Direct Use of Geothermal Energy

Scope: Due to the growing interest in sustainable energy production, this course presents the fundamentals of geothermal resource exploitation. Students will gain a general understanding of what a geothermal resource is and of the basic steps in their economic exploitation, including lifetime analysis, characterization of a geothermal reservoir, reservoir engineering and system design, basics of the operation and maintenance of geothermal systems, and geothermal field management, as well as some environmental aspects.

Contents:

- Introduction to geothermal energy

- Geology and geomechanics

- Reservoir characterization

- Design of a geothermal system

- Geothermal reservoir engineering

- Numerical modeling of geothermal doublets

- Techno-economic assessment of geothermal systems