Ten geothermal bathing and recreation centres have been established in Poland from 2006 to 2013. The largest number of geothermal bathing and recreation centres is located in the Podhale region and in the Polish Lowlands. These structural units have the best geothermal conditions. The maximum reservoir's temperatures in the main aquifer of the Podhale Geothermal System can reach ca. 120-128°C in the deeper parts of the system. The most prospective and exploited aquifers occur within the Middle Triassic formations and in overlaying Middle Eocene formations at the depth of 1,000-3,700 m. At present, five operating centres are located in the Podhale region. They use geothermal waters with the temperature of 27-82°C (the lowest and the highest wellhead temperature of water from wells which are connected for recreational purposes) and total dissolved solids (TDS) of 0.4-3 g/dm 3 . In the Polish Lowlands, the reservoir's temperatures vary from 20 to 130°C at depths of 1-4 km. The most prospective geothermal aquifers of the Polish Lowlands occur within the Lower Cretaceous and the Lower Jurassic formations. Five geothermal recreation centres are currently operating. The centres use waters with the temperature of 38-72°C and a wide range TDS from 0.4 to 79 g/dm 3 . Geothermal waters of the Polish Lowlands are generally high in Na and Cl concentrations. The new centres will use the waters of Lower Jurassic aquifers, the outflow temperatures of which vary from 27 to 82°C and a TDS from 6 to 140 g/dm 3 .
The geothermal energy sector continues to develop dynamically in the world. Within this work, preliminary feasibilities of different geothermal applications were presented for the Lower Cretaceous formations for wider geothermal uses' development in the Mogilno-Lodz trough, Central Poland. The Lower Cretaceous formations are one of the most prospective geothermal reservoirs in Central Poland. Geothermal waters that occur within them are mostly of Na-Cl type and contain specific elements like I, Br or Fe. These are low-temperature geothermal resources together with highly variable mineralization, from 0.4 to even more than 90 g/L. A simple estimation procedure for hydrogeological information, such as water and thermal conditions of the reservoir obtained from an archival chemical analysis and borehole temperature loggings was developed. The potential for geothermal applications was estimated for three zones of the Mogilno-Lodz trough. Possibilities of conjunctive geothermal applications, such as space heating, balneotherapy and balneorecreation, mineral extraction, electricity production in binary systems and aquifer thermal energy storage were examined for the Lower Cretaceous formations. Keywords Geothermal waters • The Lower Cretaceous aquifer • Low-temperature geothermal resources • Geothermal water applications • Renewable energy sources • PolandThis article is part of the special issue on Sustainable Resource Management: Aqua.
Thermal waters in Poland occur in several different geothermal regions, but the best parameters for their effective utilisation are connected i.a. with the area of Polish Lowlands. One of the most prospective areas in the central part of Polish Lowlands for managing geothermal waters for various purposes is the area of Mogilno-Łódź Trough. There are currently 2 operating geothermal heating plants and several others in various stages of development. In this area, water with a temperature of 97.5 °C has been documented. The aim of this article is to determine and visualise the potential of geothermal waters of the central Poland (Mogilno-Łódź Trough) by providing the most important, potential geothermal water parameters. It is done by providing maps of potential temperature, mineralization, water outflow capacity, thermal power and physicochemical analysis (mineralization, waters type). The two most prospective geothermal reservoirs-Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous-were analysed. The results of the studies indicate that this area is characterised by very favourable hydrogeological conditions. Geothermal energy utilisation should be connected with Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoirs, but it should be emphasised that a larger energy potential relates to waters from Lower Jurassic reservoir; however, they are characterised by high water mineralisation (up to 170 g/L). Waters of Lower Cretaceous reservoir are characterised by not only lower mineralisation (up to 100 g/L), but also lower temperature (max. 75 °C). The highest temperatures in the Lower Jurassic are recorded in the axial part of the Trough, where, locally, they exceed in the top of formation 100 °C. On the other hand, in edge Trough zones, water temperatures are 30-40 °C. The actual geothermal potential of the area is much higher than currently used. For example, potential discharge of wells is to over 400 m 3 /h in the Lower Cretaceous and up to over 500 m 3 /h in the Lower Jurassic.
The Centre of Sustainable Development and Energy Savings of the Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection of AGH University of Science and Technology in Miekinia conducts research and educational activities in the field of renewable sources of energy, geothermal heat pumps especially. Growing interest in using the renewable energy sources (RES) is reflected upon the interest in such a discipline of studies. Many people declare intention of studying RES. This is a modern discipline, opened at AGH University of Science and Technology in 2003 as the first in Poland. Since 2012, when the Centre was open ca. 8000 people (including students, pupils, local governments and communities) were educated here. Not only geothermal energy is a main focus attention field. In the Centre other renewable sources of energy are also researched. This include solar energy (both photovoltaic and thermal), solid fuel boilers and wind energy. The Centre is heated by heat pumps with ground sources which are simultaneously use by students for practice and measurements. There are didactic heat pumps with temperature and pressure sensors and electric meters to be used by students during measurements. The Centre is in disposal of self-constructed Thermal Response Test device for thermal parameters measurements. In a stand for testing ground-source brine heat pumps for central heating and hot domestic water preparation research are conducted on the COP heat pump efficiency in accordance with the PN-EN 14511 standard. The Centre works on the prototyping of new, innovative heat pumps.
Mogilno-Lodz Trough is located in central Poland. It is structural basin filled with Triassic-to-Quaternary sediments. Lower Jurassic formations in Poland have one of the best conditions for the heating purposes. Presently, on the area of the Trough, no geothermal plant operates, which utilises geothermal waters from Lower Jurassic formations. Sustainable use of geothermal waters covers, e.g., effective use of thermal energy from waters, before they are injected back to the deposit. Such sustainable use can be achieved in cascaded systems, utilising thermal energy of waters, which gradually lose temperature at following stages of cascaded systems. Geothermal waters and energy occurring in Lower Jurassic formations in Mogilno-Lodz Trough have been analysed in terms of chemical composition and temperature parameters. A dominant type of water is chloridesodium waters, with specific components contents, such as iodine, bromine, and iron. Lower Jurassic formations are deposited at different depths, which affects, to a high extent, water mineralization and temperature, as well as some elements contents. It has been demonstrated which parameters are decisive about a possibility of using them at particular stages of a cascaded system and where one should expect to find suitable conditions for particular applications.
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