Geothermal Projects on Campus
The University of Illinois has implemented several geothermal projects on U of I campus for either educational purposes and/or improving the sustainability of existing and new buildings and providing an overall energy resilience. For example:
-
The university is integrating an innovative geothermal system with the foundation of a new extension of the hydro system lab. F&S is collaborating with Illinois Civil and Electrical Engineering assistant professor Dr. Tugce Baser, on using the 50-foot-deep shafts already being drilled for the foundation of a new "smart" bridge that connects the Newmark Civil Engineering Lab with the Hydrosystems Lab to integrate geothermal system pipes that circulate water heated or cooled under the earth. This innovative approach is 30-40% cheaper than the conventional methods of geothermal systems by drilling separate boreholes for the exchanger loops. The project will provide an invaluable opportunity for the university to conduct a scalability study from the lesson learned during the installation and an excellent basis for a fundamental understanding of energy foundations' operational response. Furthermore, F&S is planning to utilize the outcome of this project to study the impact of the expansion on geothermal energy generation and storage on campus energy management.
-
A state-of-the-art greenhouse located in the Research Park supports the ongoing project led by Illinois researchers Steve Long and Don Ort. The heating system in the greenhouse integrates a geothermal exchanger with the heating system. The geothermal wellfield includes 32 vertical heat exchangers (VHE) in 300’ deep boreholes filled. The boreholes are 25 feet apart from both directions, and VHEs are distributed on eight circuits.
-
The Geothermal Test Well project at Energy Farm was funded by SSC. The main objective of is to provide comprehensive scientific data and analysis to help our community on evaluating the potential of using ground source heat pump system in a large scale as part of campus green energy policy. the project outcomes include (1) the comprehensive thermal property measurements, (2) subsurface temperature profile in high spatiotemporal resolutions, and (3) optimal cost analysis of vertical closed loop installation for ground source heat pumps, which can be used to evaluate geothermal energy contribution for future energy planning on campus.
-
The university also conducted a feasibility study to convert the President's house HVAC to geothermal heating and cooling system. The president house is located on Florida Avenue in Urbana, Illinois and was originally built in 1931. This project employed a retainer mechanical engineer firm to prepare a 25 year LCCA of the geothermal option with a baseline standard HVAC system with respect to performance and operating costs.