Total Site Heat Integration benefiting from geothermal energy for heating and cooling implementations

Abstract

Geothermal energy is a promising renewable energy source that has been developed by many countries in recent years. It can be utilised to meet various energy demand. This paper studies the performance of integrating geothermal energy in the Locally Integrated Energy Sector (LIES). The heating and cooling demand of various processes should be satisfied, and heat among processes should be recovered. This is done by using Grand Composite Curves and Total Site Profiles to visually illustrate how much load is required for utility systems. The geothermal utility system and steam utility system are compared. The integration plan for geothermal energy under different temperatures are studied. An illustrative case shows that by using this type of renewable energy under a specific and favourable condition, above 70% of steam utility load can be saved. The working cycle of using a geothermal utility system is studied by using the Time Slice model. The heat recovery plan for normal operation, mineral scaling, and cleaning periods are optimised. The minimum temperature for heat storage can also be identified.