Tue, 10 October, 2023
We are delighted to announce the successful conclusion of the GeoHex project. 13 different project partners drawn from academia and industry united to create a consortium from across Europe as well as in The Philippines for the project, which sought to improve and optimise geothermal operations while also reducing costs.
Although geothermal energy offers a flexible source of energy, there is still a need to reduce the initial and ongoing operating costs of geothermal plants.
The harsh environments inherent in geothermal applications mean that components are under constant threat from corrosion and scaling issues. These issues create high capital, operational and maintenance costs as parts suffer degradation and need inspecting and replacement.
Heat exchangers are particularly prone to the harsh conditions as they are under constant exposure to geothermal brine corrosion and scaling damage.
By optimising the heat exchangers used in geothermal operations, through the development of improved heat exchanger materials, the project consortium delivered improved anti-scaling and anti-corrosion properties as well as enhanced heat transfer performance of the HX material, leading to more efficient and cost-effective systems.
The consortium developed materials for three different heat transfer mechanisms used in heat exchangers, including single phase heat transfer, condensing surface and boiling surface. In addition, a sustainability model, using parametric lifecycle assessment, and a cost model were developed in order to identify the environmental and cost performance of the materials. The findings from these models and experimental results were then incorporated into a knowledge based engineering tool combined with a multi-criteria decision-support system.
Project details were disseminated throughout the course of the work, including at webinars, through newsletters, and via published papers and articles in a number of journals and magazines. Members of the GeoHex team also presented details of the project at the World Geothermal Congress in Beijing, at AMPP’s annual conference and expo in San Antonio, Texas, and at the European Geothermal Congress in Berlin.
We are pleased to announce that the GeoHex project has delivered findings that can significantly reduce the cost of a geothermal plant as well as strengthening EU leadership on renewables.
The GEOHEX project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Grant agreement 851917.