A Simulation Model for the Exploitation of Geothermal Energy for a Greenhouse in the Viterbo Province

The increasing demand of energy for industrial production and urban facilities asks for new strategies for energy sources . In recent years an important problem is to have some energy storage, production and consumption which fulfill in some environment friendly expectations. Much more attention has been recently devoted to renewable energies. Among them energy production from geothermal sources has becoming one of the most attracting topics for engineering applications. Ground coupled heat transfer might give an efficient energy for well-built construction. At a few meters below the earth’s surface the underground maintains a constant temperature in a approximation through the year allowing to withdraw heat in winter to warm up the habitat and to surrender heat during summer to refresh it. Exploiting this principle, heat exchange is carried out with heat pumps compound to vertical ground heat exchanger tubes that allows the heating and cooling of the buildings utilising a single plant installation. This procedure ensure a high degree of productivity, with a moderate electric power requirement compared to performances. The aim of this work is the simulation with the TRNSYS program of the geothermal plant needed for air conditioning a greenhouse in Viterbo. The model realized has allowed to set up the plant for the heat exchange with the thermal basin, defining the technical elements and verifying the exploitation of geothermal system in a greenhouse in the outskirts of Viterbo.