Wine Valley Inn: A mineral water spa in Calistoga, California. Geothermal-energy-system conceptual design and economic feasibility

The purpose of this study is to determine the engineering and economic feasibility for utilizing geothermal energy for air conditioning and service water heating at the Wine Valley Inn, a mineral water spa in Calistoga, California. The study evaluates heating, ventilating, air conditioning and water heating systems suitable for direct heat geothermal application. Due to the excellent geothermal temperatures available at this site, the mechanics and economics of a geothermally powered chilled water cooling system are evaluated. The Wine Valley Inn has the resource potential to have one of the few totally geothermal powered air conditioning and water heating systems in the world. This total concept is completely developed. A water plan was prepared to determine the quantity of water required for fresh water well development based on the special requirements of the project. An economic evaluation of the system is included to justify the added capital investment needed to build the geothermally powered mineral spa. Energy payback calculations are presented. A thermal cascade system is proposed to direct the geothermal water through the energy system to first power the chiller, then the space heating system, domestic hot water, the two spas and finally to heat the swimming pool. The Energy Management strategy required to automatically control this cascade process using industrial quality micro-processor equipment is described. Energy Management controls are selected to keep equipment sizing at a minimum, pump only the amount of geothermal water needed and be self balancing