Geothermal energy?

[Arminius]

I'm busy right now, or I would post some links. There are a number of ways to do it, just as long as you find a way to go below ground or into a deep enough body of water (or moving water). They use trenches, pits and wells. It's cheaper on new construction, but retrofitting is always possible. The real trick is finding experienced and knowledgeable contractors.

Just google the topic and you'll do well.

[DifferentPointofView]

The fact is that once you get a few feet under the ground, the temperature is constant all year long, and the deeper you go in the earth the warmer it becomes. I believe that the typical ratio is about .5 to 1 degree for every 500 feet down you go.

Yes, this is why they are trying to dig deeper to get more energy.

Conventional power plants are based on bores drilled to a depth of between 2km and 3km, but work is now underway at the Resource Park on bores of up to 5km in depth. "The water pumped into those bores will reach an unbelievable pressure and deliver four to five times the power yield of conventional bores," explained Haraldsson.

I wasn't really referring to getting your own geothermal system in your backyard, but more over I was thinking about the government researching more on geo, to help the start of getting rid of coal power plants and stuff.

[cwarnar]

Originally Posted by dremd

subscribed:

Could anyone point me to info regarding the transfer in to the ground?

Is there a well, a pit with pipes, something else?

Considering options here.

The 2 main ground loops are horizontal (trenching), most rural areas can use this due to the extra amount of space required, plus offers some cost savings. The other is vertical (Drilling), this is for confined spaces and soil not suited for trenching.

More info here:

http://www.groundloop.com/geothermal.htm

[homeworkhome53]

After the Teton Dam failure in Idaho in 1976. The Federal government began a geothermal project in Sugar City Idaho and I worked on the farm where they sited the wells. but after leaving college I never heard any more about it. Idaho has a very rich supply of geothermal heat, only about 30 miles to Yellow Stone Park. One guy was raising tomatoes in a geo heated greenhouse for market and doing very well. My brother just moved back out there last April. I'll have to ask him about the status of those projects. Sugar City was supposed to get steam heat for very long term. I remember one place where i use to hunt where warm air blew out of the ground and melted the snow all around. I found it one day while rabbit hunting in the lavas in subzero weather. I sat down and got warmed up. It was Federal land but I always thought that would have been a great place to build a house.

homeworkhomw53

[DifferentPointofView]

please do, if it melted the snow in the ground, i'd help if roads were heated by geo in the winter for those bad drivers

[diesel_john]

The way it looks to me the tubing in the bottom of the pond is the least expensive to install, with medium efficiency. The tubing in the wells are in the middle on cost, and higher efficiency. The tubing in trenchs the most expensive to install and the least efficient. I only considered close loop systems. My pond is long and narrow and 20 ft. deep. So I am putting long loops in the bottom @ 300 ft. per ton. That way as they silt over in time, I will still have good heat transferr in the mud.

[LostCause]

My limited knowledge of geothermal power production makes me believe the technology will never grow beyond minor energy production.

1.) Low availability of source heat. You either have to build over a volcanically active area or drill extremely deep wells.

2.) Low extraction of energy. Heat sources vary in their temperatures, with some generating superheated steam while others require special, low volatility liquids to boil. Energy efficiency usually comes from having a huge temperature differential, which I doubt geothermal sites can routinely achieve

3.) Heat runs out. Geothermal plants actually cool the ground as they extract heat, depleting sites of energy. Geothermal is not perpetual in the same sense as the sun.

4.) Geothermal power is already being used extensively, but only in small scale applications. I remember hearing of plants recently going back online after years of neglect, presumably due to price competition. I bet geothermal power has been in use for over a century...thousands if you include any use of a hot spring.

Home heating and cooling using the earth is certainly viable, but it is a very different technology compared to geothermal powerplants. I wouldn't count on geothermal as being the magic cure of our energy woes. Like wind, hydro, and nuclear, it'll make up the diversified group of the future's energy needs.

- LostCause

[Arminius]

Originally Posted by diesel_john

The way it looks to me the pipes in the bottom of the pond is the least expensive to install, with medium efficiency. The pipes in the wells are in the middle on cost, and higher efficiency. The pipes in trenchs the most expensive to install and the least efficient. I only considered close loop systems. My pond is long and narrow and 20 ft. deep. So I am putting long loops in the bottom @ 300 ft. per ton. That way as they silt over in time, I will still have good heat transferr in the mud.

[Arminius]

Originally Posted by dremd

subscribed:

Could anyone point me to info regarding the transfer in to the ground?

Is there a well, a pit with pipes, something else?

Considering options here.

FYI, they tend to use hoses, not metal pipes these days.

[diesel_john]

There specialized plastic tubing for that purpose 3/4" costs about $1 a foot. The fittings are heat fused in and cost extra. Special equipment is used to heat the tubing before assembly. For wells there is a u fitting for the bottom for example.

Heat Transfer is well documented but still depends on how wet the ground is. I think you have to assume that its going to dry out around those pipes. When your in the AC mode. The trick is you don't want to freeze the ground around the tubes in the heat mode. Because when the soil freezes it expands and loses heat tranfer, just like snow is an insulator compared to water. You will need a high flow pump to purge the air from the lines, the first time.

The geothermal heat pump furnaces can be a single packages unit, just hook up the (ecosafe)antifreeze lines to it, and the lines to the cold water heater. No refrigerant lines to mess with. The HVAC industry is very defensive about the degree of difficulty that it takes to install one of these units. So if you do it yourself your warranty wouldn't be any good. That bs. You should be able to go to home depot and buy one of these babies. And let the chips fall where they may. There is even a company called LOOPMASTERS that specializes in installing geothemal loops.