Periodic revisions of the Global Heat Flow Database (GHFD) take place under the auspices of the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC) of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI). A growing number of heat-flow values, advances in scientific methods, digitization, and improvements in database technologies all warrant a revision of the structure of the GHFD that was last amended in 1976. We present a new structure for the GHFD, which will provide a basis for a reassessment and revision of the existing global heat-flow data set. The database fields within the new structure are described in detail to ensure a common understanding of the respective database entries. The new structure of the database takes advantage of today's possibilities for data management. It supports FAIR and open data principles, including interoperability with external data services, and links to DOI and IGSN numbers and other data resources (e.g., world geological map, world stratigraphic system, and International Ocean Drilling Program data). Aligned with this publication, a restructured version of the existing database is published, which provides a starting point for the upcoming collaborative process of data screening, quality control and revision. In parallel, the IHFC will work on criteria for a new quality scheme that will allow future users of the database to evaluate the quality of the collated heat-flow data based on specific criteria.

A thermodynamic analysis of a half-effect absorption cooling system powered by a low-enthalpy geothermal source was carried out. This paper presents modeling of the half-effect absorption cooling system operating with an ammonia/lithium nitrate mixture and based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics, using as energy inputs real data from two geothermal wells located at Las Tres Vírgenes volcanic complex, Baja California Sur, México. Plots of coefficients of performance and exergy efficiency against condenser, evaporator, and generator temperatures are presented for the half-effect cooling system. The results showed that the system was able to operate at generation temperatures between 56 and 70 °C, which were supplied by the geothermal wells in order to produce cooling at temperatures as low as −16 °C, achieving coefficients of performance between 0.10 and 0.36, while the exergy efficiency varied from 0.15 to 0.40 depending on the system operating temperatures.

A new practical method based on logarithmic transformation regressions was developed for the determination of static formation temperatures (SFTs) in geothermal, petroleum and permafrost bottomhole temperature (BHT) data sets. The new method involves the application of multiple linear and polynomial (from quadratic to eight-order) regression models to BHT and log-transformation (Tln) shut-in times. Selection of the best regression models was carried out by using four statistical criteria: (i) the coefficient of determination as a fitting quality parameter; (ii) the sum of the normalized squared residuals; (iii) the absolute extrapolation, as a dimensionless statistical parameter that enables the accuracy of each regression model to be evaluated through the extrapolation of the last temperature measured of the data set; and (iv) the deviation percentage between the measured and predicted BHT data. The best regression model was used for reproducing the thermal recovery process of the boreholes, and for the determination of the SFT. The original thermal recovery data (BHT and shut-in time) were used to demonstrate the new method's prediction efficiency. The prediction capability of the new method was additionally evaluated by using synthetic data sets where the true formation temperature (TFT) was known with accuracy. With these purposes, a comprehensive statistical analysis was carried out through the application of the well-known F-test and Student's t-test and the error percentage or statistical differences computed between the SFT estimates and the reported TFT data. After applying the new log-transformation regression method to a wide variety of geothermal, petroleum, and permafrost boreholes, it was found that the polynomial models were generally the best regression models that describe their thermal recovery processes. These fitting results suggested the use of this new method for the reliable estimation of SFT. Finally, the practical use of the new method was highlighted because it only requires the use of BHT and shut-in time measurements as the main input data, which represents an enormous advantage over most of the analytical methods reported in the literature that require a large number of measurements (e.g. circulation time, the thermophysical and transport properties of the formation or drilling fluid, among others).