Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Renewable ... - EGEC

5Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Renewable Heating & CoolingRHC applications to industrial processes5.4.1 Research and innovation priorities with impact in the Short TermGEO.7 Geothermal Heat for industrial processes up to 250 °CObjectiveState-of-the-artTargetsType of activityInvestigations on the best match of geothermal heat sources (hydrothermal or EGS) to thespecific characteristics of industrial processes, and development of technology for practicaladaptation of geothermal heat to the industrial process.Improve desalination processes (e.g. on islands).Geothermal heat today is only used in some countries for drying processes for a number ofcommodities, including wood, fish, vegetables, etc. Other uses include heating in agriculture,horticulture and aquaculture.Make geothermal heat usable for industrial processes demanding medium-temperature heat;achieve a share of geothermal heat in industry of at least 20 % by 2050.50% Development / 50% DemonstrationGEO.8 Production pump technology for temperatures >180 °CObjectiveState-of-the-artTargetsType of activityCurrent LSP (line-shaft pump) and ESP (electric submersible pump) technology can achievetemperatures up to only 180°C. To reach temperatures closer to 250 °C, at the upper endof the medium temperature range, suitable ESP pumps need to be developed. These devicesare crucial for economic application of geothermal technologies in this temperature rangeof industrial heat.Submersible pumps today can work at maximum 180 °C and with a maximum flow rateof about 100 l/s.Commercially-available production pumps for high temperatures by 2020, as a prerequisiteto meeting the targets of GEO.1250% Development / 50% Demonstration5.4.2 Research and innovation priorities with impact in the Medium and Long TermGeothermal research and development activities whose impact will be mostly in the mediumand long term focus mainly on EGS technology, unconventional resources (geopressurised,supercritical, ultra-deep) and on materials science. Also for re-injection of geothermal fluidsin certain geological conditions (e.g. some sandstone formations) most probably more timewill be needed to develop satisfactory solutions. A specific priority is defined here:Unconventional resources and very high temperatures (GEO.9). This geothermal researchaims at making use of very high temperature resources above 250 °C. Projects like theIcelandic Deep Drilling Programme investigate possibilities for extracting geothermalenergy up to 400 °C. Practical results and possible application here can be expected by 2030.Research and Innovation Priorities Predominant type of activity ImpactGEO.7 Geothermal Heat for industrial processes up to 250 °C Development / Demonstration By 2020GEO.8 Production pump technology for temperatures >180 °C Development / Demonstration By 2020GEO.9 Unconventional resources and very high temperatures Research By 2030Table 13: research and innovation priorities for geothermal applicationsto industrial processes5.5 Cross-cutting technologiesWithout advancements in cross-cutting technology, decarbonising the industrial heating andcooling demand is likely to be more costly, less efficient and represent poorer valueto energy users at all scales. High and medium temperature heat networks servingindustrial clusters exploit economies of scale, mitigate investment risk and enableeconomic deployment of CHP technology.District Heating and Cooling systems should play an important role in future supplysystems to satisfy the industrial heat demand. In this case, the potential for integrating heatinflow and outflow from different industries (also called heat cascading) emergeas key aspect. See Chapter 6 for details.56