Geothermics, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 119-136, 1988. 0375-6505/88 $3.00 + 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain. Pergamon Press plc
© 1988 CNR.

T H E E L E M E N T S OF D I R E C T USES

JON-STEINAR GUDMUNDSSON
Geothermal Training Programme. National Energy Authority, Reykjavik, Iceland

Abstract--Direct uses of geothermal energy are important in m a n y countries of the world. Well-known
examples are district heating (hitaveita) in Iceland, industrial processing in New Zealand, greenhouse
heating in Hungary, and traditional bathing uses in Japan. Although direct uses are also called
non-electrical applications, they span the whole range of geothermal temperatures, as evident from the
Lindal Diagram shown in Fig. 1. A recent paper on direct uses is that of G u d m u n d s s o n and L u n d (1985).
Because of the many possible applications of geothermal energy, there is a need to identify the main
elements that make up direct use projects. The purpose of this paper is to consider these elements, in an
attempt to better organize the field of geothermal engineering. The paper concerns the technologies
needed to bring geothermal fluids from resource to user. However, corrosion and water quality matters
are not discussed, neither are environmental issues. Geothermal drilling, production and reservoir
engineering are also outside the scope of this paper.

RESOURCES
G e o t h e r m a l resources are for practical purposes non-renewable. Therefore, geothermal
energy production is not unlike a mining operation. It is useful to distinguish between a
geothermal system and a geothermal reservoir. A geothermal system consists of what gives rise
to geothermal resources: (a) water that percolates deep into the earth and flows toward a
reservoir, (b) m o v e m e n t of m a g m a into the earth's crust, the formation of hot intrusions, dikes
and heat flow anomalies, (c) zones of high permeability for hot water and steam to convect and
rise to drillable depths. U n d e r favourable conditions these elements may provide the fluid, heat
source and rock permeability for a geothermal reservoir to exist. A geothermal reservoir is that
part of the system that contains the extractable heat. This heat must be extractable in industrial
time rather than geologic time.
G e o t h e r m a l systems occur in a number of geological environments. These systems can be
divided into two groups: the volcanic and non-volcanic. High-temperature systems are confined
to the volcanic group, while low-temperature geothermal systems are found in both groups.
High-temperature systems tend to arise from the circulation (convection) of water near young
volcanoes (magmatic activity); the water is heated by m a g m a intrusions and associated dikes.
Low-temperature resources, on the other hand, tend to arise from the flow of water over some
distance. The water becomes heated, first, by the regional thermal gradient and, second, by
deeper circulation through a localized zone of higher permeability.
While the energy potential of geothermal resources worldwide is large, there are limitations
to how much of this potential can be translated into applications. These limitations can be
technical, economical, and site specific. For example, what is feasible in one location may not be
feasible in another. There are two main questions concerning the feasibility of projects: the
resource and the application. The location of geothermal resources plays an important role in
their application. In the case of geothermal electric power plants this aspect of feasibility is clear;
all such plants are built at the resource site. In the case of district heating, however, this aspect
of feasibility is less clear. Nevertheless, a geothermal resource within a town is more likely to be
119
120 J.-S. Gudmundsson

°C
200--

190--

180-- Evaporation of highly concentrated soluttons

Refrigeration by ammonia absorption
Digestion in paper pulp (Kraft)
170 - - Heavy water via hydrogen sulphide process
E Drying of diatomaceous earth
Conventional
160-- Drying of fish meal power
Drying of timber production

150 - - Alumina via Bayer's process

140-- Drying farm products at high rates

Canning of food

130 - - Evaporation in sugar refining

Extraction of salts by evaporation and crystallization
Fresh water by distillation
120 -- Most multi-effect evaporation. Concentration of saline solution

I10 -- Drying and curing of light aggregate cement slabs

100-- Drying of organic materials, seaweeds, grass, vegetables etc.

Washing and drying of wool

90-- Drying of stock fish

Intense de-icing operations

Space-heating (buildings and greenhouses)

32 70-- Refrigeration (lower temperature limit)

60-- Animal husbandry

Greenhouses by combined space and hotbed heating

50-- Mushroom growing

Balneology

40-- Soil warming

30-- Swimming pools, biodegradation, fermentations

Warm water for year-round mining in cold climates
De-icing
20-- Hatching of fish. Fish farming

Fig. 1. The Lfndal Diagram.

 The Elements of Direct Uses 121
used than a distant resource. The co-location of a resource and a user becomes less important
when energy costs dominate the feasibility of a project.

UTILIZATION

Energy use d&tribution

Direct uses have a significant potential in most geothermal countries. First, although
electricity generation is technically feasible at low-to-moderate temperatures, there is an
economic limit to the resource temperatures suitable for power generation. Second, low-to-
moderate temperature heating from high-grade fossil fuels results in poor thermodynamic
performance. Matching geothermal resources to meet these heating requirements would result
in much better use of energy resources. Third, a large portion of the basic energy needs of many
countries is for low-to-moderate temperature heating.
Geothermal temperatures that could meet the basic energy requirements of an industrialized
nation were estimated by Reistad (1975). An upper temperature limit of 250°C was assumed for
potential geothermal energy applications. All energy uses in the United States below this
temperature limit were estimated in 250C temperature ranges from 50 to 250°C. It was found that
a substantial amount of the total energy was used below 120°C. Space-heating at 50-75°C
application temperature was by far the largest single use, representing almost 50% of the total
at temperatures below 250°C. The results of Reistad (1975) are shown schematically in Fig. 2,
which illustrates the fractional energy use distribution (Tester, 1982). The thermal applications
used to construct this figure represented 40% of the total energy consumption in the United
States at the time. The relationship between resource and user was not considered in the Reistad
(1975) study. However, it demonstrates the large potential for direct uses of geothermal energy,
provided the resource and user are geographically matched.
Nearly one-third of the total energy demand in France is below 1000C application temperature
(Lejeune and Varet, 1981). In Iceland, space heating accounts for about 45% of the total energy
consumption (Gudmundsson, 1983a), most of which is already met by geothermal energy.
Future development of direct uses worldwide, therefore, will focus on sites located near
geothermal resources.

0.5-

04-
Space heating Food processing/ctothes drying
_8
T-
03- /' /" Air conditioning
"O
::.::::.'.~
>~ '.:v@.:
02-
c
LIJ

Agricutturot / ;"-::;-~
....
aquocutturot :;-'_'_:;-"g; ..... ~-k/

,'o ,~o ~oo' 2'0 "

UtiLization temperature (°C)

Fig. 2. Energy use distribution.

122 J.-S. Gudmundsson
Lindal diagram
The many uses of geothermal energy are easily illustrated in the Lindal diagram (L/ndal, 1973;
Gudmundsson et al. 1985) in Fig. 1. The diagram shows examples of current and potential uses
of geothermal energy in terms of the application temperature. Well established applications
include: fish farming; swimming pools and balneology; space heating of buildings and
greenhouses: drying and evaporation and electric power production. There are many examples
of these and other direct uses of geothermal energy worldwide. They range in application
temperature from about 20°C to almost 200°C. At the upper end of the scale, saturated steam is
used in conventional generation of electric power. Direct uses, however, span the entire
temperature scale of the L/ndal diagram.
The Lindal diagram emphasizes two opposing aspects of the nature of direct uses: (a)
cascading and combined uses offer the possibility of enhancing the feasibility of geothermal
projects, (b) the resource temperature may limit the kind of uses possible. However, design
modification of existing thermal processes can in some instances make them suitable for
geothermal fluid utilization.

World survey
At the end of 1984~ the installed thermal power of all geothermal direct use projects in the
world was about 7072 MW (Gudmundsson, 1985). This power represents thermal energy used
above 35°C in most cases. The geothermal energy use was found to be about 23,957 GWh. The
hot water and steam flowrate associated with the reported thermal power and energy use was
57,803 kg/s. The results of the survey are shown in Table 1. For comparison, the installed
geothermal electric power worldwide was about 4764 MW~, at the end of 1985 (DiPippo, 1985).

Table 1. Direct uses 1984 worldwide (Gudmundsson, 1985)

Flow rate Power Energy Load

Country (kg/s) (MW) (GWh) (%)

China 3540 393 1945 56

France 234(I 300 788 30
Hungary 9533 10(ll 2615 30
Iceland 4579 889 5517 7I
Italy 1745 288 !365 54
Japan 26,1111 2686 68()5 29
New Zealand 559 215 1484 7~
Romania 1380 251 987 45
Soviet Union 2735 402 1056 3(J
Turkey 1355 166 423 29
United States 1971 339 390 13
Other 1965 142 582 47

Total 57,803 7072 23,957 --

EQUIPMENT
The following are found in most low-temperature direct use systems: downhole and circulation
pumps, transmission and distribution pipelines, peaking or backup plants, and various heat
extraction equipment. Fluid disposal is either at the surface or by injection. A peaking system
may be necessary to meet maximum load, either by increasing the water temperature or by
providing tank storage. Both options mean that fewer wells need to be drilled. When the
geothermal water temperature is warm (below.50°C) heat pumps are often used. The equipment
 The Elements o f Direct Uses 123

used in direct use projects represents several units of operation. The major units will now be
described in the same order as seen by geothermal waters produced for district heating.

Downhole p u m p s
Wells drilled for geothermal water are in many cases artesian. This tends to occur when the
first wells are drilled into low-temperature reservoirs. With time as water production lowers the
pressure in such reservoirs, their artesian flowrate decreases, however. For shallow wells,
suction pumps and jet pumps can be used. For depths below about 15 m, vertical turbine pumps
are necessary, the lineshaft p u m p being the most common.
Downhole p u m p s are needed in most large-scale geothermal district heating systems. In
general, they are used in the development of low-to-moderate temperature fluid production.
Downhole pumps are installed not only to lift fluid to the surface, but also to prevent the release
of gas which can lead to scale formation. The operating experience of downhole pumps in
geothermal applications has been reviewed by Ellis et al. (1984), especially pumps in moderate-
temperature service.
The lineshaft p u m p system in Fig. 3 consists of a multi-stage downhole centrifugal pump, a
surface mounted m o t o r and a long drive shaft assembly extending from the motor to the pump.
The shaft assembly may be either open or enclosed. If open, the rotating shaft is centered within
the production tubing via spider bearings and the produced fluid used as the bearing lubricant.
If the shaft assembly is enclosed, the shaft rotates within a lubrication (enclosing) column which
is centred in the production tubing. This assembly allows the bearings to be lubricated by water,
oil, or other fluids.
Downhole pumps have been used for many years for cold water pumping. Lineshaft pumps
have been used for decades in geothermal wells in Reykjavik, pumping water in the temperature
range 80-130°C. These pumps have an enclosed water-lubricated lineshaft and are placed at
about 200 m depth. The lineshaft assemblies use teflon/graphite bearings specially made for
geothermal service. A short-shafted version of the lineshaft pump, the barrel pump, is also used
in pumping stations of many district heating systems. The lineshaft p u m p is preferred over the
submersible p u m p in conventional geothermal applications for two main reasons: the lineshaft
p u m p costs less and it has a proven track record. However, for setting depths exceeding about
250 m a submersible p u m p is required.

Transmission and distribution

The fluid state in transmission lines of direct use projects can be liquid water, steam vapour,
or two-phase mixture. These pipelines carry fluids from the wellhead to either a site of
application, or a steam-water separator. The temperature transmission lines experience can
range from ambient to about 200°C. Thermal expansion of pipelines heated rapidly from
ambient to geothermal fluid temperatures causes stress that must be accommodated by careful
engineering design. In low-temperature applications the thermal stress is less but nevertheless
significant. The design principles adopted for geothermal steam and hot water lines are the same
as used in conventional power and district heating systems.
The cost of transmission lines and the distribution networks in direct use projects is significant.
This is especially true when the geothermal resource is located at great distance from the main
load center. All district heating systems have a distribution network. While engineers have
developed standard designs for hot water distribution in towns and cities, that holds less true for
long-distance transmission lines. Therefore, many types of transmission lines are found in
geothermal applications.
Carbon steel is the most widely used for geothermal transmission lines and distribution
networks. Individual systems tend to differ in the form of insulation. Conventional steel piping
124 J.-S. Gudmundsson

MOTOR,.~

WELLHEAL D - ~ ~J

LINESHAFT ~ ? --Z~ MOTOR

SEARING ~ I , . ~ 1 1 ~ CONTROLS
~t'R.glLI I \
SNAF'rJ ~ I N_ LUBRICATION
[ COLUMNSPACER
LUBRICATION~ J' ~ . ) , L
COLUMN J - J . ~ SEE DETAIL OPEN LINESHAF'r
DRAWINGS BEARINGLUBRICATION

PRODUCTIONj ~ DISCHARGE
HEAD
TUBING Jl

MULTI-STAGE
PUMP
WELL J
CASING (
,T

PUMP
f INTAKE

ENCLOSEDLINESHAFT
BEARINGLUBRICATION

Fig. 3, Downhole pump.

requires expansion provisions, either bellows arrangements or by loops. A typical piping

installation would have fixed points and expansion points about every 100 m. In addition, the
piping would have to be placed on rollers or slip plates between points. When hot water pipelines
are buried they can be subjected to external corrosion from ground water and electrolysis. They
must be protected by coatings and wrappings. Concrete tunnels or trenches have been used to
protect steel pipe in many geothermal district heating systems. Although expensive, tunnels and
trenches have the advantage of easing future expansion and access for maintenance.
Supply and distribution systems can consist of either a single-pipe or a two-pipe system. The
single-pipe is a once-through system where the fluid is disposed of after use. It is generally
preferred when the geothermal energy is abundant and the water is clean enough to be circulated
through the distribution system. In a two-pipe system the fluid is recirculated so the fluid and
 The Elements of Direct Uses 125
1.5 m / s

140 - ~ 0.5 m/s

120
_ ~
100
.=

"o
"~ 60
;7,

40 E ----------2_
20- Soil temperature

0 I I I I I
0 25 50 75 100 125
Transmission length -kin

Fig. 4. Heat loss in pipelines.

residual heat are conserved. A two-pipe system must be used when mixing of spent fluids with
hot fluids is called for and when the spent cold fluids need to be injected into the reservoir.
The quality of thermal insulation of transmission lines and distribution networks will depend
on many factors. In addition to minimizing the heat loss of the fluid, the insulation must be
waterproof and water tight. Moisture can destroy the value of thermal insulation and cause rapid
external corrosion. Above-ground and overhead pipeline installations can be considered in
special cases. Considerable insulation is achieved by burying hot water pipelines. For example,
burying bare steel pipe results in a reduction in heat loss of about one third as compared to above
ground in still air. If the soil around the buried pipe can be kept dry, then the insulation value
can be retained. Carbon steel piping can be insulated with polyurethane foam and fiberglass.
Below ground such pipes should be protected with a polyvinylchloride jacket; above ground
aluminum can be used. Generally, one to three inches of insulation is adequate.
At flowing conditions the temperature loss in insulated pipelines is in the range 0.1-0.5 ° C/km.
Pipe material does not have a significant effect on heat loss. However, the flow rate does have a
significant effect. At low flowrates (off peak) the heat loss is higher than at greater flows. This
aspect of geothermal pipeline design is illustrated in Fig. 4. It shows the fluid temperature, as a
function of distance, in an 18 in. diameter pipeline, which is insulated with a 5 cm thick urethane.
The curves represent three initial temperatures and flow velocities of 0.5 m/s and 1.5 m/s.
Several types of hot water transmission lines are used in geothermal district heating systems
in Iceland. A few of these are discussed by Sun (1981): (a) above-ground pipeline with sheet
metal cover, (b) steel pipe in concrete duct, (c) steel pipe with polyethylene cover, (d) asbestos
cement pipe with earth and grass cover.

Heat exchangers
The principal heat exchangers used in geothermal systems are the plate, shell-and-tube and
downhole types. The plate heat exchanger consists of a series of plates with gaskets held in a
126 J.-S. Gudmundsson

qV'~

Fig. 5. Plate heat exchanger.

frame by clamping rods (see Fig. 5). The gasket material limits the maximum temperature that
can be used. The primary and secondary fluids are usually passed through alternating passages
between the plates in single-pass counter flow, although other flow paths can usually be arranged
by simple external piping. Stamping of the plates provides a variety of flowpath patterns. The
counter-current flow and high turbulence achieved in plate heat exchangers provide for efficient
thermal exchange in a small volume. Plate heat exchangers are commonly used in geothermal
heating situations worldwide. The plates are usually made of stainless steel, although titanium
is used when the fluids are especially corrosive.
Conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers may be utilized for geothermal applications.
This type of exchanger is readily available or may be custom designed to meet the specific need.
Shell-and-tube exchangers consist of a series of tubes, normally carrying the geothermal water,
surrounded by an enclosing shell, confining the secondary system water around the tubes (see
Fig. 6). The tubes in this type of exchanger can be a U-tube configuration or a straight tube with
removable heads at both ends to facilitate cleaning of the tubes.

Hot brine Hot water

Cold brine Cold water

Fig. 6. Shell-and-tube heat exchanger.

 The Elements of Direct Uses 127

OACX up eOttER
II •
UTILISATION

PR/VAr £ USER

,q.A~tJ¢ $LA~et./ER

SUB-STATION
HEAT EXCHANGER
SUB - STATtON
HEAT PUMP

PRODUCTIDN W1Et.L

~ERStBLE PUMP

Fig. 7. Combined heat-exchanger/heat-pump system.

Heat pumps
Heat pumps operate on the principle that fluid absorbs heat when it evaporates into a gas, and
likewise gives off heat when it condenses back into a liquid. The types of heat pumps that are
easily adaptable to geothermal energy are the water-to-air and the water-to-water. Heat pumps
are available with heating capacities of less than 3 kWt to over 1500 kWt. Dual service units
(those that both heat and cool) can operate with a geothermal source of 15-35°C. With units used
solely for heating, the water temperature can vary from 5-50°C. At higher temperatures space
heating can be done directly without the use of a heat pump. An example of a combined
heat-exchanger/heat-pump system is shown in Fig. 7 (Ungemach and Fouasse, 1985).
The efficiency of a heat pump is indicated by its coefficient of performance (COP). This
coefficient is the ratio of the thermal output of the heat pump to the thermal input equivalent to
the electric power used by the compressor. For example, a heat pump putting out 80 kWt of heat
128 J.-S. Gudmundsson
Hot Water
+
,
(a) I I t WarmA
I I

4,
WormWater

WarmAir ~.
" ~. ~,.~-~-.~"'--.,~Hot Water

(b)

War

(c)

WarmWater ~ . ~

(d) ~ ~ " HotWater

Fig. 8. Types of convectors.

and requiring 20 kW e of electricity to the compressor, would have a COP of 4. For heat pump
systems to be economical a coefficient above 3 is generally desired.

Convectors
Heating of individual rooms and buildings is achieved by passing geothermal water through
heat convectors located in each room. The method is similar to that used in conventional space
heating systems. Three major types of heat convectors are used for space heating: forced air,
natural air flow and radiant panels. All three can be adapted directly to geothermal energy or
converted by retrofitting existing systems. Several convectors are shown in Fig. 8 (Gudmundsson
and Lund, 1985).
Forced air convectors heat the incoming cold air by finned-type hot water coils and then
distribute the heated air to the room by ductwork to vents, usually located on outside walls.
 The Elements of Direct Uses 129
These units can economically use fluids of 40°C and higher, with temperatures above 70°C being
most efficient.
Natural convectors use hot water as the heat transfer medium where the water is distributed
to units located at the base of outside walls. Fins attached to the piping transfer the heat to the
room by means of natural convection. Forced air convectors for individual rooms are also
available. A c o m m o n type of natural air flow convector is the thin-walled radiator. The hot water
flows into the radiator at the top, along the top and down passages to the bottom and then out.
Natural convection heating units are economical above 60°C. Forced air convectors can use
lower t e m p e r a t u r e water; they are economical above 50°C.
Radiant panels are located in floors, walls, or ceilings; they radiate heat into the room. H o t
water is circulated in coils of pipe (usually plastic or copper) imbedded in concrete or plaster.
The main advantage of radiant panels is the uniform heat provided without a draft; another
advantage is the low-temperature fluid that can be used. It is possible to use fluid temperatures
as low as 30°C. This method is popular in garage and basement floors and for melting snow on
driveways and sidewalks.

Refrigeration
Cooling can be accomplished from geothermal energy using lithium bromide and ammonia
absorption refrigeration systems (Rafferty, 1983). The lithium bromide system is the most
c o m m o n because it uses water as the refrigerant. However, it is limited to cooling above the
freezing point of water. The m a j o r application of lithium bromide units is for the supply of
chilled water for space and process cooling. They may be either one- or two-stage units. The
two-stage units require higher temperatures (about 160°C), but they also have a high coefficient
of performance, C O P (here taken as cooling output over source energy input). The single stage

Cooling Geothermal
in Water o u t in Woter o u t

vopo,

Liquid Ammonia
; JLWoterSolution
,/ EXPANSION VALVE

I/ / EVAPORATOR

Hind ,oooo,o_.r^..
Huuu
y , / / / / / / / / / / / A
Vopor PUMP

.E~,OE~T=OS~CE out Cooling i n

Woter
Fig. 9. Ammonia absorption refrigeration.
130 J.-S. Gudmundsson
units can be driven with hot water at temperatures as low as 77°C and typically have a COP of
0.65 referred to primary energy. The lower the temperature of the geothermal water, the higher
the flowrate required and the lower the COP. Generally a condensing (cooling) tower is
required, which will add to the cost and space requirements.
For geothermally driven refrigeration below the freezing point of water, the ammonia
absorption system must be considered. However, these systems are normally applied in very
large capacities and have seen limited use. For the lower temperature refrigeration, the driving
temperature must be at or above about 120°C for a reasonable performance. Figure 9 illustrates
how a geothermal absorption process works (Witcher, 1980).

APPLICATIONS

Hitaveita and cooling

District heating involves the distribution of heat (hot water or steam) from a central location,
through a network of pipes to individual houses or blocks of buildings. When geothermal heat is
used for this purpose, the system is called in Iceland hitaveita (Gudmundsson and Pfilmason,
1986). In Iceland the district heating water is also used directly as domestic water for bathing and
washing. A district heating system may serve any kind of space heating: residences, greenhouses,
commercial and industrial buildings, and swimming pools.
Geothermal district heating systems are capital intensive. The principal costs are initial
investment costs for production and injection wells, downhole and transmission pumps,
pipelines and distribution network, flowmeters, valves and control equipment, peaking stations,
and storage tanks. Operating expenses, however, are in comparison lower and consist of
pumping power, system maintenance, control and management.
An important consideration in district heating projects is the thermal load density, or the heat
demand divided by the ground area of the district. A high heat density is required to make
district heating feasible, since the distribution network which transports the hot water to the
consumers is expensive.
The climatic aspects of geothermal district heating and cooling have been discussed by
Einarsson (1973, 1975). Every district heating project must be tailored to the climate of the site.
The most significant characteristic of the climate is the variation of the daily mean outside
temperature over the year. Due attention must also be given to the daily (diurnal) variation of
the outside temperature, and the effect of such factors as wind velocity and solar radiation.
Figure 10 shows qualitatively a typical duration curve for the mean daily temperature over the
year.

Heating

Z
.Q

0 .-L-..
Tmin Tmax

Fig. 10. Typical duration curve.

 The Elements of Direct Uses 131
The objective of district heating is to maintain a constant room temperature inside the heated
buildings. In addition to the heat supplied by the system, the building receives heat from other
sources such as electric lighting and appliances, solar radiation and heat lost by the occupants.
The shaded area in Fig. 10 represents the annual number of degree days at the site. Degree days
of heating is a measure of coldness over time. The annual energy demand for heating (or cooling)
is directly proportional to the number of degree days.
In certain climates, the cooling of premises is required. The load factor in a system with
combined heating and cooling would be greater than that for heating alone; the unit energy price
would perhaps be improved.

Horticulture
A number of commercial crops can be raised in greenhouses, making geothermal resources in
cold climates particularly attractive. These include vegetables, flowers (potted and cut), house
plants and tree seedlings. The optimum growth temperatures of cucumbers, tomatoes and
lettuce are shown in Fig. 11 (Barbier and Fanelli, 1977). Cucumbers grow best in the
temperature range 25-30°C, tomatoes near 20°C, and lettuce at 15°C and below. The growing
time for cucumbers is usually 90-100 days, while the growing cycle for tomatoes is longer, in the
range of 9-12 months. The use of geothermal energy for heating can reduce operating costs
(which can account for 35% of the product cost) and allows operation in colder climates where
commercial greenhouses would not normally be economical. In addition, greenhouses can be
suited to large quantities of relatively low grade heat. Furthermore, better humidity control can
be derived to prevent condensation (mildew), botritis and other problems related to disease
control.
Greenhouses are generally constructed of steel or aluminum frames, and with glass or plastic
film as the wall/roof materials (Rafferty, 1986). Glass greenhouses are more expensive to
construct, and are preferred by growers whose plants require good light transmission qualities.
The building profile of these greenhouses is usually of the peaked design. Heating costs of glass
greenhouses are high due to the poor insulating quality of single glazing. This issue has been
addressed in recent years through the introduction of new double glazing panels. However, they

125
I I
LETTUCI"~ TOMATO

100 f II--
/ y,, \
_m \
so

\
\
,I, 25

0 J (
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Temperature °C
Fig. 11. Optimum growth of crops.
132 J.-S. Gudmundsson
are expensive and have poorer light transmission. Plastic film greenhouses are the newest
variation in greenhouse construction techniques. This type of structure is almost always of the
arched roof design. The roof can come all the way down to the ground or can be fitted with side
walls. Maintenance requirements for the plastic film are high in that it generally requires
replacement on three year intervals. The superior energy efficiency of the film construction
comes at the price of reduced light transmission.
Greenhouse heating can be accomplished by several methods: (a) circulation of air over
finned-coil heat exchangers carrying hot wateL (b) hot-water circulating pipes or ducts located
in or on the floor, (c) finned units located along the walls and under benches and (d) a
combination of these methods. Often the choice of the heating system type is not dictated by
engineering considerations, such as maximum use of the geothermal resource or the most
economic system, but by the grower's preference. It may also be dictated by the type of crop and
potential disease problems.

A quaculture
Ambient temperature is generally more important for aquatic species than land animals. This
suggests that the potential use of geothermal energy for aquaculture may be greater than for
animal husbandry, such as pig and chicken rearing. Figure 12 shows the growth trends for a few
land and aquatic species (Barbier and Fanelli, 1977). Land animals grow best in a wide
temperature range, from just under 10°C and up to about 20°C. Aquatic species such as shrimp
and catfish have a narrower range of optimum production at a higher temperature, approaching
30°C. Trout and salmon, however, have a lower optimum temperature no higher than 15°C.
The application temperature in fish farming depends on the species involved. Typically:
catfish grow in 4-6 months at 18-24°C, trout in 4-6 months at 13-18°C, prawns in 6-9 months at
27-30°C. The benefit of a controlled rearing temperature in aquaculture operations can increase
growth rates by 50-100% and thus increase the number of harvests per year. Water quality and
disease control are very important in fish farming.

Cows I ~f Chickens ~
100
¢-.

2 8o
E
E 6o
0
/ l Cl~tfis
/
N 40
/
e-

o
L.

a. 2o

0O°C 10°C 20°C 30°C 40"C

Temperature

Fig. 12. Optimum temperature for growth.

 The Elements of Direct Uses 133
Industrial and process uses
While there are many potential industrial and process applications of geothermal energy, the
number of such uses is relatively small worldwide. Industrial applications require the use of
steam, primarily, while agricultural uses may equally well use geothermal water in most cases.
In process heating, practically the whole range of temperatures of geothermal fluids, both steam
and water, may be utilized in one way or another. Specific applications often require definite
geothermal feed temperatures and either steam or water may be desirable. In process design it
is especially the minimum temperature requirements which often become a limiting factor. Too
high a temperature can usually be adjusted without much effort. Industrial applications mostly
need the higher temperatures while space-heating and agriculture predominantly use low
temperatures.
Drying and dehydration are the two most important process uses of geothermal energy. Other
important uses include evaporation and distillation, refrigeration, and washing. Various
vegetable and fruit products can be considered for dehydration at geothermal temperatures.
Dehydration processes involve either continuous belt conveyors or batch dryers, using low
temperature air from 40 to 100°C. Blowers and exhaust fans move the air over coils through
which the geothermal water flows. The heated air then flows through the beds of vegetables or
fruits on conveyors, to evaporate the moisture. Air volume and pressure control must be
maintained in all parts of the drying stage to obtain uniform product drying. A simplified
diagram of a forced air dryer is shown in Fig. 13 (Anderson and Lurid, 1979). Geothermal
examples of this kind of direct use are the drying of alfalfa, onions and seaweeds.

Cascading use
High, moderate and low-temperature geothermal resources can be used for a spectrum of
applications. Considered individually, however, many of the uses may have difficulty in
providing an attractive return on investment due to the high initial capital cost. Application of a
geothermal fluid in several stages may have to be considered to maximize benefits, called
cascading or combined use.
A simple form of cascading would be the use of waste heat from an electric power plant for a
direct use project. The site specific nature of geothermal applications, however, may limit
cascading in many instances. One reason for this is that electric power plants tend to be located
away from load centers, while the need for process heat is within load centers.

A
~---Feed Conveyor .. Geothermally Heated
u_,~u.,~,-^ , r->
/ e--msulntion
~ , p In~IOllOfl nvl Ivulllv ~u,,i I I

\ / -7 ; /
Feed~ I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t C~veyor
f Belt ~ " '~

.?..:,= - t ;. an ~ .
~-.:-~Y I I~) H - , (-~Y~ I "yanC'II ~-.. ro s , , .

- I I' q
J[lr,rlJL
u
A'
L~iH...
:trlbut,
Grating
Product

Fig. 13. Forced air dryer.

 134 J.-S. Gudmundsson
Greenhouse and soil heating is an example of cascading use. For example, the fluid could first
be used to heat a cucumber and tomato greenhouse and then passed through pipes in adjacent
fields where cabbage, carrots, and other open field vegetables are grown (Gudmundsson,
1983b). As in other geothermally assisted uses, soil heating means that crops can be made to
grow at their optimum temperature and crops can be grown in climates less than favourable for
commercial production. Soil heating increases the likelihood of a successful crop in locations
where weather conditions are restrictive for horticulture.
Combined uses may facilitate load balancing in geothermal situations. For example, vegetable
dehydration plants may normally operate during the warmer months of the growing season. A
greenhouse operation, on the other hand, is more likely to have a greater heat load during the
colder months. These two applications, therefore, could share the same geothermal resource.
Similarly, district heating calls for more hot water during the winter than summer, while fish
farming could be operated in such a way that its greatest water consumption was in spring and
summer. Again, these two applications could share the same geothermal resources.
Combined uses can be operated in series or parallel. In a situation where steam is first used to
generate electricity and then condensed to provide space heating, the two loads must follow each
other, since they are in series. Load balancing is not as easy in series as parallel applications.

FEASIBILITY
The decision to invest in a geothermal project depends primarily upon the cost saving over an
alternative fuel system, taking into account the project life, system maintenance, cost of money
and fuel price projections. Direct use projects require a relatively large capital investment at the
beginning, with small annual operating costs thereafter. Production wells, pipelines, heat
exchangers and injection wells may cost much more than the initial investment of a fossil fuel
system. However, the fossil fuel system must continue to pay for the oil, gas, or coal at a high
rate, The annual operation and maintenance costs for the two systems is similar. The two
systems, one with a high initial cost and the other with high annual costs, must be compared when
evaluating the feasibility of direct use projects.
The economics of geothermal direct use projects are affected by several factors, including the
location of user and resource, efficiency of heat extraction and annual load factor, cost of
financing, amortization period and inflation rates. These factors can be grouped into three major
considerations: (a) location and site specificity, (b) system efficiency and load factor and (c)
financing and fuel costs.

Location and site specificity

Direct use projects are site specific because the resource location and characteristics must be
compatible with the utilization. The relocation of new potential users and/or the retrofitting of
existing potential users are important alternatives. Pipeline lengths for transmission and
distribution are a significant cost of any geothermal project. The location of users near the
resource can help reduce the cost of transmission lines. The depth of drilling determines the cost
of production and injection wells. The trade-off between shallow and cooler wells using heat
pumps and deeper and hotter wells used directly, is also a consideration. Water quality affects
system design and maintenance costs. In low-to-moderate temperature reservoirs the water
level determines the setting of downhole pumps and the associated cost of pumping. The rate of
pressure and temperature depletion of these and higher temperature reservoirs used for direct
uses, are site specific and prescribe how many make-up wells need to be drilled.
 The Elements of Direct Uses 135
System efficiency and load factor
In a geothermal direct heat system, increasing the amount of heat extracted from the fluid will
decrease the cost of energy. A more expensive heat extraction system is required in geothermal
applications than commonly used in systems burning fossil fuels, but this is offset by the
reduction in the number of production wells required. Cascaded use is one way of increasing the
amount of heat extracted from geothermal fluids. Users with a high thermal load density will
require smaller distribution systems, which will reduce costs. The load factor of a direct use
system is the ratio of the average annual load to the peak load. As this factor increases, the
economic feasibility increases. The load factor of district heating systems depends mainly on the
local climate. Hot water storage can improve the load factor of district heating systems. The use
of fossil fuel or electric heating peaking systems can help reduce the peak geothermal load and
thus reduce the number of wells required.

Financing and fuel costs

As the rate of return or the cost of borrowed money increases, the economic viability of a
project decreases. It is important that the economic life of a project be kept relatively short, 20
years or less, although most projects last much longer. Also, inflation rates for fossil fuels should
be kept conservative (low) when comparing with a geothermal alternative. By using long life and
high inflation rates, feasibility studies make geothermal energy look extremely attractive when
in fact the project may well operate in the red for its entire life. By holding the economic life and
inflation rates low, projects that have good economic feasibility will be even more attractive if
the actual life proves to be longer or the inflation rate is higher.
The main elements of a geothermal feasibility study are typically the following: (a) to prove
the resource, (b) to insure the end use is compatible with the temperature and flow rate of the
resource and (c) to determine if the project is economically feasible. Life cycle cost analysis is
the method generally used to determine economic feasibility. It should include capital invest-
ment, annual maintenance and operating costs, financing costs, taxes and insurance.

CONCLUSIONS
Geothermal resources are non-renewable, because the hot water and steam must be extracted
in industrial time rather than geologic time. Although the potential of geothermal resources and
applications worldwide are large, there are site specific limitations in direct uses, more so than
in electric power uses.
Equipment for direct uses are of standard manufacture and are known from other industries.
Direct use projects consist of several characteristic units, including: downhole and pipeline
pumps, transmission and distribution lines, heat exchangers and convectors and heat pumps and
refrigeration systems. Other elements of direct uses are control systems and aqueous chemistry
(corrosion and scaling).
District heating (hitaveita) is the largest single type of geothermal energy non-electrical use.
Other elements or types of direct uses are in agriculture, horticulture and process applications
such as drying. District cooling and cascading uses are examples of new developments in direct
uses of geothermal energy worldwide.
The feasibility of direct use projects is determined primarily by project location (site
specificity), system thermal efficiency and load factor, financing and the cost of competing fuels.
136 J.-S. Gudmundsson

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