GEOPHIRES v2.0: updated geothermal techno-economic simulation tool

Abstract

GEOPHIRES is a computer code to perform techno-economic simulations of geothermal energy systems. For a given set of input parameters, the tool simulates the subsurface reservoir, wellbore, and surface plant either by using built-in or external user-provided models. The simulated output includes the reservoir production temperature and instantaneous and lifetime surface plant heat and/or electricity production. Combined with capital and operation and maintenance (O&M) cost correlations, GEOPHIRES applies levelized cost models to estimate the overall required investment and levelized cost of electricity and/or heat (LCOE and LCOH). Possible end-use configurations are direct-use heat (e.g., for district heating or an industrial process), electricity, and cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP). Ground-source heat pumps are not considered. The name GEOPHIRES is an acronym that stands for GEOthermal energy for Production of Heat and electricity ("IR") Economically Simulated, with "IR" representing electric current and resistance and referring to the electricity mode.

Design of Geothermal District Heating and Cooling System for the West Virginia University

“…Perform an economic analysis to estimate the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) using GEOPHIRES (GEOthermal energy for Production of Heat and electricity ("IR") Economically Simulated) [22].…”

“…The material of construction is assumed to be stainless steel SS-304 to provide corrosion resistant to the PHE [43]. For the four cases considered in this work, the process data in the assumption of pure water [45]. However, to account for geothermal fouling of the heat exchanger, a typical fouling resistance for geothermal fluid (0.0007 ft 2 -h-°F/BTU) [46] obtained 20 from the literature was used in rigorous design of the heat exchanger.…”

“…In this chapter, the total costs of associated major surface plant equipment and distribution pipelines required for the economic evaluation are summarized. The total surface plant costs estimated combined with subsurface, surface, and financial parameters were used to run GEOPHIRES simulations [22]. The LCOH for the proposed hybrid GDHC is determined using GEOPHIRES software, while the LCOH for the natural gas fired boiler (NGFB) system without geothermal or heat pump is calculated in Microsoft Excel.…”

“…Following the design of the surface plant for the DHC system at WVU, an economic evaluation of the proposed hybrid GDHC system was performed in GEOPHIRES. GEOPHIRES is a software used to perform techno-economic analysis of a geothermal energy system [22], [45], [58]. Here, the objective is to determine the economic feasibility of the hybrid GDHC system in order to compare the costs and benefits of the proposed hybrid GDHC system with the existing MEA coalfired steam-based system.…”

“…Here, the objective is to determine the economic feasibility of the hybrid GDHC system in order to compare the costs and benefits of the proposed hybrid GDHC system with the existing MEA coalfired steam-based system. To achieve this objective, first the LCOH was evaluated in GEOPHIRES [22], [40], [41], [58], [59]. The parameters used to calculate the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) include:…”