Geothermal Boreholes in Poland—Overview of the Current State of Knowledge

Abstract

Geothermal energy can be useful after extraction from geothermal wells, borehole heat exchangers and/or natural sources. Types of geothermal boreholes are geothermal wells (for geothermal water production and injection) and borehole heat exchangers (for heat exchange with the ground without mass transfer). The purpose of geothermal production wells is to harvest the geothermal water present in the aquifer. They often involve a pumping chamber. Geothermal injection wells are used for injecting back the produced geothermal water into the aquifer, having harvested the energy contained within. The paper presents the parameters of geothermal boreholes in Poland (geothermal wells and borehole heat exchangers). The definitions of geothermal boreholes, geothermal wells and borehole heat exchangers were ordered. The dates of construction, depth, purposes, spatial orientation, materials used in the construction of geothermal boreholes for casing pipes, method of water production and type of closure for the boreholes are presented. Additionally, production boreholes are presented along with their efficiency and the temperature of produced water measured at the head. Borehole heat exchangers of different designs are presented in the paper. Only 19 boreholes were created at the Laboratory of Geoenergetics at the Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas, AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow; however, it is a globally unique collection of borehole heat exchangers, each of which has a different design for identical geological conditions: heat exchanger pipe configuration, seal/filling and shank spacing are variable. Using these boreholes, the operating parameters for different designs are tested. The laboratory system is also used to provide heat and cold for two university buildings. Two coefficients, which separately characterize geothermal boreholes (wells and borehole heat exchangers) are described in the paper.

A Critical Review on the Use of Shallow Geothermal Energy Systems for Heating and Cooling Purposes

“…A GSHP system consists of three main components, namely, ground loops or a borehole heat exchanger (BHE), a heat pump system, and a heat distribution system in the conditioned space [10]. Extracting the geothermal heat with the BHEs has various advantages, including no high risks associated with exploration drilling, high durability, and a lesser environmental impact [11]. The BHE consists of a borehole and tubing where heat-carrying fluid flows through.…”

The Use of Geothermal Energy for Heating Buildings as an Option for Sustainable Urban Development in Slovakia

“…The possibilities for geothermal energy to expand its penetration in Europe are mainly from using the enhanced geothermal system (EGS). Some areas have been critically investigated regarding geothermal resource base assessment, recoverable EGS estimates, in-depth research on EGS technologies and the current performance, the designing of suburb-facing systems, drilling technology economics, the conversion of energy using enhanced geothermal systems, the effect of this technology on the environment, and the analysis of enhanced geothermal systems and their sustainability [6,7].…”

“…The drilling works enable geologists to establish the rock composition of an investigated area, along with other data that are connected to the tasks needed in the eventuality of a geothermal energy plant [12]. Geothermal fields, as opposed to hydrocarbon fields, are generally systems with a continuous circulation of heat and fluid, where fluid enters the reservoir from the recharge zones and leaves through discharge areas (hot springs, wells) [7]. Heat production from GE is widespread in many countries of the world.…”

The Study of Soil Temperature Distribution for Very Low-Temperature Geothermal Energy Applications in Selected Locations of Temperate and Subtropical Climate

“…Sliwa et al [1] developed a methodology for determining the energy efficiency of borehole heat exchangers based on temperature profiling. In the case of vertical heat exchangers, the ground temperature distributions concern considerable depths as a function of the length of the boreholes [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Horizontal ground heat exchangers usually require knowledge of temperature distributions in the ground up to several meters [8][9][10][11][12].…”