Geothermal energy has many advantages over solar and other renewables. These advantages include: 1) weather-proof; 2) base-load power; 3) high stability and reliability with a capacity factor over 90% in many cases; 4) less land usage and less ecological effect; 5) high thermal efficiency. The total installed capacity of geothermal electricity, however, is much smaller than those of solar energ...

The similarities and differences in reservoir engineering in the geothermal and petroleum industries are not familiar to many. This unfamiliarity frequently leads to aberrant perception of the risks and rewards of geothermal development in the minds of developers and financiers who are accustomed to the petroleum industry but are new to geothermal. This paper is a comparative survey of the stat...

OBJECTIVES Geothermal waters may contain soluble, radioactive radon gas. Spa facilities that use geothermal water may be a source of an increased radiation dose to people who stay there. It has been necessary to assess the exposure to radon among people: workers and visitors of spa centers that use geothermal waters. MATERIAL AND METHODS In 2013, workers of the Nofer Institute of Occupational...

The conditions of heat source and heat sink in a geothermal ORC system may frequently vary due to variations in geological conditions, ambient temperature and actual operation. In this study, an off-design performance prediction model for geothermal ORC systems is developed according to special designs of critical components, and an optimal control strategy which regards the turbine guide vane ...

T Abstract Geothermal reservoirs commonly exist in hydrothermal convection systems involving fluid circulation downward in areas of recharge and upwards in areas of discharge. Because such reservoirs are not isolated from their surroundings, the nature of thermal and hydrologic connections with the rest of the system may have significant effects on the natural state of the reservoir and on its ...

Waters located at greater depths usually exhibit high mineral content, which necessitates the use of closed systems, i.e. re-injecting them into the formation after recovering the heat. This significantly reduces investment efficiency owing to the need to drill absorption wells and to perform anti-corrosion and anti-clogging procedures. In this paper, possibilities for the efficient utilisation...

Editorial Topic 4 of the Renewable Energy Program of the Helmholtz Association focusses inter alia on the sustainable and cost-efficient use of geothermal reservoirs for base-load supply of heat and electricity by EGS. Current EGS projects show the limitations of such systems. Firstly, the localization of a potential reservoir prior to drilling still remains a major challenge. Secondly, the min...

INTRODUCTION Early humans probably used geothermal water that occurred in natural pools and hot springs for cooking, bathing and to keep warm. We have archeological evidence that the Indians of the Americas occupied sites around these geothermal resources for over 10,000 years to recuperate from battle and take refuge. Many of their oral legends describe these places and other volcanic phenomen...

Ground deformation contains important information that can be exploited to look into the dynamics of a geothermal system. In recent years, InSAR has manifested its strong power in the monitoring of ground deformation. In this paper, a multi-temporal InSAR algorithm, WLS InSAR, is employed to monitor and characterize the Yangbajing geothermal field in Tibet, China, using 51 ENVISAT/ASAR images a...