scholarly journals Mine Water as Geothermal Resource in Nowa Ruda Region (SW Poland)

Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Chudy

The Lower Silesian Coal Basin in south-western Poland was a region of intensive coal mining until the late 1990s. After mining was stopped and the mines were closed, the underground workings were flooded. This created an underground reservoir of waters that can be economically managed to supply energy, using heat pumps, to the town of Nowa Ruda. The article analyses the energy potential of these waters. It was shown that open loop with reinjection system based on mine shafts can provide 10 GWh of geothermal energy while reducing emissions from 4.27 tCO2 to 0.22 tCO2. In addition, 2.09 GWh can be extracted from water flowing out of mine shafts via adits. As a final result, this will lead to improve air quality as well as increase the environmental value of the region. These results can act as a reference tool for local government, specialists in energy policy at the local scale. They are also the basis for future work aimed at acquiring external funds to carry out detailed studies of the condition of mine shafts, geothermal profiling of water in sunken shafts and test pumping, which will make it possible to determine the real quantities of water to be used.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaan Yamanturk ◽  
Cihan Dogruoz

As it is known, the utilization and production of renewable energy resources are very important in recent years. Due to its geological structural formations, Turkey has a serious geothermal energy potential as a renewable energy resource comparing with the other countries. West side of Turkey has also a critical role to use the geothermal energy resources. In these fields, geothermal is mostly used in electricity generation, greenhouse heating and locational requirements. The components while producing the geothermal water from wells such as heating pumps, re-injection pipes and other equipment are also significant. In this study, coefficient of performance (COP) utilizing in heat pumps has been investigated and the new approach to find out the parameter has been identified. Based on COP equation, the formula of COP has been re-coded on Dev C++ compiler by using C++ computer language in order to focus on the importance of computer aided applications in geothermal energy sector. There are no more studies showing the COP with C++ codes in literature. On the other hand, Germencik region, in the west side of Turkey, has been evaluated and the production processes by Guris Construction and Engineering Co. Inc. have been explained in the study. Moreover, the potential of Turkey has also been mentioned in this study. The aim of the study is to examine the Germencik region geothermal energy potential and to improve the coefficient of performance by using C++ in heat pumps. The result of this study shows us the Germencik region has an important potential and the computer aided technologies can also be adapted easily into the processes while producing geothermal energy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annu Martinkauppi ◽  
Kaiu Piipponen ◽  
Lasse Ahonen

<p>Finland is a part of a low-temperature geothermal regime of Fennoscandian Shield. The need for heating energy is high and ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are common in heating of single houses. Shallow ground source heat can be effectively utilized using a closed collector loop with non-freezing heat carrier fluid operating at the temperature range of about -5 to +5°C. The system is economically feasible, because the average target temperature in heating of well-isolated houses is low. District heating requires high output temperatures (in Finland nowadays up to 110°C), implying that a heat pump must receive the ground temperatures of at least about 20°C. Heat collectors in porous, permeable sedimentary rocks may be based on an open circulation loop between two or more boreholes, whereas in Finland single deep boreholes equipped with a heat collector are mainly considered. A borehole heat exchanger (BHE) in deep and warm bedrock, like in decommissioned underground mines offers great temperature benefits in producing more energy than BHE placed on the ground surface.</p><p>The Pyhäsalmi mine in northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, is a 1 440 meter deep underground zinc and copper mine that will be decommissioned in a near future. In the Pyhäsalmi Energy Mine project funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) we examined the heat transfer properties of heat collector types installed in the borehole at the bottom of the mine. The Precambrian crystalline bedrock, consisting of granitoids, migmatites, gneisses and schists typically has low geothermal gradient (10 – 20 K/km), but thermal conductivity is rather high (2.5 – 3.5 Wm<sup>-1</sup>K<sup>-1</sup>). Thus, the temperature at the depth of 1 440 m is about +20°C. We compared the performance of different collector types in the underground mine environment: coaxial open-loop collector with and without insulation and u-tube collector, as well as different borehole radii to optimize geothermal energy production. Also, we studied the effect of the bedrock temperature (5 – 50°C) on the performance of the BHE.</p><p>The heat exchange modelling was carried out with COMSOL Multiphysics®. The modelled physics included conductive heat transfer in bedrock and different collector types, and conductive-convective heat transfer in heat carrier fluid. The models were used to simulate heat transfer from bedrock to the heat circulation loop up to 100 years circulating water (feeding temperature +6°C) in the loop.</p><p>The results indicate that a single 300 meter deep energy well placed at the bottom of the mine can be dimensioned to produce water of approximately 12°C with twelve kilowatts power. Further increase in output temperature requires deeper boreholes or serial coupling of two boreholes, allowing heat production at the temperature range of 70 – 90 °C by means of heat pumps. Compared with the conventional shallow geothermal energy solutions, the geothermal potential of the underground mine is several times higher due to higher bedrock temperature. An insulated open-loop coaxial collector is better than a coaxial collector without an insulation or a typical u-tube collector.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 02007
Author(s):  
Javier Menéndez ◽  
Jorge Loredo

The contribution of renewable energies to the world's total energy demand has increased particularly during the last decades, and they will continue gaining market share. The European energy and climate policies have as one of their targets 20% of final energy from renewable origin by 2020. Underground coal mines closured and flooded constitute large underground reservoirs that can be economically managed to supply geothermal energy (heating and cooling) by means of heat pumps. This paper analyzes the geothermal potential of the water stored inside the coal mines of the Asturian Central Coal Basin (ACCB) and the reduction of CO2 emissions compared to the use of fossil fuels. The results of the study that has been carried out show a capacity of 50 MWt. The potential for generation thermal energy is 112,000 MWh/year with an electric consumption of 14,000 MWh/year. The Coefficient Of Performance (COP) medium is 8 kWht/kWhe. The reduction of CO2 emissions compared to other fuel sources can reach 80%.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2691
Author(s):  
Nataša Ćuković Ignjatović ◽  
Ana Vranješ ◽  
Dušan Ignjatović ◽  
Dejan Milenić ◽  
Olivera Krunić

The study presented in this paper assessed the multidisciplinary approach of geothermal potential in the area of the most southeastern part of the Pannonian basin, focused on resources utilization. This study aims to present a method for the cascade use of geothermal energy as a source of thermal energy for space heating and cooling and as a resource for balneological purposes. Two particular sites were selected—one in a natural environment; the other within a small settlement. Geothermal resources come from different types of reservoirs having different temperatures and chemical compositions. At the first site, a geothermal spring with a temperature of 20.5 °C is considered for heat pump utilization, while at the second site, a geothermal well with a temperature of 54 °C is suitable for direct use. The calculated thermal power, which can be obtained from geothermal energy is in the range of 300 to 950 kW. The development concept was proposed with an architectural design to enable sustainable energy efficient development of wellness and spa/medical facilities that can be supported by local authorities. The resulting energy heating needs for different scenarios were 16–105 kW, which can be met in full by the use of geothermal energy.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2347
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Hałaj ◽  
Jarosław Kotyza ◽  
Marek Hajto ◽  
Grzegorz Pełka ◽  
Wojciech Luboń ◽  
...  

Krakow has an extensive district heating network, which is approximately 900 km long. It is the second largest city in terms of the number of inhabitants in Poland, resulting in a high demand for energy—for both heating and cooling. The district heating of the city is based on coal. The paper presents the conception of using the available renewable sources to integrate them into the city’s heating system, increasing the flexibility of the system and its decentralization. An innovative solution of the use of hybrid, modular heat pumps with power dependent on the needs of customers in a given location and combining them with geothermal waters and photovoltaics is presented. The potential of deep geothermal waters is based on two reservoirs built of carbonate rocks, namely Devonian and Upper Jurassic, which mainly consist of dolomite and limestone. The theoretical potential of water intake equal to the nominal heating capacity of a geothermal installation is estimated at 3.3 and 2.0 MW, respectively. Shallow geothermal energy potential varies within the city, reflecting the complex geological structure of the city. Apart from typical borehole heat exchangers (BHEs), the shallower water levels may represent a significant potential source for both heating and cooling by means of water heat pumps. For the heating network, it has been proposed to use modular heat pumps with hybrid sources, which will allow for the flexible development of the network in places previously unavailable or unprofitable. In the case of balancing production and demand, a photovoltaic installation can be an effective and sufficient source of electricity that will cover the annual electricity demand generated by the heat pump installation, when it is used for both heating and cooling. The alternating demand of facilities for heating and cooling energy, caused by changes in the seasons, suggests potential for using seasonal cold and heat storage.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 706
Author(s):  
Jacek Majorowicz ◽  
Stephen E. Grasby

We summarize the feasibility of using geothermal energy from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to support communities with populations >3000 people, including those in northeastern British Columbia, southwestern part of Northwest Territories (NWT), southern Saskatchewan, and southeastern Manitoba, along with previously studied communities in Alberta. The geothermal energy potential of the WCSB is largely determined by the basin’s geometry; the sediments start at 0 m thickness adjacent to the Canadian shield in the east and thicken to >6 km to the west, and over 3 km in the Williston sub-basin to the south. Direct heat use is most promising in the western and southern parts of the WCSB where sediment thickness exceeds 2–3 km. Geothermal potential is also dependent on the local geothermal gradient. Aquifers suitable for heating systems occur in western-northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and southwestern Saskatchewan. Electrical power production is limited to the deepest parts of the WCSB, where aquifers >120 °C and fluid production rates >80 kg/s occur (southwestern Northwest Territories, northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and southeastern Saskatchewan. For the western regions with the thickest sediments, the foreland basin east of the Rocky Mountains, estimates indicate that geothermal power up to 2 MWel. (electrical), and up to 10 times higher for heating in MWth. (thermal), are possible.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5119
Author(s):  
Tomasz Sliwa ◽  
Tomasz Kowalski ◽  
Dominik Cekus ◽  
Aneta Sapińska-Śliwa

Currently, renewable energy is increasingly important in the energy sector. One of the so-called renewable energy sources is geothermal energy. The most popular solution implemented by both small and large customers is the consumption of low-temperature geothermal energy using borehole heat exchanger (BHE) systems assisted by geothermal heat pumps. Such an installation can operate regardless of geological conditions, which makes it extremely universal. Borehole heat exchangers are the most important elements of this system, as their design determines the efficiency of the entire heating or heating-and-cooling system. Filling/sealing slurry is amongst the crucial structural elements. In borehole exchangers, reaching the highest possible thermal conductivity of the cement slurry endeavors to improve heat transfer between the rock mass and the heat carrier. The article presents a proposed design for such a sealing slurry. Powdered magnesium was used as an additive to the cement. The approximate cost of powdered magnesium is PLN 70–90 per kg (EUR 15–20/kg). Six different slurry formulations were tested. Magnesium flakes were used in designs A, B, C, and magnesium shavings in D, E and F. The samples differed in the powdered magnesium content BWOC (by weight of cement). The parameters of fresh and hardened sealing slurries were tested, focusing mainly on the thermal conductivity parameter. The highest thermal conductivity values were obtained in design C with the 45% addition of magnesium flakes BWOC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hernando Enrique Rodriguez Pantano ◽  
Valentina Betancourt ◽  
Juan S. Solís-Chaves ◽  
C. M. Rocha-Osorio

Colombian geothermal potential for power generation is interesting due to the presence of the three Andean mountain ranges and the existence of active volcanoes in junction with springs and underground reservoirs with the consequent closeness of available hydrothermal water-wells. The Machin volcano is a small mountain placed in the middle of the country, that has a considerable geothermal potential with wells in a temperature range of 160 to 260C. For that reason, a techno-economic simulation for a Geothermal Energy Generation System is proposed in this paper, using for that the System Advisor Model software. The purpose of this research is to present a more encouraging picture for public and private investors interested in exploiting this energy potential in Colombia. Simulation results include technical and economic aspects as annual and monthly energy production, geothermal resource monthly average temperature, and the Time Of Delivery Factors are also considered. Some tables with system configuration, plant and pump costs, Capacity Factor, and real and nominal Levelized Cost of Energy are also shown.


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