Integrated Approach for Detecting Convection Effects in Geothermal Environments Based on TIR Camera Measurements

Thermal characterization of soils is essential for many applications, including design of geothermal systems. Traditional devices focus on the computation of thermal conductivity, omitting the analysis of the convection effect, which is important for horizontal geothermal systems. In this paper, a procedure based on the monitoring of the surface of the soil with a thermal infrared (TIR) camera is developed for the evaluation of the global thermal imbalance on the surface and in-depth. This procedure allows for the computation of thermal conductivity and global convection heat rate, consequently constituting a complete thermal characterization of the geothermal system. The validation of the results is performed through the evaluation of the radiometric calibration of the thermal infrared camera used for the monitoring and the comparison of the thermal conductivity values obtained in-depth, with traditional methods, and for the surface of the system.