Search results for "geothermal"
showing 10 items of 104 documents
SOLAR DESALINATION: A CHALLENGE FOR SUSTAINABLE FRESH WATER IN THE 21ST CENTURY
2007
generate a sustainable source of fresh water as well as energy. This combination is highly valued as it limits and reduces air pollutant emissions and green house gases generated by combustion of fossil fuels. Increase in energy demand during the first half of this century is expected to continue, which makes the cost of renewable solar energy highly competitive against fossil fuels. Desalination has been relied on to provide fresh water for large cities and countries across the world. The desalination industry continues to grow in countries in arid regions. Various aspects of solar desalination processes, solar energy, and conventional desalination are discussed. Scenarios for combination …
Integrated production of fresh water, sea salt and magnesium from sea water
2012
Seawater desalination is becoming an important source of fresh water in several countries all around the world. One of the main drawbacks of desalination processes, however, is related to the disposal of large quantities of concentrated brine, which is an always-present by-product of the process. An integrated production of fresh water and salts may be achieved using the discharge brine from a desalination plant as a feed for conventional salt ponds, with the advantages of using brine more concentrated than sea water and, in the case of thermal desalination plants, warmer than sea water. By doing so, the process is faster as a consequence of the enhancement of evaporation rate on the surfac…
The Mazara del Vallo area, a key site to understand the regional geothermal system of Western Sicily
2012
Geothermal exploration of shallow resources and for the deep regional assessment of Sicily: the role of geological and hydrogeological data
2012
Geophysical study of the hydrothermal reservoir in the Panza area (Ischia, Italy)
2008
The aim of the work is the reconstruction of the main geometric pattern and the characterisation with geophysical parameters of geological structures lying at small and medium depths in an area of the Ischia island (Italy), where a sensible hydrothermal activity is present.
A novel renewable system supplying energy and water to the island of Pantelleria
2016
In this paper a thermoeconomic analysis of a novel hybrid Renewable Polygeneration System connected to a district heating and cooling network is presented. The plant is powered simultaneously by solar and geothermal energy and capable to supply electricity, desalinated water, heat and cooling energy. System layout includes a Parabolic Through Collector (PTC) field, geothermal wells, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) unit and a Multi-Effect Desalination (MED) system. A model of a typical building of Pantelleria urban area and a heating and cooling system based on fan coils have been modelled and linked to the plant model in TRNSYS environment. A detailed system control has been implemented in t…
Diffuse and focused carbon dioxide and methane emissions from the Sousaki geothermal system, Greece
2006
[1] We report first data on chemical composition of the gas emitted by the geothermal system of Sousaki, Greece. Gas manifestations display typical geothermal gas composition with CO2 as the main component and CH4 and H2S as minor species. Soil gas composition derives from the mixing of two end-members (atmospheric air and geothermal gas). Soil CO2 fluxes range from<2 to 33,400 g m−2 d−1. The estimated diffuse output of hydrothermal CO2, estimated for an area of 0.015 km2, is about 630 g s−1, while a tentative estimation of CH4 diffuse output gave a value of about 1.15 g s−1. Point sources accounted for lower flux values of ∼26 g s−1 of CO2, ∼0.1 g s−1 of CH4 and ∼0.02 g s−1 of H2S.
Changes in fluid geochemistry and physico-chemical conditions of geothermal systems caused by magmatic input: The recent abrupt outgassing off the is…
2005
Abstract Hydrothermal systems and related vents can exhibit dramatic changes in their physico-chemical conditions over time as a response to varying activity in the feeding magmatic systems. Massive steam condensation and gas scrubbing processes of thermal fluids during their ascent and cooling cause further compositional changes that mask information regarding the conditions evolving at depth in the hydrothermal system. Here we propose a new stability diagram based on the CO2-CH4-CO-H2 concentrations in vapor, which aims at calculating the temperatures and pressures in hydrothermal reservoirs. To filter gas scrubbing effects, we have also developed a model for selective dissolution of CO2-…
A dish-stirling solar concentrator coupled to a seasonal thermal energy storage system in the southern mediterranean basin: A cogenerative layout hyp…
2020
Abstract In the future, renewable energy sources will increasingly represent an efficient energy source capable of meeting the demands of residential and industrial buildings avoiding the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In this paper, a heat and electric power cogeneration plant implementing a field of dish-Stirling collectors, a seasonal geothermal storage and a system of water-to-water heat pumps is proposed for the first time. The cogeneration plant has been designed both to supply thermal energy to the heating system of Building 9 of the Department of Engineering in Palermo and to produce electricity. The operation of the plant has been tested by means of hourly-based…
Coupling sustainable energy with membrane distillation processes for seawater desalination
2010
Desalination technologies nowadays is a very interesting and emerging alternative to conventional water sources; their high energy consumption, however, generates some problems in adopting them, especially in remote areas where electric grid is not available and fuel transportation is not always sustainable. In this paper a short overview of possible couplings between the membrane distillation technology for desalination and the use of sustainable thermal energy sources is presented. Two case studies of ongoing research projects at Universita di Palermo are also presented.