Assessment of operation of an underground closed-loop geothermal heat exchanger

The results of calculations that allow one to obtain the characteristics of a closed-loop geothermal heat exchanger (C-LGHE) on the basis of our own approximate mathematical model are presented. These results are given in the form of appropriate tables containing the reduced quantities characterizing operation of such a geothermal heat exchanger. On this basis, C-LGHE operation is analyzed and conclusions on the possibilities of utilization of geothermal energy in binary power stations are drawn.__________Published in Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 131–137, January–February, 2005.