Liu, Dr. Quan

Research Interests
My research focuses on shallow geothermal systems, integrating process-based modeling with field investigations and data-driven methods to support sustainable and reliable deployment. I develop computational frameworks for sustainability assessment, uncertainty quantification, geothermal potential evaluation, and optimization, with the goal of supporting robust system design and operation under limited site information. A central theme of my work is understanding how site-specific conditions govern subsurface heat transport and, consequently, geothermal system performance. To reduce conceptual and parameter uncertainty, I combine hydrogeological field surveys, geophysical surveys, and machine learning to improve subsurface characterization and enable model-informed decision-making.

Project Experience
2021-2025 Geo-Resume Project (BMWK)
2025-2026 WärmeGut Project (BMWK)
2026- CampusGeoHub Project (BMWK)

Publications
Liu Q, Rioseco E M, Weiland F, et al. A surrogate-based computational framework for optimizing thermal strategies in large multi-subsystem borehole heat exchanger sites[J]. Energy, 2025, 322: 135705. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2025.135705
Liu Q, Rioseco E M, Weiland F, et al. Sustainability prediction of a large borehole heat exchanger array considering the impacts of solar radiation and land cover changes[J]. Energy, 2025, 322: 135630. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2025.135630
Zhou D, Tatomir A, Gao H, et al. Thermo-sensitive tracer technology to monitor the movement of thermal front in geothermal energy production[J]. Energy Conversion and Management, 2025, 341: 120056. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120056
Qiao F, Wang J, Chen Z, et al. Periodic forced-gradient heat and solute tracer tests to characterize the hydraulic, thermodynamic and transport properties of unconfined weakly permeable aquifers[J]. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 2025: 104629. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2025.104629
Xing Y, Liu Q, Hu R, et al. Global sensitivity analysis of water level response to harmonic aquifer disturbances through a Monte-Carlo based surrogate model with random forest algorithm[J]. Journal of Hydrology, 2024, 641: 131775. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131775
Zhou D, Tatomir A, Gao H, et al. Influences of directional aperture heterogeneity on the performances of two-phase enhanced geothermal system considering the CO2 buoyant force[J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2024, 228: 125611. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2024.125611
Römhild L, Ringel L M, Liu Q, et al. Hybrid discrete fracture network inversion of hydraulic tomography data from a fractured‐porous field site[J]. Water Resources Research, 2024, 60(1): e2023WR036035. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036035
Liu Q, Hu L, Hu R, et al. Characterization of aquifer heterogeneity by tomographic slug test responses considering wellbore effects[J]. Journal of Hydrology, 2023, 627: 130472. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130472
Liu Q, Weiland F, Pärisch P, et al. Influence of site characteristics on the performance of shallow borehole heat exchanger arrays: A sensitivity analysis[J]. Geothermics, 2023, 114: 102785. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2023.102785
Liu Q, Hu R, Hu L, et al. Investigation of hydraulic properties in fractured aquifers using cross-well travel-time based thermal tracer tomography: Numerical and field experiments[J]. Journal of Hydrology, 2022, 609: 127751. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.127751