Geothermal Energy
Summer Term 2018
Teachers
- Stefan Hergarten
-
lecture, assignments
- Johannes Miocic
-
lecture on geotechnical aspects
- Jakob Wilk
-
excursion to the geothermal power plant at Soultz
Topics and Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Topic |
Lecturer |
Room |
| Mon. 18.06. |
10.00–12.00 |
overview, formal aspects
introduction
fundamentals of heat transport |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| 13.00–15.00 |
fundamentals of heat transport
Earth's natural thermal field |
| Tue. 19.06. |
11.45–14.00 |
Earth's natural thermal field |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| Wed. 20.06. |
9.00–12.00 |
Earth's natural thermal field |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| 13.00–15.00 |
geothermal heating systems |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 012 |
| Thu. 21.06. |
9.00–12.00 |
assignments (progress reports, support)
shallow downhole heat exchangers |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 012 |
| Mon. 25.06. |
10.00–12.00 |
assignments (progress reports, support) |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| 13.00–15.00 |
shallow downhole heat exchangers |
| Tue. 26.06. |
11.00–14.00 |
deep downhole heat exchangers |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| Wed. 27.06. |
9.00–12.00 |
assignments (progress reports, support)
ground heat collectors |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| 13.00–15.00 |
open geothermal systems for producing electricity |
| Thu. 28.06. |
9.00–12.00 |
geotechnical aspects |
J. Miocic |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 012 |
| Fr. 29.06. |
8.00(!)–14.00 |
visit at the Soultz geothermal power plant |
J. Wilk |
Albertstr. 23b (meeting point) |
| Mon. 02.07. |
10.00–12.00 |
assignments (progress reports, support)
open geothermal systems for producing electricity |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| 13.00–15.00 |
open geothermal systems for producing electricity |
| Tue. 03.07. |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Wed. 04.07. |
9.00–12.00 |
assignments (progress reports, support)
open geothermal systems for producing electricity |
S. Hergarten |
Albertstr. 23b, 03 037 |
| 13.00–15.00 |
— |
— |
| Thu. 05.07. |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Changes compared to the plan sent by email are marked with red color.
The classroom 03 012 (basement) is available almost the entire time for group work.
Examination
Your marks will be derived from 9 assignments to be solved during
the module. The maximum score of the assignments is 106 points.
In addition you can earn up to 14 points by helping your classmates
and solving many assignments on your own.
Basis for the mark 1.0 is 100 points (out of a theoretical maximum
score of 120 points). 50 points are required for passing.
Assignments
-
You may use any programming/calculating environment you are familiar with,
(MS Excel, LibreOffice Calc, MATLAB, Python, R, ...), but you
will definitely need something beyond a simple pocket calculator.
All assignments are designed in such a way that they can be solved
with MS Excel, although this may be more complicated in detail than
with "serious" programming languages. Do not start learning
a new programming language!
-
Criteria of evaluation are the correctness of the solution, interpretations
being consistent and understandable, and the quality of the figures
(e.g., axis labels and units). All steps towards the results must be
explained (which equations were used, what has to be taken into account,
...).
-
You may either submit your solutions alone or in groups of two or three
students.
-
Beyond being allowed to submit your solution in a group of two or three students,
you are encouraged to work together.
According to the general ethics of scientific work,
collaboration must be acknowledged when submitting an assignment.
You must declare in the respective fields of the submission form whether you
-
solved everything on your own,
-
worked together as a group and contributed equally to the solution, and/or
-
received helped from other classmates.
Any solutions violating this rule will not be considered without the chance of resubmission.
-
As the assignments accompany the progress of the class,
the deadlines announced on the assignment sheets must be obeyed. A tolerance
of 10 days is given for all assignments in sum. You may, e.g., be late by 2 days at one
assignment, 5 days at another, and 3 days by a third one. Late submissions exceeding
this limit will not be considered. Please keep in mind that
the rule concerns individual assignments, not entire assignment sheets.
Assignment Sheets
Assignment sheets
Submission of Solutions
Solutions can only be submitted as PDF files using the form below. A submission of printouts
or by e-mail is not possible. Details are given during the submission procedure.
Unfortunately it was not mentioned in the original version of assignment 8
that the thermal properties of the soil should be the same as in assignment 4
(not assignment 5 as those correspond to sandstone)..
Submission of Solutions
Solutions can only be submitted as PDF files using the form below. A submission of printouts
or by e-mail is not possible. Please pay attention to the following points:
-
You have to register before you can upload any files.
If you are not sure whether you are already registered, please use the following
form to test your registration or to register.
-
PDF is the only accepted file format. Submissions must be either one file
per assignment sheet or one file per assignment (preferred).
-
The file size must not exceed 64 MB.
-
Special characters ("Umlaute" etc.) and white spaces in the
filename are not allowed.
-
Paper size must be similar to DIN A4 portrait (US letter or similar formats
are also acceptable, but not much larger), and the font size should be at least 11 pt.
-
If appropriate for the respective assignment, scanned hand-written solutions are also accepted,
provided that the technical quality is ok (no smartphone photos etc.).
-
Short MATLAB code sequences that you executed step by step
in the command window should be included in your main PDF file.
Larger codes that you saved in a MATLAB file (.m) must be attached as
individual code attachments.
However, all relevant information (figures, interpretations)
must still be contained in your main PDF file.
-
If your solution requires data not included in your code (e.g., results
of previous assignments), you must upload them as data supplements (MATLAB workspace,
.mat).
-
If you use other programming languages, please ask for the details about uploading
your codes.
-
If you use spreadsheets, they must also be uploaded as supplements (.ods, .xlsx or .xlsm).
In case your spreadsheet contains macros, use a format that supports including macros
in the file (.ods or .xlsm).
-
After uploading your file you receive a mail with page images (at
reduced resolution). Please check whether these page images are consistent with
the submitted document and whether you submited your file for the correct
class. Keep this mail as it is the proof of your submission.
-
If you receive an error message, your solution has not been submitted.
Downloads
Further Reading
- About geothermal energy in general:
-
Clauser, C.: Geothermal Energy, in: K. Heinloth (Ed), Landolt-Börnstein, Group VIII, Vol. 3C: Energy Technologies – Renewable Energy, 493–595 (Springer)
Stober, I. & Bucher, K.: Geothermal Energy (Springer)
- About heat transport and Earth's thermal field
-
Turcotte, D.L. & Schubert, G.: Geodynamics (Cambridge University Press)
Stüwe, K.: Geodynamics of the Lithosphere (Springer)
