The application of analytical solutions to the thermal plume from a well doublet ground source heating or cooling scheme

Previous research has derived a general 2D analytical solution, using stream functions, to the case of an abstraction-injection well doublet in a regional groundwater flow field. An easily applied analytical solution is presented for the special case where the injection well lies immediately down-gradient of the abstraction well and where the doublet provides ground source heating or cooling. The resulting system of equations can rapidly be used to find a first approximation for (1) the risk of internal thermal feedback in the doublet and (2) the time at which it will occur, (3) the future equilibrium abstraction temperature, (4) the width and (5) the length of the thermal plume migrating down-gradient from the reinjection well.