Geothermal energy, deep and shallow, has always been identified as an important renewable energy resource. The stable temperature and relatively low enthalpy of mine water contained in the abandoned and flooded coal mines have the potential to form a geothermal resource to be used in conjunction with heat pumps to provide heating and cooling for buildings. The usage of heat pump for space heating and cooling can be classified as a low carbon technology and if heat pump is powered by solar or wind energy it can be classified as a truly renewable technology. This paper presents a novel application of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) for space heating and cooling using a flooded coal mine through an open loop based single shaft system. In this novel application, a single shaft is used for both extraction and injection of mine water for the heating application. This research work will report on the performance of the system and its long term potential in comparison to standard gas boilers heating systems. The usage of a single shaft system has been found effective in developing an efficient heating system with reduced cost and neutral environmental impact.
[1]
Rafael Rodrí,et al.
Estimating Limits for the Geothermal Energy Potential of Abandoned Underground Coal Mines: A Simple Methodology
,
2014
.
[2]
D. Banks,et al.
The operational performance of Scottish minewater-based ground source heat pump systems
,
2009
.
[3]
Paul L. Younger,et al.
Can you take the heat? – Geothermal energy in mining
,
2014
.
[4]
H. Skarphagen,et al.
Mine water as a resource: space heating and cooling via use of heat pumps
,
2003
.
[5]
J. A. Scott,et al.
Geothermal energy recovery from underground mines
,
2011
.
[6]
Terry E. Ackman,et al.
Underground Mine Water for Heating and Cooling using Geothermal Heat Pump Systems
,
2006
.
[7]
David Banks,et al.
An Introduction to Thermogeology: Ground Source Heating and Cooling
,
2008
.