A review on energetic, exergetic and exergoeconomic aspects of geothermal district heating systems (GDHSs)

WOS: 000278730100025Geothermal is a reliable and promising renewable energy. In 1892 the first geothermal district heating system (GDHS) began operations in Boise, Idaho, USA. Since then, a number of GDHSs installations have been made worldwide. Various investigations on the efficient utilization of geothermal energy resources have also been conducted to attain sustainable development. There is a link between exergy and sustainable development. In recent years, exergy analysis has been widely used in the design, simulation and performance assessment of thermal systems. Exergoeconomic analysis, which is a combination of exergy and economics, is nowadays considered a powerful tool to study and optimize various types of energy-related systems. The present study comprehensively reviews GDHSs in terms of three aspects, namely energetic, exergetic and exergoeconomic analyses and assessments, for the first time to the best of the author's knowledge. A brief historical development of the studies on GDHSs was given on the base of these three aspects first. Next, GDHSs analyzed were schematically presented and shortly described. The previously conducted studies on GDHSs were then reviewed and classified. Finally, the conclusions were presented. It is expected that this comprehensive study will be very beneficial to everyone involved or interested in the energetic, exergetic and exergoeconomic design, analysis and performance evaluation of GDHSs. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK)The continuous incentive support given by the Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) is gratefully acknowledged. The author would like to express his appreciation to his wife Fevziye Hepbasli and his daughter Nesrin Hepbasli for their continued patience, understanding and full support throughout the preparation of this paper as well as all the other ones. He is also very grateful to the three reviewers and the editor for their valuable and constructive comments, which have been utilized in improving the quality of the paper