| Title | Combining geothermal energy and groundwater remediation – Results from the Dutch national research program |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sommer, Drijver, Verburg, Slenders, de Vries, Dinkla, Leusbrock, Grotenhuis |
| Year | 2013 |
| Conference | European Geothermal Conference |
| Keywords | Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), bioremediation, groundwater pollution, chlorinated hydrocarbons. |
| Abstract | Application of aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is growing rapidly to provide sustainable heating and cooling to buildings. However, presence of soil and groundwater contaminants in many urban environments limits applicability of ATES and hampers redevelopment of these sites. Combination of ATES and remediation is therefore considered a promising new concept to achieve both energy savings and improvement of the groundwater quality. Several methods to combine ATES with remediation are discussed. The most promising combination concepts are considered to be 1) ATES and natural attenuation, 2) ATES and containment, 3) ATES and aboveground water treatment and 4) ATES and in-situ remediation. Physical, chemical and biological measurements are presented of the first ATES system in the Netherlands that is, on purpose, constructed in an aquifer contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons. The applied combination concept focusses on natural attenuation and containment of the contaminants. Measurements show that conditions for reductive dechlorination improve at one of the monitoring wells. Additional lab experiments with aquifer material from the ATES site demonstrate that after inoculum with dechlorinating bacteria full degradation of CIS and VC to ethene is achieved within four weeks. Further studies are required to show the effectiveness of this method under field conditions. |