GEONEAT · Complex Fluids in Fractured Geological Media for Enhanced Heat Transfer

GEONEAT aims at unraveling the potential of engineered shear-thinning (ST) fluids in enhanced geothermal systems to improve heat recovery efficiency and in heat tracer tests to infer structural parameters of deep hot reservoirs. Cutting-edge interdisciplinary methodologies from applied mathematics and hydrology are merged in a novel framework to achieve two scientific objectives: (1) characterizing quantitatively how using engineered fluids impacts coupled flow and heat transfers in fractured media at all scales; (2) inferring structural information on fractured media from coupling inverse modeling to field measurements of the heat exchange using complex fluids of different rheologies. To this aim, two technical challenges will be tackled: (1) the development of a multiscale model of coupled flow and heat transport in fractured geological formations; (2) the obtention of experimental data in a synthetic analog medium, to validate the model and constrain an inverse model for characterizing the medium’s geometry. GEONEAT relies on the expertise of a top-notch consortium consisting of the University of Bologna (beneficiary, supervisor Prof. Vittorio Di Federico and co-supervisor Prof. Valentina Ciriello, experts in subsurface stochastic modeling), Stanford University (outgoing phase, supervisor Prof. Daniel M. Tartakovsky and co-supervisor Prof. Roland Horne, experts in uncertainty quantification, inverse modeling, and geothermal energy), and the University Rennes 1 (secondment, supervisor Prof. Yves Méheust and co-supervisor Dr. Maria Klepikova, experts in subsurface heat transfers and analog experiments of flow and transport). Dr. Lenci will receive excellent training in the three institutions to pursue outstanding research, propelling his career development towards becoming a tenured researcher in EU academia. GEONEAT will contribute to promoting the growth of a low-carbon, sustainable, renewable energy market, consistent with the EU’s green goals and priorities.