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Title: User manual for GEOCITY: a computer model for geothermal district heating cost analysis

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6435902· OSTI ID:6435902

A computer model called GEOCITY has been developed to systematically calculate the potential cost of district heating using hydrothermal geothermal resources. GEOCITY combines climate, demographic factors, and heat demand of the city, resource conditions, well drilling costs, design of the distribution system, tax rates, and financial factors into one systematic model. The GEOCITY program provides the flexibility to individually or collectively evaluate the impact of different economic and technical parameters, assumptions, and uncertainties on the cost of providing district heat from a geothermal resource. Both the geothermal reservoir and distribution system are simulated to model the complete district heating system. GEOCITY consists of two major parts: the geothermal reservoir submodel and the distribution submodel. The reservoir submodel calculates the unit cost of energy by simulating the exploration, development, and operation of a geothermal reservoir and the transmission of this energy to a distribution center. The distribution submodel calculates the unit cost of heat by simulating the design and operation of a district heating distribution system. GEOCITY calculates the unit cost of energy and the unit cost of heat for the district heating system based on the principle that the present worth of the revenues will be equal to the present worth of the expenses including investment return over the economic life of the distribution system.

Research Organization:
Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
EY-76-C-06-1830
OSTI ID:
6435902
Report Number(s):
PNL-2742
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English