The purpose of the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Demonstration Program is to stimulate the interest of industry by demonstrating the feasibility of using a geological formation for seasonal thermal energy storage, thereby, reducing crude oil consumption, minimizing thermal pollution, and significantly reducing utility capital investments required to account for peak power requirements. This purpose will be served if several diverse projects can be operated which will demonstrate the technical, economic, environmental, and institutional feasibility of aquifer thermal energy storage systems

Fox, K.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

SEASONAL THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE 
Program Area Synopsis: 
The o b j e c t i v e  o f  t he  STES Program i s  t o  demonstrate the  economic 
storage and r e t r i e v a l  of energy on a seasonal basis, using heat or  c o l d  
ava i l  able from .solar, i n d u s t r i a l  or  u t i l i t y  sources dur ing an energy 
surplus season f o r  use dur ing  peak demand periods. The i n i t i a l  t h r u s t  
o f  the STES program i s  toward u t i l i z a t i o n  o f  aqu i fe rs  f o r  thermal energy 
storage. Seasonal storage i n  aqu i fe rs  w i l l  be evaluated i n  t h e  Aqu i fe r  
Thermal Energy Storage Demonstration Program, beginning w i t h  conceptual 
design o f  s i t e  s p e c i f i c  systems which w i l l  s to re  energy from solar ,  
i n d u s t r i a l ,  or  u t i l i t y  sources and u t i l i z e  energy fo r  d i s t r i c t  space 
condi t ioning,  process or  a g r i c u l t u r a l  purposes, and cont inu ing through 
the  const ruc t ion  and operat ion o f  a smaller number o f  Demonstration 
Projects. A p a r a l l e l  Technical Support Program w i l l  prov ide data on 
aqu i fe r  behavior, data f rom f i  e l  d tes ts ,  economic and mathematical 
modeling data. The program w i l l  a lso  monitor work on pond, lake, and 
ea r th  storage; p r i m a r i l y  under IEA sponsorship and evaluate the  need f o r  
add i t iona l  f i e l d  tes ts .  
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19800014337 2020-03-21T18:14:27+00:00Z

AQUIFER THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE PROGRAM 
Kenneth Fox 
P a c i f i c  Northwest Laboratory 
PROJECT OUTLINE 
P r o j e c t  T i t l e :  Aqu i fe r  Thermal Energy Storage Program 
P r i  nc i pa l  I nves t  i gator:  Kenneth Fox 
Organizat ion: Pac ' i f i c  Northwest Laboratory 
P. 0. Box 999 
Rich1 and, WA 99352 
Telephone: (509) 942-0891 FTS: 444-0891 
P r o j e c t  Goals: To s t imu la te  t h e  i n t e r e s t  of i n d u s t r y  by demonstrating 
the  f e a s i b i l i t y  of u t i l i z i n g  an aqu i fe r  f o r  seasonal 
thermal energy storage. Technical, economic, . 
environmental and i n s t i t u t i o n a l  f e a s i b i l i t y  are being 
consi dered. 
This  program i s  d iv ided i n t o  two phases: 
Phase I - Th is  phase cons is ts  o f  t h e  p repa ra t i on  o f  
conceptual designs f o r  f u l l y  i n teg ra ted  thermal energy 
storage systems whi ch inc lude an energy source, thermal 
t ranspor t ,  a s torage aquifer and a user app l ica t ion .  Up 
t o  ten  conceptual designs w i  11 be prepared on a cos t  
re imbursable basis. Each proposal w i l l  be s p e c i f i c  t o  
one o f  t h e  f o l l o w i n g  categories: a) High Temperature 
Heat Storage ( 1000C); b)  Low Temperature Heat Storage 
( 1000C); c )  C h i l l  Storage; d) Combined Heat and C h i l l  
Storage. Proposals are due on December 5. Contractor  
s e l e c t i o n  w i l l  be completed by March and design work 
should s t a r t  Ju ly ,  1980. The nominal t ime  frame f o r  
conceptual design i s  two years. 
Phase I 1  - Upon complet ion o f  t h e  conceptual designs, up 
t o  f i v e  w i l l  be selected f o r  f i n a l  design, construct ion,  
s tar tup,  and operat ion. This  work w i l l  be accomplished 
on a cost  shar ing basis  between DOE and the  opera t ing  
e n t i t y .  The nominal t ime frame f o r  t h i s  phase i s  t h r e e  
years. 
P r o j e c t  Status: RFP Promulgated: September 7, 1979 
Proposer 's Conference Held: October 11, 1979 
Proposal s Recei ved: December 5 ,  1979 
Contractor  Se lec t ion  Due: March, 1980 
Phase I Work Star ts :  Ju ly ,  1980 
Phase I Work Completes: June, 1982 
Phase I1 Work Star ts :  December, 1982 
Phase I1 Work Completes: December, 1985 
Contract  Number: EY-76-C-06-1830 
Contract  Period: June 1979 t o  December 1985 
Funding Level : . $1,800,000 (FY-1980) 
Funding Source: Energy Storage Systems D i v i s i o n  
U.S. Department of Energy 
AQUIFER THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE PROGRAM 
Kenneth Fox 
Pacific Northwest Laboratory 
INTRODUCTION 
I .  
Management of the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Demonstration Program is 
a task assigned to Pacific Northwest Laboratory operated by Battelle Memorial 
Institute, under the Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage Program. This Program is 
funded by the Department of Energy, Division of Energy Storage. 
The purpose of the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage  emo on strati on. Program 
is to stimulate the interest of industry by demonstrating the feasibility of 
utilizing an aquifer for seasonal thermal energy storage, thereby, reducing 
crude oil consumption, minimizing thermal pollution, and significantly reducing 
utility capital investments required to account for peak power requirements. 
This purpose-will be served if several diverse projects can be operated which 
will demonstrate the technical, economic, environmental, and institutional 
feasibility of aquifer thermal energy storage systems. 
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM PHASING 
In order to assure that only those programs which have a good probability 
of success are actually constructed and operated, this program has been divided 
into two phases. Phase I consists of conceptual design and Phase I1 consists of 
final design, construction, startup, and operation for a sufficient period to 
demonstrate the feasibility of the system. 
Phase I 
Phase I is actually more than merely preparation of the conceptual design. 
The key element in the storage system is of course, the aquifer itself. No 
artificial energy repository will be accepted. The storage media must be a 
naturally occurring geologic formation. This means that during Phase I, in 
addition to the preparation of a conceptual design for the entire system, "the 
naturally geologic formation'' must be identified and characterized to the 
extent necessary to assure that it is compatible to the other elements in the 
system. This characterization of ' the aquifer will require much more time than 
the preparation of a conceptual design would normally involve. 
The proposers are given freedom in the energy source and user application. 
For the energy source, possibilities include waste heat from an industrial 
source, cogeneration steam from a power plant, a solar collector, a heat pump, 
or chilled water from a winter chill application to be used for summer air 
conditioning. User application might be district heating, agricultural uses, 
such as drying, industrial uses which might require chill or heat for a parti- 
cular process. The entire system is tied together by an energy transport system 
which carries the energy from the source to the aquifer and from the aquifer to 
the user application. In most instances, it is anticipated that the transport 
system will also carry water removed from an aquifer back to the same aquifer 
or a nearby formation for reinjection. 
Phase I will require approximately two years and there will be up to ten 
contracts for conceptual design. It is anticipated that the aquifer characteri- 
zation will take the best part of a year and the remainder of the time will be 
involved preparing a conceptual design which balances the energy source, the 
aquifer for storage and the user application with a suitable transport system. 
During this period, a preliminary environmental assessment will be required 
and an investigation of the institutional restraints will be made. Along with 
conceptual design reports, we will receive a proposal for Phase I1 work. It is 
intended that the timing will be such that all Phase I1 proposals will be 
received together and the choice of Phase I1 contractor will be made in as 
brief a time span as possible so as to minimize disruptions of the working teams 
which are to continue. Phase I work will have been carried out under cost 
reimbursable contracts with entities which will most likely consist of joint 
ventures between an architectlengineer, a user application such as a district 
heating association, an energy source which might be a utility or industrial 
plant, and a municipality in many cases which will manage the system. 
Phase I1 
Up to five of the conceptual designs prepared under Phase I will be chosen 
for continuation in Phase 11. In Phase 11, final design, construction, startup, 
and operation will take place. Phase I1 will be accomplished on a cost sharing 
basis in which the cost of design, construction, and operation will be shared 
between the government and the proposing organization. In the selection process 
for Phase 11, it is hoped that in addition to identifying those projects that 
have the highest prospect for demonstrating the feasibility of the aquifer 
thermal energy storage concept, we will also obtain projects that do not dupli- 
cate work already underway by industry, climatic and geographic distribution, 
and those that have the greatest potential for widespread application through- 
out the country. It is hoped that we obtain a diversity of effort that allows 
the coverage of four basic technical areas. These are high-temperature heat 
storage, low-temperature heat storage, chill storage, and combined heat and 
chill storage. 
MILESTONES 
Figure 1 shows the milestones and the schedules for their achievement 
during the entire program. Of particular importance will be the phasing of 
Phase I contracts such that they all complete in approximately the same time 
frame. We should thereby be able to make a choice of those that are to proceed 
to Phase 11, such that there will be a minimum disruption in existing organi- 
zations. The proposals for Phase I1 work will be submitted along with the 
conceptual design work and therefore, the choice of Phase I1 contracts can be 
accomplished in a relatively short period of time. However, the cost sharing 
arrangements are a negotiable item, and therefore, the negotiation of Phase I1 
contracts could require considerable effort and time. 
INTEREST 
The interest in this program from industry has been most encouraging. The 
Department of Energy first advertised a Request for Expression of Interest in 
January, 1979, and from this an initial core of approximately 40 interested 
companies was received. It is quite clear that from this time on several of 
these companies have been investigating the possibilities for programs of this 
nature. The announcement of the Request for Proposals appeared in the Commerce 
Business Daily on September 7, 1979, and from this nearly 200 requests were 
received. The distribution of the origin of the requests is shown in Figure 2. 
It was interesting to note that many of them were from individual companies that 
recognized the need to form a joint venture in order to propose, and many of 
these individual entities were searching for partners toward such a joint 
venture. We, therefore, decided to provide each requesting organization with 
a copy of our proposer's mailing list. We thus performed a "mating" service 
which, in at least a few cases, has resulted in consultants, geologists, archi- 
tect/engineers, potential user applications, and potential energy sou?ces find- 
ing a match. Since the technical portion of the proposal is not due until 
December 17, it would be premature to describe the nature of the proposals that 
will be evaluated. However, in Figures 3 and 4, I have shown hypothetical but 
typical proposals of the type we expect to be receiving. I will describe these, 
as I think they will give a better understanding of the nature of the potential 
demonstration projects. 
Hypothetical Aquifer Thermal Energy 
Storage Demonstration Projects 
Project ill (Figure 3) 
A mid-western city with a population base of approximately 200,000 is 
undergoing an urban renewal program. As part of this urban renewal program, a 
large section of the downtown area is being supplied with district heat from a 
central power plant. In the industrial area of the town, approximately five 
miles from the center of this urban renewal, there is a large food processing 
plant which currently disposes of waste heat through a heat exchanger which in 
turn discharges into a large river running near the town. The Chamber of 
Commerce has approached the contractor in charge'of the urban renewal program, 
the owner of the food processing plant, and a major engineerlarchitect firm 
headquartered in the mid-west. They have assembled these three organizations 
and propose participating in the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Program. These 
three have in turn formed a joint venture and added a geological consulting 
firm to assist them in the aquifer technology. The geologist has given a pre- 
liminary evaluation that indicates a high probability of suitable aquifers in 
the area between the food processing plant and the urban renewal area. Much 
of this land is muncipally owned at this time, and therefore, there is a good 
prospect that the land and water rights will be available. This joint venture 
is now preparing a proposal which will involve diverting all or a portion of 
thewasteheat from the processing plant into an injection system which will 
heat the aquifer through direct injection of waste heat. A withdrawal system 
will be located after the general direction of flow and rate of flow are deter- 
mined and the heat withdrawn from the aquifer will be run through a heat ex- 
changer at the site and then transported to the district application. The 
project manager will be the engineerlarchitect firm who will work with the urban 
renewal contractor on the interface with the heat supply, with the food process- 
ing company on the design and financial arrangements for the waste heat source, 
and will design the transport system, the heat exchangers and the pumping system 
to be used. The geological consultant will prepare a plan for the characteri- 
zation of the aquifer and will pick the sites at which test borings will be 
made to determine the aquifer characteristics. Meanwhile, the geological 
consultant will have assembled sufficient data from Federal and State surveys 
and from well drilling in the immediate area of the municipal land to determine 
that the project is feasible and worth the investment that must be made in order 
to prepare a proposal. Some of the other problems which are currently being 
investigated are these: 
1) Is there an alternate source of heat that can be used in the event 
of a failure of the energy supply system or some loss of the transport 
system during the critical cold winter months? Should redundancy be 
built into the system in the form of an auxiliary boiler? 
2) Must the current design of the district heating system be revised to 
increase piping sizes to allow for the lower temperature to be expected 
from the aquifer fed heat exchanger as compared to direct generation? 
3) Are there any environmental impediments toward implementation of this 
project? For example, are the aquifers in the area being examined 
likely to be those which feed the municipal drinking water system? 
4 )  Does the economic future for the food processing plant and the manage- 
ment of the corporation look stable enough to warrant a five-year 
commitment to this energy source? 
Project /I2 (Figure 4 )  
A large university located on the outskirts of a small mid-Atlantic city 
is currently heated by its own boiler plant, which is obsolescent and must be 
replaced in the near future. At the same time, the university is concerned 
about the increasing electric bill caused by individual air conditioning in- 
stalled in each building of the campus. The university has hired an HVAC 
engineering corporation to make a study of their requirements and to recommend 
a cost efficient means of providing heating and air conditioning for the entire 
campus throughout the year. The engineerlarchitect is currently examining the 
possibility of a combination heat and chill aquifer system which could provide 
heating and cooling to the entire campus through separate aquifer systems. 
Inasmuch as the plan involves replacing the entire heating system for the 
buildings, the HVAC engineer proposes to replace the existing heating system 
with a forced air system in which the air is heated or chilled by water from 
the appropriate aquifer system. One aquifer system would be heated from waste 
heat received from the power plant, while the other would be chilled in the 
winter from a heat exchanger system to be established above ground using winter 
chill to cool the aquifer. The system looks particularly atractive because the 
air conditioning requirements are relatively small as the entire campus is 
seldom gperated throughout the summer. Inasmuch as a new heating system must 
be installed in many of the buildings just by virtue of age, the enlargement of 
the heating system required by the larger volume of flow required from the 
aquifer system does not substantially add to the cost of the renewal. An econo- 
mic analysis is being made of the cost benefits, including the capital cost of 
the aquifer system as compared to the installation of a new boiler and heating 
plant, and the significant reduction in operating costs which will result from 
using waste heat as opposed to burning fossil fuel or relying on an increasingly 
expensive off-campus source of electricity for heating. The same problems 
must be investigated as were investigated in Case 1, namely the environmental 
concerns, reliability of the heat source, alternate means of providing energy 
should there be a failure in the source, the possibility of legal prohibitions 
against injection or removal of large quantities of water, and other "what if" 
concerns. 
CONCLUSION 
Aquifer thermal energy storage as a closed cycle energy efficient system 
is a new, and as yet, an unproven concept in the United States. However, the 
individual elements in the user application, the aquifer storage systems, the 
energy transport system, and the energy source are certainly not beyond current 
technology. While it is still too early to predict the.nature of the projects 
that will be chosen, and therefore, the direction the program will take, we 
have cause for optimism in our ability to seed industry with the demonstrated 
effectiveness of this technique. 
- .~ . -- 
F I G U R E  2 .  D I S T R I B U T I O N  OF R F P s  BY STATE 
- -. - . 
FIGURE 3. SEASONAL THERMAL,ENERGY STORAGE 
PROJECT U l  
FIGURE 4. SEASONAL THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE 
UNIVERSITY 
BUILDINGS CHILL 
TOWER 


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