First survey with good indication for mine water use in Glasgow, UK
The UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow has completed a first survey of the water circulating in abandoned mines lying up to 88 m below the city, as reported in a release today.
Scientists completed pumping tests and collected samples from 10 of the observatory’s 12 boreholes, which range from 16-199 m deep and are fitted with hundreds of state-of-the-art sensors.
The survey has yielded important baseline data on the status of the mine systems.
The results also confirm that scientists will be able to use the boreholes to better understand how thermal energy in mine water could be used as a renewable energy source for homes and industry.
The Glasgow Observatory is one of two facilities that are part of the GBP31 million UK Geoenergy Observatories project. A second facility will be built in Cheshire.
Alan MacDonald for UK Geoenergy Observatories said: “The latest data show that the boreholes of the Glasgow Observatory are well-connected to the flooded mine workings.
“We discovered that the mine water between 50 and 90m below Glasgow is 11-13 degrees celsius. This compares to Scottish groundwater, which has an average temperature of 10 degrees. Understanding the temperature underground and how it varies will help us understand the heat energy resource.
“We’ve also established that the mine workings are connected and that the water can move easily through them.
“This all shows that the Glasgow Observatory is an excellent site for mine water heat research.”
“The hydrogeological data we’ve gathered will form a baseline for all of the science that will take place at the Glasgow Observatory over the next 15 years.
“The data from these 12 boreholes in Glasgow will help scientists around the world understand the subsurface and geothermal energy better.”
The hydrogeological data from the Glasgow Observatory is available online for scientists and researchers to use: https://ukgeos.ac.uk/data-downloads.
Over the next six months, the observatory will release data packs on groundwater geochemistry, post-drill geological models and core scanning data.
The UK Geoenergy Observatories in Glasgow and Cheshire represent a GBP31million investment by the UK government through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). They were commissioned by UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI’s) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and are delivered by the British Geological Survey (BGS), which will run the sites and manage the data.
Source: press release