Details

For the extraction and infiltration of hot water in the groundwater system, the control of well clogging is also important. This WarmingUP sub-study addresses the question whether the risk of clogging is larger or smaller for HTO wells at higher temperatures, whether clogging occurs to the same extent or whether additional requirements must be imposed compared to existing guidelines for drinking water production. This report presents the first step of the research program on clogging processes in unconsolidated aquifers near high temperature storage wells. The report focusses on the effect of the temperature on the behavior of colloidal particles during injection. The effect of the release of colloidal particles near the production well is also an important aspect, but is not addressed in this report.
The clogging mechanism involves the transport and deposition of colloidal particles in saturated porous media.