A methodology to calculate long-term shallow geothermal energy potential for an urban neighbourhood

Miglani, Somil; Orehounig, Kristina; Carmeliet, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.10.100

Cited by 53 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Energies 2021, 14, 768 2 of 18 All these features are necessary to describe the geothermal (or heat-exchange) potential of an area, defined as the thermal power that can be exchanged with the ground through a GSHE with a certain setup [12,13]. For this purpose, the geothermal potential, which is the indicator of the efficiency and suitability for the implementation of a BHE, has been mapped in a great variety of environments and areal scales, with many different techniques, combining climatic, geological, hydrogeological and thermophysical information, usually in GIS environment-e.g., [1][2][3]9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the Shallow Geothermal Heat-Exchange Potential for a Lower Fluvial Plain of the Central Apennines: The Metauro Valley (Marche Region, Italy)

Taussi

Borghi²,

Gliaschera³

et al. 2021

Energies

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In this work we assessed the shallow geothermal heat-exchange potential of a fluvial plain of the Central Apennines, the lower Metauro Valley, where about 90,000 people live. Publicly available geognostic drilling data from the Italian Seismic Microzonation studies have been exploited together with hydrogeological and thermophysical properties of the main geological formations of the area. These data have been averaged over the firsts 100 m of subsoil to define the thermal conductivity, the specific heat extraction rates of the ground and to establish the geothermal potential of the area (expressed in MWh y−1). The investigation revealed that the heat-exchange potential is mainly controlled by the bedrock lithotypes and the saturated conditions of the sedimentary infill. A general increase in thermal conductivity, specific heat extraction and geothermal potential have been mapped moving from the coast, where higher sedimentary infill thicknesses have been found, towards the inland where the carbonate bedrock approaches the surface. The geothermal potential of the investigated lower Metauro Valley is mostly between ~9.0 and ~10 MWh y−1 and the average depth to be drilled to supply a standard domestic power demand of 4.0 kW is ~96 m (ranging from 82 to 125 m all over the valley). This investigation emphasizes that the Seismic Microzonation studies represent a huge database to be exploited for the best assessment of the shallow geothermal potential throughout the Italian regions, which can be addressed by the implementation of heating and cooling through vertical closed-loop borehole heat exchanger systems coupled with geothermal heat pumps.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the Shallow Geothermal Heat-Exchange Potential for a Lower Fluvial Plain of the Central Apennines: The Metauro Valley (Marche Region, Italy)

Taussi

Borghi²,

Gliaschera³

et al. 2021

Energies

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“…Ref. [33] describes the spatial planning of BHEs in an urban neighbourhood in Zurich composed of 170 buildings, addressing the constraints of available areas for borehole drilling and reciprocal thermal interference between BHEs.…”

Section: State Of the Art And Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Spatially-Explicit Economic and Financial Assessment of Closed-Loop Ground-Source Geothermal Heat Pumps: A Case Study for the Residential Buildings of Valle d’Aosta Region

et al. 2021

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Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) take advantage of the high thermal inertia of the ground to achieve a higher energy efficiency compared to Air Source Heat Pumps. GSHPs, therefore, have the potential to reduce heating, cooling, and domestic hot water costs, however the high installation cost of borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) limits the growth of such installations. Nevertheless, GSHPs can be profitable under certain conditions (climate, expensive fuels, subsidies, etc.), which can be identified using geo-referenced data and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The proposed work investigates the economic and financial ability of GSHPs to cover the heat demand of the residential building stock of the Italian region Valle d’Aosta. To identify the opportunities offered by GSHPs in the Valle d’Aosta region, more than 40,000 residential buildings were analyzed using a GIS-based method. The return on the investment was then assessed based on the occurrence of two conditions—the Italian subsidies of the “Conto Termico” and the installation of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems—which contribute to the reduction of the initial and operation costs, respectively. The life-cycle costs of the four resulting combinations were compared with conventional systems composed of an oil/gas boiler and an air-source chiller. One of the main findings of this study is that subsidies exert a key role in the financial feasibility of GSHPs, especially for replacing gas boilers, whereas the presence of a PV system has a minor influence on the financial analysis carried out.

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“…Second, the maximum number of boreholes for a given BHE spacing d is determined. As recommended by the German technical guideline VDI 4640, part 2 (2015), a minimum distance between BHE and the buildings is ensured by setting a buffer zone of 2 m. In contrast, the studies by Zhang et al (2014) and Miglani et al (2018) apply a distance of 3 m between borehole and building. According to Zhang et al (2014), we assume that BHE can be installed beneath pavements and parking areas.…”

Section: Vertical Ground Source Heat Pump (Vgshp) Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting the demand: geothermal heat supply rates for an urban quarter in Germany

et al. 2019

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Thermal energy for space heating and for domestic hot water use represents about a third of the overall energy demand in Germany. An alternative to non-renewable energy-based heat supply is the implementation of closed and open shallow geothermal systems, such as horizontal ground source heat pump systems, vertical ground source heat pump (vGSHP) systems and groundwater heat pump systems. Based on existing regulations and local hydrogeological conditions, the optimal site-specific system for heat supply has to be identified. In the presented technical feasibility study, various analytical solutions are tested for an urban quarter before and after building refurbishment. Geothermal heat supply rates are evaluated by providing information on the optimal system and the specific shortcomings. Our results show that standard vGSHP systems are even applicable in older and non-refurbished residential areas with a high heat demand using a borehole heat exchanger with a length of 100 m or in conjunction with multiple boreholes. After refurbishment, all studied shallow geothermal systems are able to cover the lowered heat demand. The presented analysis also demonstrates that ideally, various technological variants of geothermal systems should be evaluated for finding the optimal solution for existing, refurbished and newly developed residential areas. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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A methodology to calculate long-term shallow geothermal energy potential for an urban neighbourhood

Cited by 53 publications

References 22 publications

Defining the Shallow Geothermal Heat-Exchange Potential for a Lower Fluvial Plain of the Central Apennines: The Metauro Valley (Marche Region, Italy)

Defining the Shallow Geothermal Heat-Exchange Potential for a Lower Fluvial Plain of the Central Apennines: The Metauro Valley (Marche Region, Italy)

A Spatially-Explicit Economic and Financial Assessment of Closed-Loop Ground-Source Geothermal Heat Pumps: A Case Study for the Residential Buildings of Valle d’Aosta Region

Meeting the demand: geothermal heat supply rates for an urban quarter in Germany

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