An analytical model for vertical-butted geothermal well with different groundwater flow directions

Abstract

Geothermal has become a popular renewable energy in recent decades due to its properties of non-polluting, clean and large reserves. The vertical-butted geothermal well is a new structure for geothermal utilization. Two vertical boreholes with a certain distance are connected at bottoms by directional drilling to form a U-shape circulation loop. Due to the existence of the aquifers, the movement of underground water extends the heat exchange range and affects the geothermal system performance. This paper aims to develop an analytical method to solve the soil temperature field around the vertical-butted geothermal well with different flow directions. Taking the interacted effect of the two parallel pipes on the surrounding soil into consideration, the temperature distribution in the heat exchange zone is obtained. It is found that the temperature field changes significantly when the groundwater flow exists. The movement of underground water extends the downstream thermal radii from 4.8 m to 10.7 m, 10.6 m and 11.7 m when the flow directions are 0°, 45° and 90° toward the axis of the two pipes, respectively. The upstream thermal radii reduce from 5.4 m to 1.9 m for all the cases with groundwater movement. In addition, the effect of the underground water flow direction on the temperature field around the butted wells is analyzed. The results show that when the groundwater flow direction is perpendicular to the axis of the two pipes, the temperature field is the most beneficial to the performance of the vertical-butted geothermal well.