Resource Saving in the Area of Decentralized Geothermal Energy Supply

Abstract

The heating system as an economic structure for providing life support of any country deserves attention in terms of consumption of primary energy resources, its capital intensity and environmental safety. The goal of the study is to analyze the operation modes of the combined heating systems on the basis of boiler plants and vapor-compression heat pumps with low-boiling substance R134a, working on low-temperature geothermal heat sources at t = 10- 35 C. The studies showed that the use of the vapor-compression heat pump equipment together with the boiler system in the areas of decentralized heating can significantly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels under various operating modes of the system components (separate, bivalent) compared with autonomous conventional heating boiler systems and improve eco-efficiency of the heating system. Two independent heat sources increases reliability of heat supply. At that, the heating power of a boiler plant as a peak heat source can be significantly reduced based on the total heat balance of the combined heating system and technical capabilities of selected compressor. The freon (R134a) power station with the installed capacity of 4000 kW is considered. The number of hours of installed capacity use per year is 7000. The location is Kamchatka region (the Upper-Mutnovsky geothermal field). According to results of system studies, at combined electricity and heat production the freon units with the considered capacities provide a return on investment for less than a year for the entire set of primary fuel-energy resources. This effect is provided by resource saving of the used organic fuels and environmental component of environmental protection in the Kamchatka region.