Energy performance and thermal impact of a Borehole Heat Exchanger in a sandy aquifer: Influence of the groundwater velocity

Abstract In a saturated soil, the groundwater flow affects both the energy performance and the thermal impact on the surrounding soil of Borehole Heat Exchangers linked to Ground-Source Heat Pumps. In this paper a numerical model in MODFLOW/MT3DMS of a single U-pipe in a sandy aquifer is proposed in order to investigate the two issues in a coupled approach. After validating the model, the typical yearly operation of a Borehole Heat Exchanger extracting and injecting heat into the ground is simulated. For 0.1 ⩽ Pe ⩽ 1 cold and warm plumes develop and the heat rate increases non linearly from 11% to 105%.