TY - JOUR
T1 - Geothermal Potential of the Brenner Base Tunnel—Initial Evaluations
AU - Geisler, Thomas
AU - Voit, Klaus
AU - Burger, Ulrich
AU - Cordes, Tobias
AU - Lehner, Florian
AU - Götzl, Gregor
AU - Wolf, Magdalena
AU - Marcher, Thomas
PY - 2022/5/12
Y1 - 2022/5/12
N2 - Increasing demands on mobility and transport, but limited space above ground, lead to new traffic routes being built, even more underground in the form of tunnels. In addition to improving the traffic situation, tunnels offer the possibility of contributing to climate-friendly heating by indirectly serving as geothermal power plants. In this study, the geothermal potential of the future longest railway tunnel in the world, the Brenner Base Tunnel, was evaluated. At the Brenner Base Tunnel, warm water naturally flows from the apex of the tunnel towards the city of Innsbruck, Austria. In order to estimate its geothermal potential, hydrological data of discharge rates and temperatures were investigated and analyzed. The investigations indicated the highest geothermal potential in the summertime, while the lowest occurs during winter. It could be shown that these variations were a result of cooling during discharge through areas of low overburden (mid mountain range), where the tunnel atmosphere is increasingly influenced by the air temperatures outside the tunnel. Nevertheless, the calculations showed that there will be a usable potential after completion of the tunnel.
AB - Increasing demands on mobility and transport, but limited space above ground, lead to new traffic routes being built, even more underground in the form of tunnels. In addition to improving the traffic situation, tunnels offer the possibility of contributing to climate-friendly heating by indirectly serving as geothermal power plants. In this study, the geothermal potential of the future longest railway tunnel in the world, the Brenner Base Tunnel, was evaluated. At the Brenner Base Tunnel, warm water naturally flows from the apex of the tunnel towards the city of Innsbruck, Austria. In order to estimate its geothermal potential, hydrological data of discharge rates and temperatures were investigated and analyzed. The investigations indicated the highest geothermal potential in the summertime, while the lowest occurs during winter. It could be shown that these variations were a result of cooling during discharge through areas of low overburden (mid mountain range), where the tunnel atmosphere is increasingly influenced by the air temperatures outside the tunnel. Nevertheless, the calculations showed that there will be a usable potential after completion of the tunnel.
KW - geothermal energy
KW - geothermal potential
KW - hydrology
KW - sectional discharges
KW - tunnels
KW - water
KW - water inflow
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130326927&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/pr10050972
DO - 10.3390/pr10050972
M3 - Article
SN - 2227-9717
VL - 10
JO - Processes
JF - Processes
IS - 5
M1 - 972
ER -