Title:

City-Scale Modeling of San Francisco Bay Area Underground for Community-Scale Application of Geothermal Energy

Authors:

Alp CINAR, Xiang SUN, Kenichi SOGA, Peter NICO, Patrick DOBSON

Key Words:

geothermal energy, community-scale, modeling, San Francisco Bay Area underground, Treasure Island

Conference:

Stanford Geothermal Workshop

Year:

2020

Session:

Modeling

Language:

English

Paper Number:

Cinar2

File Size:

751 KB

View File:

Abstract:

Geothermal energy is being used as a sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuels. An efficient utilization of geothermal sources requires a thorough understanding of subsurface conditions and their interaction with above-surface activities. Determination of uneven variation of temperature in the underground will help to efficiently utilize the non-homogenous heat distribution, which can be considered as having the same consequences of an urban underground heat island. In addition to providing benefits in the efficient usage of geothermal energy, determining the distribution of underground temperature will also help with sustainable development efforts for future subsurface spaces regarding efficient heating and cooling performance. In this study, an underground 3D model of a specific region to determine possible vertical integration schemes of different geothermal energy systems is established. The development of underground maps of San Francisco Bay Area's Treasure Island neighborhood will be carried out based on the 3D model. In order to create a first-of-its-kind 3D subsurface model, subsurface geology, air temperature and groundwater maps combined with data regarding subsurface built-in environment was collected through published reports, governmental agencies and private companies. A coupled hydrothermal model will be developed using COMSOL finite element software to analyze the phenomena of simultaneous heat extraction and heat injection. The finite element model will involve the hydrothermal properties of the underground as well as information related to geological units and ground elevation. This work will lead to the development of a high-performance computing scheme for city-scale modeling in order to understand the impact of excess subsurface heat at the community scale.


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