Darius Mottaghy

FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences · Faculty of Energy Technology

We present new heat flow values and other geothermal data in the upper crystalline crust in the immediate vicinity of the 12.4-km deep Kola super-deep borehole, NW Russia. Our results show a systematic vertical increase in geothermal gradient and heat flow density as deep as we could measure (1.6 km). Our results confirm earlier results on vertical...

The article on the open source code SHEMAT-suite is now available on the SoftwareX's web page (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/softwarex) at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711020301357. Abstract: SHEMAT-Suite is a finite-difference open-source code for simulating coupled flow, heat and species transport in porous med...

Die thermische Nutzung des Untergrunds mit sogenannten thermo‐aktiven Bauteilen ist eine zukunftsorientierte Möglichkeit zur Klimatisierung von Gebäuden. In diesem Zusammenhang ist der Energiepfahl das weltweit am weitesten verbreitete System. Flächige Bauteile, wie beispielsweise Verbau‐ oder Kellerwände verfügen jedoch durch ihre große Kontaktflä...

Abstract Design of near-surface energy geostructures. Energy geostructures (thermo-active elements) are an up-coming technique for the thermal utilisation of the ground. Currently, the energy pile is the most known and used energy geostructure in Europe and all over the world. Nevertheless, plane geostructures such as basement or retaining walls ha...

We present a method to determine equivalent permeability of fractured porous media. Inspired by the previous flow-based upscaling methods, we use a multi-boundary integration approach to compute flow rates within fractures. We apply a recently developed multi-point flux approximation Finite Volume method for discrete fracture model simulation. The...

Following earlier studies, we present forward and inverse simulations of heat and fluid transport of the upper crust using a local 3-D model of the Kola area. We provide best estimates for palaeotemperatures and permeabilities, their errors and their dependencies. Our results allow discriminating between the two mentioned processes to a certain ext...

The crater lake El’gygytgyn in NE Russia was formed by an Asteroid impact 3.6 Myr ago. We present a paleoclimatological analysis based on subsurface temperatures.

In this paper, a thermal resistance model for an energy wall using the example of thermo-active seal panels is presented. In the developed model, the resistances of the pipes as well as the resistance of the structure itself are considered. The resistance model is transferred to a 2D finite difference model, which itself is implemented into the gen...

Die thermische Nutzung des Untergrunds mithilfe von erdberührenden Bauteilen findet in den letzten Jahren immer weitere Verbreitung. Ausführungsbeispiele finden sich z. B. für Energiepfähle, Energieschlitzwände, Energiebodenplatten oder Energietunnel. Am Lehrstuhl für Geotechnik im Bauwesen der RWTH Aachen (GiB) wurden in diesem Zusammenhang thermo...

We analyze the likelihood of success for heat production strategies in a sandstone reservoir in the northeastern German basin in a depth of about 2 km by simulating both double and single well configurations. For this test case study we use an exploited oil and gas field. We combine seismic interpretation, numerical modeling, and stochastic estimat...

It has been argued many times that deep boreholes in Northern America and Europe have recorded basal ice sheet conditions during the last glacial cycle. However, though most of the very deep and well documented boreholes available today belong into this group, systematic investigations of this effects have been rare, and are only now emerging (Math...

We present results of numerical simulations of the temperature field of the subsurface around and beneath the crater Lake El'gygytgyn in NE Russia, which is subject of an interdisciplinary drilling campaign within the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP). This study focuses on determining the permafrost depth and the transition between...

This study focuses on the temperature field observed in boreholes drilled as part of interdisciplinary scientific campaign targeting the El'gygytgyn Crater Lake in NE Russia. Temperature data are available from two sites: the lake borehole 5011-1 located near the center of the lake reaching 400 m depth, and the land borehole 5011-3 at the rim of th...

We present an effective finite difference formulation for implementing and modeling multiple borehole heat exchangers (BHE) in the general 3-D coupled heat and flow transport code SHEMAT. The BHE with arbitrary length can be either coaxial or double U-shaped. It is particularly suitable for modeling deep BHEs which contain varying pipe diameters an...

The crater lake El'gygytgyn Crater Lake in NE Russia was formed by an asteroid impact 3.6 Myr ago. Since 2008 and 2009, an interdisciplinary drilling campaign has been carried out that is part of the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP). After successful core recovery, the aim is to interpret the longest time-continuous record of clima...

The proposed Den Haag Zuidwest district heating system of the city of The Hague consists of a deep doublet in a Jurassic sandstone layer that is designed for a production temperature of 75 °C and a reinjection temperature of 40 °C at a flow rate of 150 m3 h−1. The prediction of reservoir temperature and production behavior is crucial for success of...

In our approach we used observed concentration and pressure data in order to estimate the porosity, permeability and dispersivity. For the estimation we use a Bayesian inversion which is implemented as module of shemat-suite (Rath et al., 2006). The first results use constant pressure at the production borehole and the second one uses smoothed prod...

We present results from inversions for ground surface temperature histories (GSTH), reconstructed from two deep boreholes in Poland. One data set comes from the Udryn borehole, located in northeastern Poland. It implies temperatures during the last glacial maximum (LGM) near −10°C, some 18 K lower than today. Since Udryn is located in a low heat fl...

The prediction of reservoir temperatures and production behavior is crucial for planning a deep geothermal installation. We present a study regarding these issues using the example of a planned doublet in a Jurassic sandstone layer in the city of The Hague, The Netherlands. In the first phase, the main objective is to find out whether there is a si...

An increased use of geothermal energy requires reliable estimates of the risk of failure and the project cost. These estimates can be provided by quantifying the uncertainty of subsurface rock properties and state variables, such as temperature or pressure, in a geothermal reservoir. This quantification can be obtained by using a stochastic approac...

MeProRisk is a joint project of five university institutes at RWTH Aachen University, Free University Berlin, and Kiel University. Two partners, namely Geophysica Beratungsgesellschaft mbH (Aachen) and RWE Dea AG (Hamburg) present the industrial side. The project is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF). The MeProRisk projec...

The crater lake El'gygytgyn in NE Russia was formed by an Asteroid impact 3.6 Myr ago. Since 2008, an interdisciplinary drilling campaign is carried out that is part of the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP). The aim is to obtain the longest time-continuous record of climate change in the terrestrial Arctic and to set it in context w...

Large areas of Germany and neighbouring countries are formed by paleozoic rock formations. Beside large outcrops such as the mountain chains of the Rhenish Massif, paleozoic rocks also dominate the subsurface as forming the Northern Germany basement. Still, reliable data sets on thermal properties are rare. To improve this situation, paleozoic rock...

Quantifying and minimizing uncertainty is vital for simulating technically and economically successful geothermal reservoirs. To this end, we apply a stochastic modelling sequence, a Monte Carlo study, based on (i) creating an ensemble of possible realizations of a reservoir model, (ii) forward simulation of fluid flow and heat transport, and (iii)...

In the frame of the „ Den Haag Zuidwest“ geothermal district heating system a deep geothermal installation is projected. The target horizon of the planned doublet is the „ Delft sandstone“, an upper Jurassic sandstone layer, which has been extensively explored for oil- and gas reservoirs in the last century.

MeProRisk is a joint project of five university institutes at RWTH Aachen University, Free University Berlin, and Kiel University. Two partners, namely Geophysica Beratunggesellschaft mbH (Aachen) and RWE Dea AG (Hamburg) present the industrial side. It is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF).

MeProRisk is a joint project of five university institutes at RWTH Aachen University, Free University Berlin, and Kiel University. Two partners, namely Geophysica Beratunggesellschaft mbH (Aachen) and RWE Dea AG (Hamburg) present the industrial side. It is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF). The MeProRisk project aims to...

In recent years, geothermal logs have been used to reconstruct ground surface temperature histories (GSTH). There are, however, some serious problems with this method. Temporal resolution of the reconstruction decreases drastically going back in time, where only time averages over considerable periods may be estimated and the coupling of surface ai...

An increased use of geothermal energy requires reduction of cost and risk. Information on rock properties in the subsurface is essential for planning of projects for geothermal energy use. Based on a stochastic approach, the uncertainties in the rock properties at a given location and for a target parameter are quantified, such as temperature or fl...

In the framework of the "Den Haag Zuidwest" geothermal district heating system a deep geothermal installation is projected. The target horizon of the planned doublet is the "Delft sandstone" which has been extensively explored for oil- and gas reservoirs in the last century. In the target area, this upper Jurassic sandstone layer is found at a dept...

Thermal diffusivity governs the transient heat transport equation. Thus, a realistic characterisation of this parameter and its temperature dependence is crucial for geothermal modelling. Due to sparse information from boreholes, lack of samples, and elaborate measurement procedures, there is often insufficient data on thermal diffusivity at elevat...

Due to the increasing demand for the extension of road and rail infrastructure even in difficult geological and hydrological ground conditions the freezing method has recently been given a boost for tunnelling applications. The freezing method aims to provide artificially frozen soil as a temporary support structure for successive excavation stages...

We present an effective finite difference formulation for implementing multiple ground heat exchangers (GHE) in the 3-D coupled heat and flow transport model SHEMAT (Simulator of Heat and Mass Transport, Clauser, 2003) The GHE with arbitrary length can be coaxial as well as U-shaped. The new approach does not require the fine discretization of the...

Baier, M. Ziegler, D. Mottaghy, V. Rath: Numerische Simulation des Gefrierprozesses bei der Baugrundvereisung im durchströmten Untergrund, Bauingeneur, 83, 49-60, 2008 Die künstliche Baugrundvereisung hat sich als begleitende Bauhilfsmaßnahme im Tunnelbau bereits vielfach bewährt und gewinnt gerade in jüngerer Zeit zunehmende Beachtung bei einer V...

The inversion of recent borehole temperatures has proved to be a successful tool to determine ancient ground surface temperature histories. To take into account heterogeneity of thermal properties and their non-linear dependence on temperature itself, a versatile 1-D inversion technique based on a finite-difference approach has been developed. Regu...

Airborne high resolution in situ measurements of a large set of trace gases including ozone (O₃) and total water (H₂O) in the upper troposphere and the lowermost stratosphere (UT/LMS) have been performed above Europe within the SPURT project. SPURT provides an extensive data coverage of the UT/LMS in each season within the tim...

Airborne high resolution in situ measurements of a large set of trace gases including ozone (O3) and total water (H2O) in the upper troposphere and the lowermost stratosphere (UT/LMS) have been performed above Europe within the SPURT project. SPURT provides an extensive data coverage of the UT/LMS in each season within the time period between Novem...

In cold regions the thermal regime is strongly affected by freezing or melting processes, consuming or releasing large amounts of latent heat. This changes enthalpy by orders of magnitude. We present a numerical approach for the implementation of these effects into a 3-D finite-difference heat transport model. The latent heat effect can be handled...

Using an extensive data set of temperature logs and thermal properties from the Kola super-deep borehole and 20 shallow boreholes (up to 1.6 km) from its immediate vicinity, we present results from inversions for ground surface temperature histories. We apply a versatile 1-D inversion technique based on a finite-difference approach in order to take...

We present new heat flow values and other geothermal data in the upper crystalline crust in the immediate vicinity of the 12.4-km deep Kola super-deep borehole, NW Russia. Our results show a systematic vertical increase in geothermal gradient and heat flow density as deep as we could measure (1.6 km). Our results confirm earlier results on vertical...

Using an extensive data set of temperature logs and thermal properties from 20 shallow boreholes (up to 1.6 km) in the immediate vicinity of the Kola super-deep borehole, we present results from inversions for ground surface temperature histories. We apply a versatile 1-D inversion technique based on a finite-difference approach in order to take in...

In cold regions the thermal regime is strongly affected by freezing or melting processes, consuming or liberating large amounts of latent heat. This changes enthalpy by orders of magnitude. We present a numerical approach for the implementation of these effects into a 3-D finite-difference heat transport model. The latent heat effect can be handled...

The inversion of borehole temperatures has turned out to be a successful tool to determine ground surface temperature histories.We developed a versatile 1-D inversion technique based on a finite-difference approach in order to take into account the heterogeneity of thermal properties and their nonlinear dependence on temperature. Regularization of...

High-resolution measurements of H2O, O3, and other tracers were carried out on- board a Lear Jet aircraft during a latitudinal cross section over Europe from 36-72N in November 2001 as part of the SPURT (Spurenstofftransport in der Tropopausenre- gion) project. On the northern flight legs, the polar jet region was crossed and deep stratospheric air...

We present new heat flow values and other geothermal data in the upper crystalline crust of the Kola peninsula. In an area of 3 km x 5 km measurements were performed in 1--2 km boreholes surrounding the Kola deep hole and on core samples from these holes. Temperature logs are available from 36 holes. Core data exists from 23 boreholes with a total...

In general, the variation for thermal rock properties is too large to constrain thermal characteristics at a specific site. To improve this situation, this project will provide statistically relevant data of thermal and hydraulic properties for the subsurface of Germany. In a first stage, a large number of mesozoic rock samples from the South-West...

Zusammenfassung In Den Haag soll in naher Zukunft ein Stadtbezirk mit insgesamt 6000 Wohneinheiten über eine geothermische Dublette versorgt werden. Das Großprojekt mit einem geschätzten Finanzvolumen von 50 Mill. € ist ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt der Eneco Energy, E.ON Benelux, der Immobiliengesellschaften Vestia, Staedion, Haagwonen und der Stadt De...

The large sedimentary basins and graben structures in Germany are regions of general interest for geothermal heat use. In our study we focus on two target areas: the eastern part of the Molasse Basin in Southern Germany and the southern and western part of North Rhine Westphalia (Niederrheinische Bucht / Rheinisches Schiefergebirge). A major obstac...

Numerische Modelle, welche auf geologischen und geophysikalischen Daten beruhen, sind Voraussetzung für ein Verständnis der thermischen Eigenschaften der Erdkruste. Thema dieser Dissertation ist die Modellierung des Wärmetransports in der Oberkruste, um die verschiedenen Einflüsse auf die Wärmestromverteilung zu untersuchen. Die bekannte vertikale...