Thomas Heinze

I am senior lecturer at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
I work on coupled thermo-hydro-(electro-)mechanical and chemical process in the earth. My goal is a consistent description of coupled processes from pore scale to its macroscopic application.
The outcome of my research benefits our understanding of hydrothermal systems, water bodies, and natural hazards with a special emphasis on climate change and mitigation measures.

The interplay of permeability dynamics, fault weakening, and stress conditions in the seismogenesis around the city of Novy-Kostel from 2000 to 2018 (2024 - 2027)
The triggering and driving role of high-pressure fluids in the seismogenesis of earthquake swarms, and especially in NW Bohemia, has been suspected since decades. In this project, we will investigate whether (i) a dynamic permeability of the different fault segments in dependence of stress, pressure and temperature; (ii) a reduced fault strength due to mineral dissolution; and (iii) the fault geometry within the local stress field, are either triggers, driving forces or facilitating conditions for the characteristic seismic migration pattern in the region. To address these research question, we propose the design of a three-dimensional, physics-based, thermo-hydro-mechanical model including multi-phase, multi-component flow of uprising supercritical carbon dioxide and deep groundwater. This model will allow the simulation of multiple earthquake swarms and potentially enhance our understanding of the periodicity and spatio-temporal evolution of earthquake swarms. The model outcome can be compared with the long history of measurements at the ICDP Eger Rift observatory, which poses a unique opportunity for model calibration and validation.
Funded by German Research Association (DFG) as part of the SPP 1006 - ICDP

DIETER: Digitalisierung bergbaulicher Strukturen mithilfe innovativer Sensorik und Künstlicher Intelligenz (2024 - 2026)
There are numerous abandoned and flooded mines that require tools for hazard prevention, but could also have a potential use for heat or drinking water production. In this project, we will combine hardware and software-based monitoring (soft sensors) with a physics-based digital twin of a flooded mine to assess hazards and potentials. The dashboard created for the developed digital solutions will provide relevant stakeholders with an easy-to-use overview of the current state and expected trends of the mine. Our sub-project will develop data-driven soft sensors that utilize neural networks to derive and predict relevant hydraulic variables such as water volume, temperature and various chemical parameters of the water based on environmental data to overcome the limited access to (and short lifespan of) conventional sensors in harsh mining environments.
Funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Holger Class, University Stuttgart; Prof. Dr. Rolf Becker, FH Rhein-Waal; Yuri Struszczynski, EXWE GmbH.

Thermohydraulic Processes during Water Infiltration into Frozen Soil with Implications for Geohazards under a Changing Climate (2023 - 2026)
Climate change is affecting mountainous hydrology with increasing temperatures and shifted rain patterns. These changes will dramatically increase the number of disastrous natural hazards, such as extensive surface runoff and debris flow. The thermo-hydraulic state of the soil is critical in these events as it controls the water infiltration. In this project, the coupling between infiltrating water and the soil at sub-zero temperatures will be investigated using advanced modeling and experimental methods in the laboratory as well as at a field site. Special emphasis is given to the role of macropore networks. The project results will benefit hazard mitigation measures as well as groundwater management in regions that depend on mountainous water resources.
Funded by German Research Association (DFG).
Cooperation partner: Dr. I. Baselt, Bundeswehr Universität München.

iMolch: Nachhaltige Wassermanagement-Konzepte mithilfe innovativer Monitoring - Strategien (2023 - 2026)
This project addresses the need of optimized and sustainabel water management in Germany by aplying an innovative monitoring strategy based on indicators, such as temperature and chemical compounds. Based on the monitoring data, conceptual and numerical prognostic modeling will support the evaluation of future water quality and quantity. From these results, sustainabel aquifer management concepts can be derived to secure sufficient water supply and to avoid potential conflicts between stakeholders.
Funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany).
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. T. Scheytt, TU Freiberg; Prof. Dr. R. Meckenstock, Uni Duisburg-Essen; Dr. F. Schiperski, TU Berlin; Prof. Dr. P. Rohns, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf; Prof. Dr. F. Bilek, GFI GmbH.;

Winzer: Wärmespeicherung in Zechen des Ruhrgebiets / Heat storage in abondened mines in the Ruhr area (2022 - 2025)
In this project, a comprehensive condition monitoring is carried out on an existing aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) pilot plant in groundwater-filled mining cavities. The measurement data and findings obtained will be used to make qualitative and quantitative statements on the hydrochemical, microbiological, geomechanical and groundwater ecology during cyclic operation. Concepts and technologies for the feasibility and optimization, as well as the safe operation of ATES in former coal mines will be derived from this. The development of thermo-hydraulic simulations will be used to evaluate future sites. The project can increase the operational safety, social acceptance and economic viability of mine heat storage systems.
Funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany).
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. R. Bracke, Fraunhofer IEG; Dr. E. Nettmann, Ruhr-University Bochum; Dr. T. Grab, TU Freiberg; T. Seidel, delta H GmbH.

EcoFrac: Fracking Free Enhanced geothermal systems using environmental friendly natural products (2020 - 2022)
Natural conditions currently hinder the successful exploitation of geothermal energy in European low-temperature rock formations, even if this energy production is most environmental friendly, CO2-neutral, and continuously available. Geotechnical engineering to overcome these barriers, such as fracking, is emotionally discussed and has no legal acceptance. This hinders the widespread use of geothermics as an energy source. A new and green approach by regulating the macroscopic variable of outflow temperature through chemical modification of the flow regime by adding natural compounds to the circulating fluid will be examined in this project using laboratory tests as well as numerical models. The goal of this project is to increase heat transfer efficiency and to slow down efficiency loss of enhanced geothermal systems.
Funded by Volkswagen Foundation.

Heat transfer between fluid and rough walled fractures (2019 - 2023)
This project aims at a physical model of heat transfer in fractures including microscopic fracture surface morphology. Fracture aperture, surface roughness, and contact area significantly influence not only fluid flow but also heat transfer. Furthermore, temperature affects fluid properties and stress, which again depends on temperature and fluid pressure, affects the fracture surface morphology. Therefore, a suitable heat transfer model needs to incorporate hydraulic and mechanical processes, resulting in a fully coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical model. Recent laboratory experiments permit a study of these processes in an accuracy unknown up until now and enable an in-depth comparison with theoretical and numerical models.
Funded by German Research Association (DFG).

Local thermal non-equilibrium conditions in frozen soils and snow (2018 - 2019)
Water infiltration into frozen soil is a complex process with great relevance for a broad range of applications, such as flooding but also microbiological activity. Rain on snow events can either accelerate snow melting and cause floods, or increase the snow load and possible facilitate avalanches. In both cases, the solid medium (soil or snow) is initially in a different thermal state (sub-zero Celsius) than the liquid water. Without a local thermal equilibrium, heat transfer between the phases (soil/snow, air, liquid water and ice) needs to be calculated explicitly. Varying total water content and phase transition between liquid and frozen state require new concepts to describe the thermal and hydraulic dynamics. Melting of the snow and preferential flow further increase the complexity of the model.
Czech University of Life Sciences - Water Resources and Environmental Modeling. Funded by European Union, managing authority the Czech Operational Program Research, Development and Education.

Coupled hydro-electro-mechanical processes in landslides (2015 - 2018)
Increasing pore pressure might cause slope failure, like landslides after heavy rainfall or dam breaking after intrusion of sea water. Water content and water flow can be monitored using geophysical methods such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and self-potential (SP) measurements. This projects aimed at the development of an early-warning system for landslides combining measurements with advanced numerical modeling. During the project time, the system was installed and validated at a test site close to Bonn (Germany). Interpretation and data analysis of the geophysical data set was improved through joint inversion of ERT and refraction seismic data. Laboratory tests and numerical simulations were performed to improve the understanding of the coupled hydro-electro-mechanical processes observed using the SP data.
University of Bonn, Germany - Geophysics. Funded by BMBF.

Development and Application of coupled THM solvers to estimate rock failure events from laboratory to field scale (2012-2014)
The project aimed at the development of a consistent physical and numerical model to be applied on laboratory and field scale to study the physics of rock failure at high pore pressure. Realistic damage mechanics, so a description of the degradation of elastic properties, is especially important if the rock is subjected to repeated pore pressure changes. Reoccurring, fluid-driven earthquake swarms and stimulation of geothermal fields during hydrofracturing are examples for this. In laboratory tests, acoustic emissions (AE) contain important information at a very local scale. A straightforward mechanism to obtain a proxy for AEs during a fully coupled poro-elasto-plastic numerical simulation was adapted, which agrees well with laboratory measurements and has been successfully extended to field scale for detecting and localizing earthquakes, as shown for the 2008 earthquake swarm in West-Bohemia (Czech Republic).
Master and Doctoral studies. University of Bonn, Germany - Geodynamics. Funded by DFG and VolkswagenStiftung.

Early on during my academic career I had the chance to gain important experience in teaching class room lectures, seminars and field excursions. I set a high value on a solid knowledge base to build on. In the graduate courses, I try to advance towards the state of the art in science to train students in critical discussions of hypotheses and to challenge results.

Mathematical and numerical model development, as well as computer based data analysis are part of mine scientific methods. Therefore, software development and programming is a crucial part of my daily work. Building upon my experience as a professional software developer, I try to apply high programming standards, technologies and tools whenever possible. This includes, besides others, coding and development guidelines, code documentation, version control and automatic testing on various levels, to allow other researchers access to the code by the FAIR principle (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable und Reusable). Most of my own code is written in Fortran, Matlab or Python but I also apply C++ or other programming and script languages whenever necessary. High performance computing on small and intermediate computer clusters is realized by parallelization techniques.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Heinze, T. (2024). Multi-phase heat transfer in porous and fractured rock. Earth-Science Review, , 104730. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104730
• Grifka, J., Nehler, M., Licha, T., Heinze, T. (2023). Fines migration poses challenge for reservoir-wide chemical stimulation of geothermal carbonate reservoirs. Renewable Energy, 219, 119435. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119435
• Heinze, T., Pastore, N. (2023). Velocity-dependent heat transfer controls temperature in fracture networks. Nature Communications, 14, 362. doi: s41467-023-36034-w
• Mebrahtu, T., Heinze, T., Wohnlich, S., Alber, M. (2022). Slope stability analysis of deep-seated landslides using limit equilibrium and finite element methods in Debre Sina area, Ethiopia. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 81, 403. doi: 10.1007/s10064-022-02906-6
• Grifka, J., Weigand, M., Kemna, A., Heinze, T. (2022). Impact of an Uncertain Structural Constraint on Electrical Resistivity Tomography for Water Content Estimation in Landslides. Land, 11, 1207. doi: 10.3390/land11081207
• Grifka, J., Heinze, T., Licha, T. (2022). The resin sealed column (RESECO) setup for flow-through experiments on solid rocks under high temperature and high pore pressure conditions. Hydrogeology Journal, 30, 1327–1336. doi: 10.1007/s10040-022-02482-9
• Tran, T.Q., Banning, A., Heinze, T., Wohnlich, S. (2022). Integration of self-organizing maps, statistical analysis, and hydrogeochemical modeling methods to identify spatio-seasonal variations in mine water quality. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 233, 106908. doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2021.106908
• Gunatilake, T., Heinze, T., Miller, S., Kemna, A. (2021). Hydraulically conductive fault zone responsible for monsoon triggered earthquakes in Talala, India. Tectonophysics, 820, 229117. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2021.229117
• Heinze, T. (2021). A Multi-Phase Heat Transfer Model for Water Infiltration Into Frozen Soil. Water Resources Research, 57(10), e2021WR030067. doi: 10.1029/2021WR030067
• Baselt, I., Heinze, T. (2021). Rain, Snow and Frozen Soil: Open Questions from a Porescale Perspective with Implications for Geohazards. Geosciences, 11(9), 375. doi: 10.3390/geosciences11090375
• Heinze, T. (2021). Constraining the heat transfer coefficient of rock fractures. Renewable Energy, 177, 433-447. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.089
• Frank, S., Zuber, P., Pollak, S., Heinze, T., Schreuer, J., Wohnlich, S. (2021). A High-Pressure High-Temperature Column for the Simulation of Hydrothermal Water Circulation at Laboratory Scale. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 44. doi: 10.1520/GTJ20200020
• Moradi, S., Heinze, T., Budler, J., Gunatilake, T., Kemna, A., Huismann, J.A. (2021). Combining Site Characterization, Monitoring and Hydromechanical Modeling for Assessing Slope Stability. Land 10(4), 423. doi: 10.3390/land10040423
• Heinze, T., Frank, S., Wohnlich, S. (2021). FSAT – A fracture surface analysis toolbox in MATLAB to compare 2D and 3D surface measures. Computers and Geotechnics, 132, 103997. doi: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2020.103997
• Frank, S., Heinze, T., Pollak, S., Wohnlich, S. (2021). Transient heat transfer processes in a single rock fracture at high flow rates. Geothermics, 89, 101989. doi: 10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.101989
• Frank, S., Heinze, T., Ribbers, M., Wohnlich, S. (2020). Experimental Reproducibility and Natural Variability of Hydraulic Transport Properties of Fractured Sandstone Samples. Geosciences, 10, 458. doi: 10.3390/geosciences10110458
• Frank, S., Heinze, T., Wohnlich, S. (2020). Comparison of Surface Roughness and Transport Processes of Sawed, Split and Natural Sandstone Fractures. Water, 12(9), 2530. doi: 10.3390/w12092530
• Heinze, T. (2020). A highly flexible laboratory setup to demonstrate granular flow characteristics. Natural Hazards, 104, 1581-1596. doi: 10.1007/s11069-020-04234-y
• Heinze, T. (2020). Possible effect of flow velocity on thawing rock-water-ice systems under local thermal non-equilibrium conditions. Cold Region Science and Technology, 170, 102940. doi: 10.1016/j.coldregions.2019.102940
• Heinze, T., & Bloecher, J. (2019). A model of local thermal non-equilibrium during infiltration. Advances in Water Resources, 132, 103394. doi: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.103394
• Hamidi, S., Heinze, T., Galvan, B., & Miller, S.A. (2019). Numerical study of asymmetric vertical fluid intrusion in deep reservoirs: effects of stress, temperature and salinity. Tectonophysics, 750, 280-288. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.11.01
• Hamidi, S., Heinze, T., Galvan, B., & Miller, S.A. (2019). Critical review of the local thermal equilibrium assumption in heterogeneous porous media: dependence on permeability and porosity contrasts. Applied Thermal Engineering, 147, pp. 962–971. doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.10.130
• Heinze, T., Limbrock, J.K., Pudasaini, S.P., & Kemna, A. (2019). Relating mass movement with electrical self-potential signals. Geophysical Journal International, 216(1), pp. 55–60. doi: 10.1093/gji/ggy418
• Heinze, T., & Hamidi, S. (2017). Heat transfer and parameterization in local thermal non-equilibrium for dual porosity continua. Applied Thermal Engineering, 114, pp. 645–652. doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.12.015
• Heinze, T., Hamidi, S., & Galvan, B. (2017). A dynamic heat transfer coefficient between fractured rock and flowing fluid. Geothermics, 65, 10–16. doi: 10.1016/j.geothermics.2016.08.007
• Heinze, T., Hamidi, S., Galvan, B., & Miller, S.A. (2017). Numerical simulation of the 2008 West-Bohemian earthquake swarm. Tectonophysics, 694, 436–443. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.11.028
• Heinze, T., Jansen, G., Galvan, B., & Miller, S.A. (2016). Systematic study of the effects of mass and time scaling techniques applied in numerical rock mechanics simulations. Tectonophysics, 684, pp. 4–11. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.10.013
• Heinze, T., & Galvan, B. (2016). Novel numerical strategy for solving strongly coupled elastoplastic damage models with explicit return algorithms: Application to geomaterials. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 80, pp. 64–72. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2015.10.023
• Heinze, T., Galvan, B., & Miller, S.A. (2015). A new method to estimate location and slip of simulated rock failure events. Tectonophysics, 651, 35–43. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.03.009
• Heinze, T., Galvan, B., & Miller, S. A. (2015). Modeling porous rock fracturing induced by fluid injection. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 77, 133–141. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2015.04.003

Selection of Conference Contributions

• Heinze, T. (2022). Heat transfer across scales: from single fractures to fracture networks. 2022 General Assembly, EGU, Vienna, Austria.
• Heinze, T. (2021). Heat Transfer in Fractures. 2021 AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, United States of America.
• Heinze, T. (2020). Numerical study of heat transfer across rough fracture surfaces. 2020 General Assembly, EGU, Vienna, Austria.
• Heinze, T., Blöcher, J. (2019). A local thermal non-equilibrium model for rainwater-infiltration into the snowpack. 2019 General Assembly, EGU, Vienna, Austria.
• Heinze, T., Limbrock, J., Weigand, M., Wagner, F. & Kemna A. (2017). Self-Potential Monitoring of Landslides on Field and Laboratory Scale. 2017 Fall Meeting, AGU, New Orleans, LA, United States of America.
• Heinze, T., Möhring, S., Budler, J., Weigand, M. & Kemna A. (2017). Improving water content estimation on landslide-prone hillslopes using structurally–constrained inversion of electrical resistivity data. 2017 General Assembly, DGG, Potsdam, Germany.
• Heinze, T., Jansen, G., Galvan, B., & Miller S.A. (2016). Systematic study of the effects of scaling techniques in numerical simulations with application to enhanced geothermal systems. General Assembly, EGU, Vienna, Austria.
• Hamidi, S., Heinze, T., Galvan, B., & Kemna, A. (2015). Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium Heat Transfer in Fractured Porous Media. Flowtrans, Strasbourg, France.
• Galvan, B., Hamidi, S., Heinze, T., Khatami, M., Jansen, G., & Miller, S.A. (2014). Towards a general simulation tool for complex fluid-rock lithospheric processes: merging pre-processing, processing and post-processing in state-of-the-art computational devices. GeoMod, Potsdam, Germany.
• Heinze, T., Hamidi, S., Galvan, B., & Miller, S.A. (2014). Numerical Modeling of earthquake swarms in the Vogtland / West-Bohemia. GeoMod, Potsdam, Germany.
• Heinze, T., Galvan, B., & Miller S.A. (2013). Modeling the Fracturing of Rock by Fluid Injection - Comparison of Numerical and Experimental Results. General Assembly, EGU, Vienna, Austria.

Dr.rer.nat. Thomas Heinze
Ruhr Universität Bochum
Hydrogeochemistry and Hydrogeology
44780 Bochum
Germany

e-mail: [forname.surname]@rub.de
Street: Universitätsstr. 150
Room: IA 5/065
Phone: +49 (0) 234 32 24613