Some Facts About Geothermal Heating
Mother Nature can be used to manage your office and home related issues. Say hello to Geothermal Heating.
In the simplest terms, Geothermal Heating is the direct use of geothermal power for heating applications. Since the Paleolithic era humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way.
Origin of geothermal energy is from the heat retained within the earth since the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. Harvesting of high temperature geothermal heat is done harvested in regions close to tectonic plate boundaries where volcanic activity rises close to the surface of the Earth. Ground and groundwater can be found with temperatures higher than the target temperature of the application in these areas. Heat below 10′ or 3 Meters is contained by cold grounds where as the ground is consistently 12.8?C (55?F), and it may be extracted with a geothermal heat pump. It is now a rapidly growing market in the US and the UK, due to recent advances in heat pump performance.
Energy exchange between the air within the building being heated and the ground is on which the geothermal heating relies on. The earth’s temperature is fairly constant (generally between 50?-56?F) below ten feet. During the summer when the ambient temperature of the building exceeds that of the ground heat pumps are used to pump heat from the building in to the transfer medium (typically water with small amounts of ethanol or glycol) and is subsequently pumped through narrow pipes into the ground so that the heat can be dissipated in the earth. The process works in reverse when the ambient temperature falls below the ground temperature. After extracting the heat from the ground the heat pump use it to heat the building.
Many applications are found for cheap geothermal heat. After using the third for spas in 2004 more than half of direct geothermal heat was used for space heating. In various industrial processes, desalination, domestic hot water, and agricultural applications the remainder was used. Hot water from geothermal plants under roads and pavements is piped in the cities of Reykjav?k and Akureyri to melt the snow.
Geothermal systems tend to benefit from economies of scale, so space heating power is often distributed to multiple buildings, sometimes whole communities. Commonly known as district heating this long practiced technique is found throughout the world in locations such as Reykjavik, Iceland, Boise, Idaho, and Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Uncovering the Geothermal Heat Pumps
Even in regions without large high temperature geothermal resources, a geothermal heat pump can still provide space heating and air conditioning. Like a refrigerator or air conditioner, these systems use a heat pump to force the transfer of heat from the ground to the application. Even though as per the theory heat can be extracted from any source, no matter how cold but a warmer source allows higher efficiency. By taking advantage of its seasonally moderate temperatures, a ground-source heat pump uses the shallow ground or ground water as a source of heat. In contrast, an air-source heat pump draws heat from the colder outside air and thus requires more energy.
Through pipes buried in the ground closed loop geothermal heat pumps circulate a carrier fluid (usually a water/antifreeze mix) . By absorbing the heat from the ground the fluid circulates underground and, on its return, the now warmer fluid passes through the heat pump, which uses electricity to extract the heat from the fluid. The re-chilled fluid is sent back through the ground thus continuing the cycle. The heat extracted and generated by the heat pump appliance as a byproduct is used to heat the house. As compare to the electricity alone had been used directly for heating rather than the addition of the ground heating loop in the energy equation means that more heat is generated. The same system can be used to circulate the cooled water through the house for cooling in the summer months by switching the direction of heat flow. Similar to an air conditioner the heat is exhausted to the same relatively cool soil (or groundwater) rather than delivering it to the hot outside air. The heat is pumped across a smaller temperature difference by leading to higher efficiency and lower energy use.
In any geographical location geothermal heating is made economically viable with this technology. In 2004, an estimated one million geothermal heat pumps extracted a huge volume of geothermal energy for space heating. Global geothermal heat pump capacity is growing annually.
Author is an expert writer on heating and heat pumps.
Processing your request, Please wait....
