Interest increasing for geothermal heating through mine water
US Geothermal Plants and Potential (Source: http://www.eia.gov/state/maps.cfm)
Francisco Rojas
23 Sep 2014
Using then abundant water in flooded mines all over Pennsylvania can help develop a massive geothermal heating project in the US.
A recent article in PowerSource details that there is a growing interest in using water from mines as a source for geothermal heating in the state of Pennsylvania in the US.
According to the same source, Michael Korb, a program manager in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, wrote a paper about the potential in 2012: “With more than 3 million people living in and around cities like Pittsburgh, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Johnstown and Hazleton located over known mine pools,” he wrote, “the possibilities for use of geothermal heat from mine pools seem to be unlimited.”
Using the same principle behind heat pumps, mines flooded with water can prove to be an efficient way to provide geothermal heating to many citizens. PowerSource also explains that in 2006, researchers with the National Energy Technology Laboratory evaluated the geothermal potential of the more than 1 trillion gallons of water stored in the Pittsburgh coal seam, which stretches through parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
“Mine water is typically warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer. Geothermal systems that tap into the pools generally use heat exchangers to draw warmth from the water to heat buildings or sink the heat of the indoor air into the water to cool buildings.”
To read the full article, please follow the link below:
Source: PowerSource Website
