those due to inhomogeneity. This simple parameter, which is the quotient of two standard deviations, is valid for both single‐peaked and multiple‐peaked ellipses. A four‐stage scheme for the interpretation of azimuthal data is suggested and a consistent set of quantitative measures is recommended. These will allow data, collected by different workers over different lithologies, to be compared. There are a number of geological situations which can give rise to anisotropy within the rockmass and great care is needed when interpreting azimuthal data in terms of aligned fracturing. Numerical modelling of the response to a buried channel of a rotated offset Wenner array demonstrates that elliptical data are generated by such a linear feature. Depending on the location of the array with respect to the channel, these data are either indistinguishable from those generated by aligned fracturing, or can be recognized by application of the homogeneity index. In the case where the response can be identified as being due to a channel, diagnostic information can be derived on the location and strike of the channel.
Abstract:The postulate that geothermal energy might be recoverable from strata laterally equivalent to the Fell Sandstone Formation (Carboniferous: Mississippian) beneath Newcastle upon Tyne has been examined by the drilling and testing of the 1821 m deep Newcastle Science Central Deep Geothermal Borehole. This proved 376.5 m of Fell Sandstone Formation below 1400 m, much of which resembled braided river deposits found at outcrop, although some lower portions were reddened and yielded grains of aeolian affinity. Downhole logging after attainment of thermal equilibrium proved a temperature of 73°C at 1740 m, and allowed estimation of heat flow at about 88 mW m −2 . This relatively high value probably reflects deep convective transfer of heat over a distance of >8 km from the North Pennine Batholith, along the Ninety Fathom Fault. The Fell Sandstone traversed by the borehole proved to be of low hydraulic conductivity (c. 7 × 10 −5 m d −1 ). The water that entered the well was highly saline, with a Na-(Ca)-Cl signature similar to other warm waters encountered in the region. It remains for future directional drilling to establish whether sufficient natural fracture permeability can be encountered, or wells stimulated, to support commercial heat production.
The Cornubian granite batholith provides one of the main high heat production and flow provinces within the UK. An extensive programme of borehole measurements was undertaken in the 1980s to characterise the geothermal resource. Here we revisit the published data on heat flow and heat production from 34 boreholes and revise the published heat flow values in accord with modern palaeoclimate knowledge. This leads to a more rigorous (and increased) set of estimated temperatures at depth across the granite outcrops. Predicted temperatures at a depth of 5 km largely exceed 200 °C and are 6-11 % higher than previously estimated values. We also reconsider the borehole heat production values in conjunction with new heat generation information from a recent regional-scale airborne geophysical survey. The radiometric (gammaray) data provide detailed (~70 m along-line) ground concentration estimates of the heat-producing radioelements. These are then combined to estimate heat production in the near surface. The airborne estimates are subject to attenuation by the soil profile. Here we demonstrate and then adopt an assumption that the observations of the soilbedrock medium undergo a flux attenuation by a factor of about two compared to the response of the underlying material. The revised estimates are then correlated with their equivalent deeper borehole estimates. Linear regression is then used to correct the shallow airborne estimates to values that are consistent with the deeper borehole determinations. The procedure provides a detailed and extensive mapping of heat production at both on-and off-granite locations across SW England. The Dartmoor and Land's End granite offer the greatest spatial geothermal potential in terms of their intrinsic radionuclide concentrations and associated heat production. District-scale heat production is studied using the airborne data acquired uniformly across conurbations. The analysis identifies the towns of Camborne, Penzance, St. Austell, Redruth and St Ives as having relatively high values (>4 μW m −3 ) within their urban perimeters.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.