On the applicability of the moving line source theory to thermal response test under groundwater flow: considerations from real case studies

The classical methodology to perform and analyze thermal response test (TRT) is unsuccessful when advection contributes to heat transfer in the ground, due to the presence of a groundwater flow. In this study, the applicability, the advantages, and the limitations of the moving line source model to interpret TRT data are discussed. Two real TRT case studies from the Italian Alpine area are reported and analyzed, with both the standard infinite line source approach and the moving line source one. It is shown that the inverse heat transfer problem is ill-posed, leading to multiple solutions. However, besides minimization of the error between measurements and modeling, physical considerations help to discriminate among solutions the most plausible ones. In this regard, the MLS approach proves to be effective in the advection-dominated case. The original time criterion proposed here to disregard initial data from the fitting, based on a resistance–capacitance model of the borehole embedded in a groundwater flow, is validated in terms of convergence of the solution. In turn, in the case when advection and conduction are competitive, the MLS approach results more sensitive to ground thermal conductivity than to Darcy velocity. Although in this case a limited impact of the uncertainty in the groundwater velocity on the boreholes sizing is expected, future studies should focus on the development of a successful TRT methodology for this condition.