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Analysis of economy, thermal efficiency and environmental impact of geothermal heating system based on life cycle assessments

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  • Xia, Z.H.
  • Jia, G.S.
  • Ma, Z.D.
  • Wang, J.W.
  • Zhang, Y.P.
  • Jin, L.W.

Abstract

The deep buried coaxial and horizontally-butted borehole heat exchangers are the two typical wells for geothermal utilization in space heating. The economicindexes, heat extraction performance and environmental impact of the two wells are crucial for actual projects. In this study, the Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis based on life cycle saving are employed to evaluate the economy of the two borehole heat exchanger systems. The heat extraction considering both performance and economic factors is examined by the levelized cost, while the environmental impact is assessed by the carbon intensity analysis. The results showed that the payback periods of a coaxial borehole heat exchanger system and a horizontally-butted borehole heat exchanger system are 6.7–9.2 years and 9.1–11.7 years respectively, and the life cycle saving of a butted borehole heat exchanger may reach a high value after 25 years of operation. The sensitivity of life cycle saving for both coaxial and horizontally-butted borehole heat exchangers is mainly governed by heating income, discount rate, and non-depreciable initial investment. The heat production capacity of the butted borehole heat exchanger system is 1128–1342 kW, which is twice as much as that of coaxial borehole heat exchanger. From the life cycle perspective, the levelized cost of energy and carbon intensity of the coaxial borehole heat exchanger is $ 8.67–9.35/GJ and 70.43–80.86 g(CO2)/kWh, slightly higher than those of the butted borehole heat exchanger. It can be proved that the two borehole heat exchangers are more in line with the low-carbon policy than the traditional heating methods, and the well construction and operation phase contributes a major carbon emission from the perspective of the life cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Xia, Z.H. & Jia, G.S. & Ma, Z.D. & Wang, J.W. & Zhang, Y.P. & Jin, L.W., 2021. "Analysis of economy, thermal efficiency and environmental impact of geothermal heating system based on life cycle assessments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:303:y:2021:i:c:s0306261921010321
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117671
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    3. Gkousis, Spiros & Thomassen, Gwenny & Welkenhuysen, Kris & Compernolle, Tine, 2022. "Dynamic life cycle assessment of geothermal heat production from medium enthalpy hydrothermal resources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    4. Yapeng Ren & Xinli Lu & Wei Zhang & Jiaqi Zhang & Jiali Liu & Feng Ma & Zhiwei Cui & Hao Yu & Tianji Zhu & Yalin Zhang, 2022. "Preliminary Study on Optimization of a Geothermal Heating System Coupled with Energy Storage for Office Building Heating in North China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-23, November.
    5. Gkousis, Spiros & Welkenhuysen, Kris & Compernolle, Tine, 2022. "Deep geothermal energy extraction, a review on environmental hotspots with focus on geo-technical site conditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    6. Niu, Qinghe & Ma, Kaiyuan & Wang, Wei & Pan, Jienan & Wang, Qizhi & Du, Zhigang & Wang, Zhenzhi & Yuan, Wei & Zheng, Yongxiang & Shangguan, Shuantong & Qi, Xiaofei & Pan, Miaomiao & Ji, Zhongmin, 2023. "Multifactor analysis of heat extraction performance of coaxial heat exchanger applied to hot dry rock resources exploration: A case study in matouying uplift, Tangshan, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    7. Vaccari, Marco & Pannocchia, Gabriele & Tognotti, Leonardo & Paci, Marco, 2023. "Rigorous simulation of geothermal power plants to evaluate environmental performance of alternative configurations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 471-483.
    8. Mahmoud G. Hemeida & Ashraf M. Hemeida & Tomonobu Senjyu & Dina Osheba, 2022. "Renewable Energy Resources Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment: Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-36, December.

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