Browsing by Author "Wiberg, Meri"

The need for renewable energy sources is continuously increasing due to the prevailing climate change. The temperature of the Earth's crust increases with depth, providing more energy than humanity can utilize. Geothermal energy is a low-carbon form of energy, and its potential is being increasingly exploited. The design of an energy well requires geological investigations and knowledge of geothermal properties such as thermal conductivity, energy well thermal resistance, and heat capacity. Preliminary studies and modeling of energy wells have utilized in situ measurements, such as thermal response testing and active distributed temperature sensing, to determine thermal conductivity and energy well thermal resistance. By using information on mineral composition and mineral distribution in the rock formation, the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the rock can be calculated. In the modeling of geothermal fields, thermal conductivity, energy well thermal resistance, and heat capacity are utilized. Both computational and in situ methods provide two of these factors, with thermal conductivity being a common factor. However, the methods differ in terms of ecological impact, implementation time, and cost-effectiveness. In the thesis, comparisons have been made between the results and differences of the methods, as well as a cost estimate comparison between the methods.