A scheme for distributing centrally produced thermal energy via a network of pipes to heat residential and commercial buildings. Such schemes are energy efficient and ideally suited for utilizing geothermal resources.
A drill bit used for drilling rock in oil, gas and geothermal wells. PDC stands for polycrystalline diamond compacts, which are inserted as cutters in substitute of hardened metal teeth typical of roller cone bits.
A shallow formed water resulting from condensation of steam into groundwater accompanied by absorption of carbon dioxide to form a bicarbonate water or by absorption of H2S that oxidizes to sulfate to produce an acid-sulfate water.
A system by which heat is transferred from one media (solid or fluid) to another with applications in heating and cooling. They are used in geothermal binary power plants and cooling towers.
A micaceous mineral that is commonly green-colored, composed of iron and/or magnesium, and forms due to hydrothermal alteration of amphiboles, pyroxenes, and feldspars.
Angular to sub-angular fragments of broken rock that are cemented together that are highly permeable and form on the surface due to sedimentary or igneous processes or in fault zones.
Rare explosive discharge of hot water and steam that is powerful enough to excavate a crater and lift rock fragments and its pulverized equivalents into the air to produce an apron deposit around the eruption vent.
An environmentally benign chemical that is injected to trace fluid movement through the geothermal reservoir and that can be easily detected in produced hot fluid.
Refers to non-radioactive isotopes of elements, including those of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. In geothermal geochemistry, the stable isotope ratios of oxygen (18O/16O) and hydrogen (2H/1H) in thermal waters are used to trace its origin (e.g., meteoric, magmatic).
Airborne particles of rock and ash produced by an explosive volcanic eruption. Tephra commonly deposits as a blanket that drapes over the underlying topography.