35 OCTOBER 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Renewable Energy and Affordable Housing Adapted from Information by the University of Connecticut Researchers at the University of Connecticut (UConn) are going beneath the surface to supply renewable energy to an affordable housing development. A team from UConn’s Pratt & Whitney Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering (IASE) is designing an innovative geothermal heating and cooling system to use natural heat stored under the earth’s surface. When implemented, the system will save emissions while improving air quality for the 21 handicapped, 19 elderly, and 100 female-headed households who call Ulbrich Heights, in Wallingford, Connecticut, home. The unit will serve at least 50% of the heating and cooling loads of the 132-unit complex. The project was funded with a $700,000 clean energy grant by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is one of 11 communities nationwide to receive $13 million in support. UConn’s role in the project is being spearheaded by geothermal energy expert Ravi Gorthala, IASE associate director of research programs, professor-in-residence of mechanical engineering; and mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate Prathamesh Patil. The duo also serves UConn’s Southern New England Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), which helps small manufacturing companies save energy, improve productivity, and reduce waste by providing no-cost technical assessments conducted by university-based teams of engineering students and faculty. The Ulbrich Heights geothermal system will collect subsurface heat 300 feet belowground through a borehole field. The energy will be captured inside a geothermal distribution loop and circulated, then transferred to the residences by an electric heat pump. In warmer months, the process is reversed, and heat is extracted from the building and transferred to the ground for cooling. Once a contract is in place by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) from the DOE, UConn will be tasked with leading the geothermal system design, also known as Phase I of the project. Phase I should take one year and will include the development of a geothermal heat pump model, site survey, drilling a test well for determining the thermal properties of the soil, and identifying a mechanical contractor for the detailed design. In May 2024, the DOE will review the design and, if selected, the Ulbrich Heights project will enter Phase II. During this period, the UConn / CT DEEP team will begin implementing and installing the community geothermal heat pump system. As a student with several years of energy research experience, Patil is eager to get started. “Through my studies at UConn and efforts with the IAC, I’ve learned how to model geothermal systems, produce simulations, develop a technoeconomic analysis, conduct energy audits, and manage engineering projects, all of which will be useful for a project of this scale,” Patil said. “The project is definitely an exciting opportunity and I hope to learn the true cost and performance of a geothermal vertical borehole system to hopefully spin-off on another project or develop a better system that is of a greater efficiency and lower cost.” The geothermal system (conceptual illustration below) will be located under the grassy area in the above photo. GEO
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