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The management of livestock manures and slurries noticeably improved since the massive introduction of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Italy and other European Union (EU) countries. However, these plants heavily rely on incentives, and the recent switch of European biogas policies from electricity to biomethane potentially threatens the economic viability of manure AD. In this study, three retrofit options are analyzed for an installation in Piedmont (NW Italy) that is currently producing 999 kWel through combined heat and power (CHP). The techno-economic feasibility and the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget is analyzed for each solution. Results show that exploiting current incentives on electricity is vital to fund the retrofit of CHP plants to biomethane. Energy crop and electricity prices, the sale price of biomethane certificates after the end of incentives, and biogas productivity are the critical parameters for the economic profitability of manure AD plants, along with the possibility to deliver biomethane directly to the pipeline grid. This study provides insight to the reconversion of manure AD plants, addressing issues that affect hundreds of installations in Italy and other EU countries.
Alessandro Casasso; Marta Puleo; Deborah Panepinto; Mariachiara Zanetti. Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7979 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Marta Puleo, Deborah Panepinto, Mariachiara Zanetti. Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (14):7979.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Marta Puleo; Deborah Panepinto; Mariachiara Zanetti. 2021. "Economic Viability and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Budget of the Biomethane Retrofit of Manure-Operated Biogas Plants: A Case Study from Piedmont, Italy." Sustainability 13, no. 14: 7979.
The expression Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) identifies shallow geothermal systems where heat from external sources (solar thermal collectors, industrial processes, combined heat and power systems) is stored seasonally into the ground to be used during periods of higher demand. UTES is performed as closed-loop Borehole (BTES) or open-loop Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES). This article presents UTES techniques with relevant case studies, the software used for modelling energy needs and underground heat transport, some peculiar aspects affecting the storage efficiency, the typical operating issues, and the possible subsurface impacts of UTES installations.
Alessandro Casasso; Nicolò Giordano; Carlo Bianco; Rajandrea Sethi. UTES - Underground Thermal Energy Storage. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Nicolò Giordano, Carlo Bianco, Rajandrea Sethi. UTES - Underground Thermal Energy Storage. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Nicolò Giordano; Carlo Bianco; Rajandrea Sethi. 2021. "UTES - Underground Thermal Energy Storage." Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences , no. : 1.
The containment of contaminant plumes to protect groundwater from pollution is recognized as a frequent need in brownfield redevelopment. Plume containment can be physical, with slurry walls, jet grouting etc., or hydraulic, with wells capturing the subsurface flow that crosses the contaminated front (Pump & Treat), or a combination of both types. The choice of the most suitable technique is a difficult task, since various aspects must be taken into consideration. In this paper, we present a framework for evaluating barriers in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, along with a simplified approach for the evaluation of capital and operational costs. The contaminant mass discharge escaping from the containment system is a robust indicator of its effectiveness, and can be derived from modelling results. The abstracted water flowrate is a key indicator of the efficiency and sustainability of each option, especially in the long term. The methodology is tested in a simplified case study and in a real one, highlighting the relevance of modelling results in guiding the choice and design of contaminant source containment systems.
Alessandro Casasso; Agnese Salomone; Carlo Bianco; Giovanni Prassede; Rajandrea Sethi. A Quantitative Approach to Assessing the Technical and Economic Performance of Source Containment Options for Contaminated Aquifers. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5346 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Agnese Salomone, Carlo Bianco, Giovanni Prassede, Rajandrea Sethi. A Quantitative Approach to Assessing the Technical and Economic Performance of Source Containment Options for Contaminated Aquifers. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (10):5346.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Agnese Salomone; Carlo Bianco; Giovanni Prassede; Rajandrea Sethi. 2021. "A Quantitative Approach to Assessing the Technical and Economic Performance of Source Containment Options for Contaminated Aquifers." Sustainability 13, no. 10: 5346.
Abandoned industrial sites are generally characterized by soil and subsoil contamination. The paradigm currently employed for their remediation is “tabula rasa”, i.e., remediation of the entire site before its repurpose. However, this method is not economically, socially, or technologically sustainable: it delays the reuse of large areas, often well-connected to infrastructures, whose reuse may prevent further soil consumption. A possible solution to this problem is the application of adaptive reuse principles. This study, conducted at FULL (Future Urban Legacy Lab) in Politecnico di Torino, presents an interdisciplinary approach to spatialize, visualize, and manage interactions between reclamation and urban design for the transformation of contaminated urban areas. The core is based on a decision support parametric toolkit, named AdRem, developed to compare available remediation techniques and schematic urban design solutions. AdRem uses a 3D modeling interface and VPL scripting. Required input data are a geometric description of the site, data on the contamination status, viable remediation techniques, and associated features, and schematic urban design recommendations. A filtering process selects the techniques compatible with the site use foreseen. The output is an optimized remediation and reuse plan that can support an interdisciplinary discussion on possible site regeneration options.
Valerio Palma; Federico Accorsi; Alessandro Casasso; Carlo Bianco; Sarah Cutrì; Matteo Robiglio; Tiziana Tosco. AdRem: An Integrated Approach for Adaptive Remediation. Sustainability 2020, 13, 28 .
AMA StyleValerio Palma, Federico Accorsi, Alessandro Casasso, Carlo Bianco, Sarah Cutrì, Matteo Robiglio, Tiziana Tosco. AdRem: An Integrated Approach for Adaptive Remediation. Sustainability. 2020; 13 (1):28.
Chicago/Turabian StyleValerio Palma; Federico Accorsi; Alessandro Casasso; Carlo Bianco; Sarah Cutrì; Matteo Robiglio; Tiziana Tosco. 2020. "AdRem: An Integrated Approach for Adaptive Remediation." Sustainability 13, no. 1: 28.
Borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) generally employ water-antifreeze solutions to allow working fluid temperatures to fall below 0 °C. However, some local regulations have forbidden antifreeze additives (even non-toxic ones) to avoid groundwater pollution in case of pipe leakage. This paper presents a techno-economic and environmental analysis of four different fluids: propylene glycol at 25% and 33% weight concentrations, calcium chloride at 20% weight concentration (CaCl2 20%), and pure water. Thermal loads from 36 case studies in six different climate zones are used to perform BHE sizing and compare the abovementioned fluids from the economic, operational, and environmental points of view. The economic analysis and the carbon footprint assessment are performed on a life cycle of 25 years considering the installation (BHE drilling, fluid) and operation (heat pump and ground-side circulation pump energy demand, fluid replacement) of the simulated GSHPs. Results highlight that using pure water as a heat carrier fluid is convenient for cooling-dominated buildings but, for heating-dominated buildings, this choice leads to a noticeable increase of the BHE needed length which is not compensated by the lower operational costs. On the other hand, avoiding the use of antifreeze additives generally leads to a reduction of the lifetime carbon footprint, with a few exceptions in very cold climates. CaCl2 20% proves to be a good choice in most cases, both from the economic and the environmental points of view, as it allows a strong reduction of the installed BHE length in cold climates with a low additional cost and carbon footprint.
Nicola Bartolini; Alessandro Casasso; Carlo Bianco; Rajandrea Sethi. Environmental and Economic Impact of the Antifreeze Agents in Geothermal Heat Exchangers. Energies 2020, 13, 5653 .
AMA StyleNicola Bartolini, Alessandro Casasso, Carlo Bianco, Rajandrea Sethi. Environmental and Economic Impact of the Antifreeze Agents in Geothermal Heat Exchangers. Energies. 2020; 13 (21):5653.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNicola Bartolini; Alessandro Casasso; Carlo Bianco; Rajandrea Sethi. 2020. "Environmental and Economic Impact of the Antifreeze Agents in Geothermal Heat Exchangers." Energies 13, no. 21: 5653.
Humic acid-coated goethite nanoparticles (HA-GoeNPs) have been recently proposed as an effective reagent for the in situ nanoremediation of contaminated aquifers. However, the effective dosage of these particles has been studied only at laboratory scale to date. This study investigates the possibility of using HA-GoeNPs in remediation of real field sites by mimicking the injection and transport of HA-GoeNPs under realistic conditions. To this purpose, a three-dimensional (3D) transport experiment was conducted in a large-scale container representing a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer. Monitoring data, including particle size distribution, total iron (Fetot) content and turbidity measurements, revealed a good subsurface mobility of the HA-GoeNP suspension, especially within the higher permeability zones. A radius of influence of 2 m was achieved, proving that HA-GoeNPs delivery is feasible for aquifer restoration. A flow and transport model of the container was built using the numerical code Micro and Nanoparticle transport Model in 3D geometries (MNM3D) to predict the particle behavior during the experiment. The agreement between modeling and experimental results validated the capability of the model to reproduce the HA-GoeNP transport in a 3D heterogeneous aquifer. Such result confirms MNM3D as a valuable tool to support the design of field-scale applications of goethite-based nanoremediation.
Milica Velimirovic; Carlo Bianco; Natalia Ferrantello; Tiziana Tosco; Alessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi; Doris Schmid; Stephan Wagner; Kumiko Miyajima; Norbert Klaas; Rainer U. Meckenstock; Frank Von Der Kammer; Thilo Hofmann. A Large-Scale 3D Study on Transport of Humic Acid-Coated Goethite Nanoparticles for Aquifer Remediation. Water 2020, 12, 1207 .
AMA StyleMilica Velimirovic, Carlo Bianco, Natalia Ferrantello, Tiziana Tosco, Alessandro Casasso, Rajandrea Sethi, Doris Schmid, Stephan Wagner, Kumiko Miyajima, Norbert Klaas, Rainer U. Meckenstock, Frank Von Der Kammer, Thilo Hofmann. A Large-Scale 3D Study on Transport of Humic Acid-Coated Goethite Nanoparticles for Aquifer Remediation. Water. 2020; 12 (4):1207.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMilica Velimirovic; Carlo Bianco; Natalia Ferrantello; Tiziana Tosco; Alessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi; Doris Schmid; Stephan Wagner; Kumiko Miyajima; Norbert Klaas; Rainer U. Meckenstock; Frank Von Der Kammer; Thilo Hofmann. 2020. "A Large-Scale 3D Study on Transport of Humic Acid-Coated Goethite Nanoparticles for Aquifer Remediation." Water 12, no. 4: 1207.
Borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) commonly reach depths of several tens of meters and cross different aquifers. Concerns have been raised about the possibility of boreholes to act as preferential pathways for contaminant transport among aquifers (cross-contamination). This article employs numerical modelling of contaminant transport in the subsurface to address these concerns. A common hydrogeological setup is simulated, composed of three layers: A shallow contaminated and a deep uncontaminated aquifer separated by an aquitard, all crossed by a permeable borehole. The hydraulic conductivity of the borehole and, to a lesser extent, the vertical hydraulic gradient between the aquifers are the key factors of cross-contamination. Results of the numerical simulations highlight that, despite the severe conditions hypothesized in our modelling study, the cross-contamination due to the borehole is negligible when filled with a slightly permeable material such as a geothermal grout properly mixed and injected. A good agreement was found with analytical formulas used for estimating the flow rate leaking through the borehole and for studying the propagation of leaked contaminant into the deep aquifer.
Alessandro Casasso; Natalia Ferrantello; Simone Pescarmona; Carlo Bianco; Rajandrea Sethi. Can Borehole Heat Exchangers Trigger Cross-Contamination between Aquifers? Water 2020, 12, 1174 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Natalia Ferrantello, Simone Pescarmona, Carlo Bianco, Rajandrea Sethi. Can Borehole Heat Exchangers Trigger Cross-Contamination between Aquifers? Water. 2020; 12 (4):1174.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Natalia Ferrantello; Simone Pescarmona; Carlo Bianco; Rajandrea Sethi. 2020. "Can Borehole Heat Exchangers Trigger Cross-Contamination between Aquifers?" Water 12, no. 4: 1174.
Domestic hot water heat pumps (DHW HPs) have spread fast in recent years in Europe and they now represent an interesting opportunity for implementing renewable energy sources in buildings with a centralized/district heating system, where DWH is generally produced by a gas boiler or an electric water heater. Replacing these appliances has several environmental benefits, including the removal of air pollution sources and the reduction of Green House Gasses (GHG) emissions. In this work, we present the techno-economic and environmental evaluation of implementing DHW HPs in Turin, where 66% of the DHW demand is covered by dedicated gas boilers. The impact of such boilers was assessed through numerical air dispersion modeling conducted with the software SPRAY (Aria Technologies, Paris, French). Results show that removing these sources would reduce yearly average concentrations of NOx up to 1.4 µg/m3, i.e., about 1% of monitored concentrations of NOx, with a benefit of 1.05 ÷ 15.15 M€/y of avoided health externalities. Replacing boilers with DHW HPs is always financially feasible with current incentives while, in their absence, it would be convenient for residential units with 3 cohabitants or more (51.22% of the total population), thanks to scale economies.
Marco Ravina; Costanza Gamberini; Alessandro Casasso; Deborah Panepinto. Environmental and Health Impacts of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Boilers in Urban Areas: A Case Study from Turin, NW Italy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 595 .
AMA StyleMarco Ravina, Costanza Gamberini, Alessandro Casasso, Deborah Panepinto. Environmental and Health Impacts of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Boilers in Urban Areas: A Case Study from Turin, NW Italy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (2):595.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Ravina; Costanza Gamberini; Alessandro Casasso; Deborah Panepinto. 2020. "Environmental and Health Impacts of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Boilers in Urban Areas: A Case Study from Turin, NW Italy." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 2: 595.
Pump and treat (P&T) systems are still widely employed for the hydraulic containment of contaminated groundwater despite the fact that their usage is decreasing due to their high operational costs. A way to partially mitigate such costs, both in monetary and environmental terms, is to perform heat exchange (directly or with a heat pump) on the groundwater extracted by these systems, thus providing low-carbon and low-cost heating and/or cooling to buildings or industrial processes. This opportunity should be carefully evaluated in view of preserving (or even improving) the removal efficiency of the remediation process. Therefore, the heat exchange should be placed upstream or downstream of all treatments, or in an intermediate position, depending on the effect of water temperature change on the removal efficiency of each treatment step. This article provides an overview of such effects and is meant to serve as a starting reference for a case-by-case evaluation. Finally, the potentiality of geothermal use of P&T systems is assessed in the Italian contaminated Sites of National Interest (SIN), i.e., the 41 priority contaminated sites in Italy. At least 29 of these sites use pumping wells as hydraulic barriers or P&T systems. The total discharge rate treated by these plants exceeds 7000 m3/h and can potentially provide about 33 MW of heating and/or cooling power.
Alessandro Casasso; Tiziana Tosco; Carlo Bianco; Arianna Bucci; Rajandrea Sethi. How Can We Make Pump and Treat Systems More Energetically Sustainable? Water 2019, 12, 67 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Tiziana Tosco, Carlo Bianco, Arianna Bucci, Rajandrea Sethi. How Can We Make Pump and Treat Systems More Energetically Sustainable? Water. 2019; 12 (1):67.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Tiziana Tosco; Carlo Bianco; Arianna Bucci; Rajandrea Sethi. 2019. "How Can We Make Pump and Treat Systems More Energetically Sustainable?" Water 12, no. 1: 67.
Ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional heating and cooling systems. The thermally altered zone (thermal plume) is a key aspect for land management of GSHPs.
Alessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. Water-Energy Nexus in Shallow Geothermal Systems. Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems 2019, 425 -427.
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Rajandrea Sethi. Water-Energy Nexus in Shallow Geothermal Systems. Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems. 2019; ():425-427.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. 2019. "Water-Energy Nexus in Shallow Geothermal Systems." Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems , no. : 425-427.
Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) gained increasing interest owing to benefits such as low heating and cooling costs, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and no pollutant emissions on site. However, GSHPs may have various possible interactions with underground and groundwater, which, despite the extremely rare occurrence of relevant damages, has raised concerns on their sustainability. Possible criticalities for their installation are (hydro)geological features (artesian aquifers, swelling or soluble layers, landslide-prone areas), human activities (mines, quarries, landfills, contaminated sites), and groundwater quality. Thermal alterations due to the operation of GSHPs may have an impact on groundwater chemistry and on the efficiency of neighboring installations. So far, scientific studies excluded appraisable geochemical alterations within typical ranges of GSHPs (±6 K on the initial groundwater temperature); such alterations, however, may occur for aquifer thermal energy storage over 40 °C. Thermal interferences among neighboring installations may be severe in urban areas with a high plant density, thus highlighting the need for their proper management. These issues are presented here and framed from a groundwater quality protection perspective, providing the basis for a discussion on critical aspects to be tackled in the planning, authorization, installation, and operation phase. GSHPs turn out to be safe and sustainable if care is taken in such phases, and the best available techniques are adopted.
Alessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. Groundwater-Related Issues of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Systems: Assessment, Good Practices and Proposals from the European Experience. Water 2019, 11, 1573 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Rajandrea Sethi. Groundwater-Related Issues of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Systems: Assessment, Good Practices and Proposals from the European Experience. Water. 2019; 11 (8):1573.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. 2019. "Groundwater-Related Issues of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Systems: Assessment, Good Practices and Proposals from the European Experience." Water 11, no. 8: 1573.
Although its use is declining, oil heating is still used in areas not covered by the methane grid. Oil heating is becoming more and more expensive, requires frequent tank refill operations, and has high emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutants such as SOx. In addition, spills from oil underground storage tanks (USTs) represent a serious environmental threat to soil and groundwater quality. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis on technical alternatives to oil heating with reference to the Aosta Valley (NW Italy), where this fuel is still often used and numerous UST spills have been reported in the last 20 years. We assess operational issues, GHG and pollutant emissions, and unit costs of the heat produced for several techniques: LPG boilers, wood boilers (logs, chips, pellets) and heat pumps (air-source, geothermal closed-loop and open-loop systems). We examine the investment to implement such solutions in two typical cases, a detached house and a block of flats, deriving payback times of about 3–8 years. Wood log boilers turn out to be the most economically convenient solutions; however, heat pumps provide several benefits from the operational and environmental points of view. In addition, including solar thermal panels for domestic hot water or a photovoltaic plant would have payback times of about 6–9 years. The results highlight the economic feasibility and the multiple benefits of a rapid phase-out of oil heating in Italy.
Alessandro Casasso; Pietro Capodaglio; Fulvio Simonetto; Rajandrea Sethi. Environmental and Economic Benefits from the Phase-out of Residential Oil Heating: A Study from the Aosta Valley Region (Italy). Sustainability 2019, 11, 3633 .
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Pietro Capodaglio, Fulvio Simonetto, Rajandrea Sethi. Environmental and Economic Benefits from the Phase-out of Residential Oil Heating: A Study from the Aosta Valley Region (Italy). Sustainability. 2019; 11 (13):3633.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Pietro Capodaglio; Fulvio Simonetto; Rajandrea Sethi. 2019. "Environmental and Economic Benefits from the Phase-out of Residential Oil Heating: A Study from the Aosta Valley Region (Italy)." Sustainability 11, no. 13: 3633.
This paper proposes a method to assess the potential for thermal use of groundwater and its integration in spatial energy planning. The procedure can be adapted to local regulatory and operational limits, thus estimating legally and technically achievable flow rates and subsequently, the thermal power that can be exchanged with the aquifer through a well doublet. The constraints applied to flow rates are i) a drawdown threshold in the extraction well, ii) a limit for the groundwater rise in the injection well and iii) a threshold to avoid the hydraulic breakthrough between the two wells. For the spatial assessment, the hydraulic influence on neighbouring well doublets is simulated with the maximum flow rates before the hydraulic breakthrough occurs. The Thermal Aquifer Potential (TAP) method combines mathematical relations derived through non-linear regression analysis using results from numerical parameter studies. A demonstration of the TAP method is provided with the potential assessment in Munich, Germany. The results are compared with monitoring data from existing open-loop systems, which prove that conservative peak extraction estimates are achieved.
Fabian Böttcher; Alessandro Casasso; Gregor Götzl; Kai Zosseder. TAP - Thermal aquifer Potential: A quantitative method to assess the spatial potential for the thermal use of groundwater. Renewable Energy 2019, 142, 85 -95.
AMA StyleFabian Böttcher, Alessandro Casasso, Gregor Götzl, Kai Zosseder. TAP - Thermal aquifer Potential: A quantitative method to assess the spatial potential for the thermal use of groundwater. Renewable Energy. 2019; 142 ():85-95.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFabian Böttcher; Alessandro Casasso; Gregor Götzl; Kai Zosseder. 2019. "TAP - Thermal aquifer Potential: A quantitative method to assess the spatial potential for the thermal use of groundwater." Renewable Energy 142, no. : 85-95.
I sistemi a pompa di calore che utilizzano la geotermia di bassa profondità (altrimenti nota come a “bassa entalpia”) per il riscaldamento ed il raffrescamento degli edifici rappresentano una tecnologia efficiente e vantaggiosa che può contribuire significativamente alla riduzione delle emissioni di gas serra. Nonostante le bassissime emissioni e i costi energetici significativamente ridotti rispetto all’impiego di combustibili fossili, la diffusione dei sistemi che sfruttano l’energia geotermica a bassa entalpia (profondità generalmente comprese tra i 30 e i 150 m dal piano campagna), è ancora limitata da molteplici fattori. In questo ambito, gli amministratori del territorio esercitano un ruolo chiave in quanto, attraverso la predisposizione di strumenti di vario tipo (informativi, normativi e tecnici), essi possono imprimere un impulso importante allo sviluppo dei sistemi geotermici di bassa profondità, ampliando così il ventaglio di tecnologie attualmente disponibili per lo sfruttamento delle fonti energetiche rinnovabili
Ilaria Stringa; Alessandro Baietto; Francesco Spinolo; Kai Zoesseder; Joerg Prestor; Simona Pestotnik; Doris Rupprecht; Pietro Capodaglio; Alessandro Casasso; Simone Della Valentina; Arianna Bucci; Pietro Zambelli; Valentina D’Alonzo; Carlo Enrico Cassani; Stefania Ghidorzi. Results of the workshop on strategies and tools for administrators of the territory of the italian alpine space for the shallow geothermal systems - GRETA Project - Near-surface Geothermal Resources in the Territory of the Alpine Space. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater 2018, 1 .
AMA StyleIlaria Stringa, Alessandro Baietto, Francesco Spinolo, Kai Zoesseder, Joerg Prestor, Simona Pestotnik, Doris Rupprecht, Pietro Capodaglio, Alessandro Casasso, Simone Della Valentina, Arianna Bucci, Pietro Zambelli, Valentina D’Alonzo, Carlo Enrico Cassani, Stefania Ghidorzi. Results of the workshop on strategies and tools for administrators of the territory of the italian alpine space for the shallow geothermal systems - GRETA Project - Near-surface Geothermal Resources in the Territory of the Alpine Space. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater. 2018; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIlaria Stringa; Alessandro Baietto; Francesco Spinolo; Kai Zoesseder; Joerg Prestor; Simona Pestotnik; Doris Rupprecht; Pietro Capodaglio; Alessandro Casasso; Simone Della Valentina; Arianna Bucci; Pietro Zambelli; Valentina D’Alonzo; Carlo Enrico Cassani; Stefania Ghidorzi. 2018. "Results of the workshop on strategies and tools for administrators of the territory of the italian alpine space for the shallow geothermal systems - GRETA Project - Near-surface Geothermal Resources in the Territory of the Alpine Space." Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater , no. : 1.
The economic viability of shallow geothermal systems with Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHEs) strongly depends on the thermal load which can be efficiently and sustainably exchanged with the ground. This quantity is usually defined as geothermal potential and, as reported in literature, it mostly depends on the thermal conductivity and the undisturbed temperatures of the ground.The GRETA Project funded by the EU Interreg Program Alpine Space aims to produce maps of the geothermal potential in pilot areas across the Alpine territory to identify the most suitable areas for shallow geothermal installations. This paper presents the case study of the Aosta Valley, where the recently developed G.POT (Geothermal POTential) method was adopted. It describes the data sources usedand the assumptions made to derive input parameters (ground thermal properties, usage profile, etc.). In addition, the results of a survey on existing geothermal installations are presented.
Alessandro Casasso; Simone Della Valentina; Andrea Filippo Di Feo; Pietro Capodaglio; Raoul Cavorsin; Rosalia Guglielminotti; Rajandrea Sethi. Ground Source Heat Pumps in Aosta Valley (NW Italy): assessment of existing systems and planning tools for future installations. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 2018, 46, 59 -66.
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Simone Della Valentina, Andrea Filippo Di Feo, Pietro Capodaglio, Raoul Cavorsin, Rosalia Guglielminotti, Rajandrea Sethi. Ground Source Heat Pumps in Aosta Valley (NW Italy): assessment of existing systems and planning tools for future installations. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana. 2018; 46 ():59-66.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Simone Della Valentina; Andrea Filippo Di Feo; Pietro Capodaglio; Raoul Cavorsin; Rosalia Guglielminotti; Rajandrea Sethi. 2018. "Ground Source Heat Pumps in Aosta Valley (NW Italy): assessment of existing systems and planning tools for future installations." Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 46, no. : 59-66.
Ground-coupled heat pumps (GCHPs) have a great potential for reducing the cost and climate change impact of building heating, cooling, and domestic hot water (DHW). The high installation cost is a major barrier to their diffusion but, under certain conditions (climate, building use, alternative fuels, etc.), the investment can be profitable in the long term. We present a comprehensive modeling study on GCHPs, performed with the dynamic energy simulation software TRNSYS, reproducing the operating conditions of three building types (residential, office, and hotel), with two insulation levels of the building envelope (poor/good), with the climate conditions of six European cities. Simulation results highlight the driving variables for heating/cooling peak loads and yearly demand, which are the input to assess economic performance and environmental benefits of GCHPs. We found that, in Italy, GCHPs are able to reduce CO2 emissions up to 216 g CO2/year per euro spent. However, payback times are still quite high, i.e., from 8 to 20 years. This performance can be improved by changing taxation on gas and electricity and using hybrid systems, adding a fossil-fuel boiler to cover peak heating loads, thus reducing the overall installation cost compared to full-load sized GCHP systems.
Matteo Rivoire; Alessandro Casasso; Bruno Piga; Rajandrea Sethi. Assessment of Energetic, Economic and Environmental Performance of Ground-Coupled Heat Pumps. Energies 2018, 11, 1941 .
AMA StyleMatteo Rivoire, Alessandro Casasso, Bruno Piga, Rajandrea Sethi. Assessment of Energetic, Economic and Environmental Performance of Ground-Coupled Heat Pumps. Energies. 2018; 11 (8):1941.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatteo Rivoire; Alessandro Casasso; Bruno Piga; Rajandrea Sethi. 2018. "Assessment of Energetic, Economic and Environmental Performance of Ground-Coupled Heat Pumps." Energies 11, no. 8: 1941.
Groundwater Heat Pumps (GWHPs) are increasingly adopted for air conditioning in urban areas, thus reducing CO2 emissions, and this growth needs to be managed to ensure the sustainability of the thermal alteration of aquifers. However, few studies have addressed the propagation of thermal plumes from open-loop geothermal systems from a long-term perspective. We provide a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, performed with numerical finite-element simulations, to assess how the size of the thermally affected zone is driven by hydrodynamic and thermal subsurface properties, the vadose zone and aquifer thickness, and plant setup. In particular, we focus the analysis on the length and width of thermal plumes, and on their time evolution. Numerical simulations are compared with two simplified methods, namely (i) replacing the time-varying thermal load with its yearly average and (ii) analytical formulae for advective heat transport in the aquifer. The former proves acceptable for the assessment of plume length, while the latter can be used to estimate the width of the thermally affected zone. The results highlight the strong influence of groundwater velocity on the plume size and, especially for its long-term evolution, of ground thermal properties and of subsurface geometrical parameters.
Bruno Piga; Alessandro Casasso; Francesca Pace; Alberto Godio; Rajandrea Sethi. Thermal Impact Assessment of Groundwater Heat Pumps (GWHPs): Rigorous vs. Simplified Models. Energies 2017, 10, 1385 .
AMA StyleBruno Piga, Alessandro Casasso, Francesca Pace, Alberto Godio, Rajandrea Sethi. Thermal Impact Assessment of Groundwater Heat Pumps (GWHPs): Rigorous vs. Simplified Models. Energies. 2017; 10 (9):1385.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBruno Piga; Alessandro Casasso; Francesca Pace; Alberto Godio; Rajandrea Sethi. 2017. "Thermal Impact Assessment of Groundwater Heat Pumps (GWHPs): Rigorous vs. Simplified Models." Energies 10, no. 9: 1385.
Alessandro Casasso; Simona Pestotnik; Dušan Rajver; Jernej Jež; Joerg Prestor; Rajandrea Sethi. Assessment and mapping of the closed-loop shallow geothermal potential in Cerkno (Slovenia). Energy Procedia 2017, 125, 335 -344.
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Simona Pestotnik, Dušan Rajver, Jernej Jež, Joerg Prestor, Rajandrea Sethi. Assessment and mapping of the closed-loop shallow geothermal potential in Cerkno (Slovenia). Energy Procedia. 2017; 125 ():335-344.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Simona Pestotnik; Dušan Rajver; Jernej Jež; Joerg Prestor; Rajandrea Sethi. 2017. "Assessment and mapping of the closed-loop shallow geothermal potential in Cerkno (Slovenia)." Energy Procedia 125, no. : 335-344.
The use of Ground Water Heat Pumps (GWHPs) for the heating and cooling of buildings is getting more and more popular due to the sustainability and economic convenience of this technology. One of the most critical design issues of these systems is the hydraulic and thermal short-circuit between the abstraction and the injection well(s), which impairs the energy efficiency of the heat pump and may even lead to the plant failure. A number of mathematical tools has already been developed to assess thermal short-circuit in well doublets with a prescribed injection temperature (thermal feedback), but this assumption is rarely met in the reality. In order to assess thermal short-circuit for a prescribed temperature difference between injection and abstraction (thermal recycling), a numerical code called TRS (Thermal Recycling Simulator) was therefore developed and is presented in this paper. The code is based on the potential flow theory and it has been validated against coupled flow and heat transport simulations with FEFLOW. TRS is freely available at http://goo.gl/AdjCp6 and works in MATLAB environment. An empirical formula, which describes the time evolution of the extracted water temperature, has also been derived from a series of simulations with TRS. The developed mathematical tools can be used to assess the long-term sustainability of a certain plant setup, to perform sensitivity analyses and for large-scale assessments of the thermal exchange capacity of aquifers
Alessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. Models and tools for the assessment of thermal-short circuit in open-loop geothermal systems. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 2017, 42, 50 -53.
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Rajandrea Sethi. Models and tools for the assessment of thermal-short circuit in open-loop geothermal systems. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana. 2017; 42 ():50-53.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. 2017. "Models and tools for the assessment of thermal-short circuit in open-loop geothermal systems." Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 42, no. : 50-53.
Alessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. Assessment and mapping of the shallow geothermal potential in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont, NW Italy). Renewable Energy 2017, 102, 306 -315.
AMA StyleAlessandro Casasso, Rajandrea Sethi. Assessment and mapping of the shallow geothermal potential in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont, NW Italy). Renewable Energy. 2017; 102 ():306-315.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandro Casasso; Rajandrea Sethi. 2017. "Assessment and mapping of the shallow geothermal potential in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont, NW Italy)." Renewable Energy 102, no. : 306-315.