Thermally Enhanced Open Field Heating Agricultural System Using Waste Geothermal Hot Water and Low Temperature Steam in Iceland and Waste Municipal Steam in New York City

摘要

The authors have since 2008 been developing a thermally enhanced open field heating agricultural system using waste geothermal hot water and steam condensate that is analogous in construction to a heated sidewalk. Plant growth is substantially enhanced and out of region cultivars are able to grow outside in climates that are normally too cold. A side benefit is the cooling of this waste fluid. Previous GRC papers by the authors primarily describe the construction and thermal analysis aspects of their small test fields at the Agricultural University of Iceland, the Keilir Institute of Technology, and the HNLFI Clinic in Iceland. These fields are heated throughout the year while the identical control gardens are unheated. The authors have also developed an analogous system for heating green roofs in New York City using waste Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and potentially waste municipal steam in similar cascade utilization. This also can save substantial amounts of potable water that is commonly used to reduce the temperature of this waste heat in New York City. The thermal benefits and the enhanced plant growth results in Iceland and New York City indicate the potential advantages of deploying this system of direct use of geothermal energy in Iceland in more temperate climates.