Geothermal Power Generation using Enhanced or Engineered Geothermal System(EGS)

공학적인 지열시스템(EGS)을 이용한 지열발전 기술

  • Published : 2008.10.10

Abstract

The potential deep geothermal resources span a wide range of heat sources from the earth, including not only the more easily developed, currently economic hydrothermal resources; but also the earth's deeper, stored thermal energy, which is present anywhere. At shallow depths of 3,000~10,000m, the coincidence of substantial amounts heat in hot rock, fluids that heat up while flowing through the rock and permeability of connected fractures can result in natural hot water reservoirs. Although conventional hydrothermal resources which contain sufficient fluids at high temperatures and geo-pressures are used effectively for both electric and nonelectric applications in the world, they are somewhat limited in their location and ultimate potential for supplying electricity. A large portion of the world's geothermal resource base consists of hot dry rock(HDR) with limited permeability and porosity, an inadquate recharge of fluids and/or insufficient water for heat transport. An alternative known as engineered or enhanced geothermal systems(EGS), to dependence on naturally occurring hydrothermal reservoirs involves human intervention to engineer hydrothermal reservoirs in hot rocks for commercial use. Therefore EGS resources are with enormous potential for primary energy recovery using an engineered heat mining technology, which is designed to extract and utilize the earth's stored inexthermal energy. Because EGS resources have a large potential for the long term, United States focused his effort to provide 100GW of 24-hour-a-day base load electric-generating capacity by 2050.

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