Geothermal research well at University of TU Delft

“You can do a lot with lab work and modelling, but at a certain point you really need to study what is actually happening in the ground. We need to check the models and the theory with a geothermal well in operation. Therefore, we came up with the idea of a Living Lab, a geothermal well that is not just producing hot water to heat our building on campus, but that serves as a research infrastructure at the same time”.

This is the idea of Phil Vardon,  Associate Professor at the Department of Geoscience & Engineering at TU Delft, in Netherlands. This idea is becoming reality, through the DAPwell project, the project of a geothermal well that will serve the heat for the campus buildings and will function as a living lab for scientific and educational purposes. DAPwell was first imagined by a group of TU Delft students in 2008. Now a project team is currently working on finalizing the business case and administrative issues.

If you want to know more, read the article.

Geothermal energy in Cornwall

Two wells have been drilled near Redruth, in order to produce geothermal energy from the hot rock of Cornwall. The wells are the deepest of UK (2,5 km and 4,5 km) and the power station may have the capacity of 3MW, which is about a third of a single modern offshore wind turbine or enough to power around 7,000 homes.

For further details read the article of The Guardian.

Gustavo Sclocchi Award

In order to encourage and reward university graduates, the SPE, EAGE and Assomineraria are pleased to announce the 26th Thesis Award.

All university graduates from Italian universities and Italian nationals graduated abroad, who will complete their studies or research in the period from November 1st 2017 to December 31st 2018, are entitled to submit their published thesis for the award.

The theses must cover subjects related to Hydrocarbon (from fossil sources and biomassess) and Geothermal Exploration & Production activities:

• Geology, Geophysics and Formation Evaluation
• Exploration, Production and Transport of Hydrocarbons (including LNG)
• Health, Safety, Environment and Carbon Management and Neutrality
• Renewable Sources and Energy transition
• Green Refinery Feedstocks
• Energy Economics & Management

The instructions for participation in the contest are reported here and in SPE Italian Section. Candidates must comply with the following deadline:

• Contact Information and Abstract – deadline December 31rd, 2018
• Complete electronic copy of the thesis – deadline January 5th, 2019
• Graduation Certificate – before the Award Ceremony

Any questions can be addressed to: sclocchiaward.speitaly@gmail.com.

 

Scotland meet Italy visiting Piancastagnaio Geothermal Plant

On 31th of October, Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Workgroup had the pleasure to bring Sean Watson, a PhD student from Glasgow University, for a very interesting field trip to Piancastagnaio geothermal plant. Sean is doing a doctorate on the use of deep borehole heat exchangers for thermal uses, one our geothermal research sectors, so we are collaborating to improve the field.

The connection with Enel Green Power is a great opportunity for HGW and for our students; thanks to the openness of the Enel staff, we had the chance to organize different field trips to the geothermal plants since 2016.

Wednesday, Ing. Paolo Orsucci has guided us in the tour of Piancastagnaio PC3 power plant (20MWe), explaining all the processes that involve the production of electricity in the geothermal power plant and the thermal uses of the fluid. The PC3 plant is part of the geothermal area of Amiata; between 2011 and 2013 Enel Green Power carried out a total restyling of the plant which included the installation of the AMIS facility for the abatement of non condensable gases and mercury. The plant provides heat for the greenhouse crops of Floramiata, and several companies and farms near the geothermal area. The geothermal resource offers several types of applications, depending by the requested temperature, and it is very interesting to understand how the technology is studied and adapted to the specific final use in order to find the better solution.

HGW thanks the Enel staff and especially Ing. Orsucci for the time he has dedicated to us.

If you want to visit the geothermal power plants, let’s check of the “Centrali aperte” days of Enel.