Water flow within deformed and undeformed sample from Glasgow observatory

For communities leaving nearby abandoned and flooded mines, mine water geothermal energy has emerged as a viable alternative source of sustainable energy (heating and cooling). The viability of these systems has started being investigated, both in the UK and internationally. A hydro-thermo-mechanical understanding of these systems is crucial from an engineering perspective to evaluate whether overflowed mines can function as the necessary heat exchange system to supply energy to small urban communities. Glasgow's UKGEOS is the ideal option for that use.
In this study, we present experimental findings from samples taken from the Glasgow observatory GGC01 borehole with an emphasis on the tested material's hydromechanical (de-coupled) behaviour. Some of these samples underwent laboratory induced triaxial compression to improve their permeability. The tested samples have been examined as non-homogeneous systems to extract textural information and investigate how textural variations and lab-induced fractures (x-ray CT) affect the water displacement (neutron CT) within those systems. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the hydromechanical integrity of the subsurface material. Existence of lab-induced fractures greatly facilitates waterfront displacement. These experiments do not address the effects of thermal cyclic loading, but they do offer important information about the subsurface material and its potential for use in mine water geothermal energy.