The Morgantown campus of West Virginia University (WVU) is uniquely positioned to host the first geothermal deep direct-use district heating and cooling (GDHC) system in the eastern United States. While most formations of the eastern United States do not have elevated heat flow, Morgantown, WV lies within an unique region with a formation exhibiting sufficient temperatures at a depth expected to support a desirable flow rate of geofluid. Temperature and flow rate were identified to be the two most critical factors in minimizing the cost of geothermal energy in “The Future of Geothermal Energy Report”, by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)­led interdisciplinary panel (2006). The WVU campus site offers surface demand coupled with the potential subsurface viability. Specifically, the existing district heating and cooling system that is in use year-round will be leveraged. Absorption chilling systems are used to cool the campus in the summer and hot water circulation to heat the campus in the winter. In this work, the surface plant and economic analysis of the GDHC system is evaluated for two cases: 1) using the existing steam district heating and cooling facilities, and 2) converting the current campus steam infrastructure to a hot water system. In the first case, a hybrid geothermal-natural gas system is considered to provide steam at the required conditions for the entire WVU campus. For the second case, a geothermal system enhanced with a heat pump is used to provide hot water for the entire WVU campus. The surface demand is characterized by year-round steam consumption data. Surface plant performance and capital cost analyses are performed using ASPEN/ChemCAD simulation software and the economic analysis of levelized cost of heat (LCOH) is performed using GEOPHIRES. The feasibility of both cases will be determined by comparing estimated energy costs and benefits with current energy costs of the existing coal-fired system (~$15/MMBTU). The LCOH for the steam hybrid GDHC system for entire campus (i.e., case one) is in the range of $7.9/MMBTU - $12.4/MMBTU, which is below the current heating cost, while the preliminary LCOH estimated for the hot water GDHC system (i.e., case two) is in the range of $15.9/MMBTU-$19.8/MMBTU, which is higher than the current cost. Based on techno-economic analyses completed, the hybrid GDHC is a feasible replacement for the existing coal-fired system.

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