Shallow geothermal energy is different from deep geothermal energy. Although both belong to geothermal resources, the use of shallow geothermal energy is much simpler than that of deep geothermal energy.
The utilization of deep geothermal energy requires drilling very deep wells, which is difficult to exploit and relatively challenging to use effectively.
However, the utilization of shallow geothermal energy is not so complex. It only requires burying pipes in the shallow ground surface, injecting a circulating working fluid into the pipes, and connecting it to a heat pump unit to continuously absorb geothermal energy and release heat. This effectively utilizes shallow geothermal energy.
Its principle is actually the sa as the operating principle of air conditioners and refrigerators, which is to use the evaporation of the circulating working fluid to absorb heat and then compress and condense it to release heat.
The only difference is that the ground source heat pump, using shallow geothermal energy, absorbs heat from the ground layer and releases it indoors, unlike air conditioners and refrigerators.
In fact, this system can be used not only for heating but also for cooling, although cooling is completely unnecessary in the current environnt.
Compared to other heating thods, the advantage of ground source heat pump technology is its low energy consumption. Although it also uses electricity, it only requires the electrical energy to operate the compressor, without consuming additional electricity to generate heat.
After all, whether it is a boiler or electric heating, the essence is to consu energy to convert it into heat. Even electric heating with air conditioning uses auxiliary electric heating, consuming a significant amount of electricity.
But ground source heat pump technology is different. Its heat cos from the ground itself, and the ground source heat pump unit is only used to compress, condense, and release the heat of the circulating working fluid, without additional energy consumption.
So, relatively speaking, the ground source heat pump is indeed much more energy-efficient.
Looking at the information and related principle descriptions, Chen Xin thought about installing such a system in his own refuge.
Overall, creating such a system is not complicated. All he needs are pipes, a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and an expansion valve, all of which can be obtained by dismantling an air conditioner.
And the installation is not difficult. Since even a primitive structure can be mistaken for an algae-derived oxygen machine, burying pipes in the soil of the growing greenhouse and installing other equipnt to dissipate heat into the greenhouse should also be considered a ground source heat pump system, right?
Although this would increase Chen Xin’s electrical consumption, putting more strain on his already overburdened power system, as the necessary consumption for heating, Chen Xin had no choice but to accept this fact and chose to upgrade the generator, increasing fuel consumption while boosting total power generation.
"Simple Fossil Fuel Internal Combustion Generator"
"Upgrade Option 1: Improve generator operational efficiency, fuel utilization efficiency 5%, improve motor material, power generation 5%, energy loss -5%, upgrade requires 1700 survival points"
"Upgrade Option 2: Increase generator output power, fuel consumption 75%, power generation 90%, energy loss -5%, upgrade requires 2000 survival points"
This was already a very high consumption of survival points upgrade, besides upgrading an entire room, it was the first ti Chen Xin upgraded a single piece of equipnt by more than a thousand points.
Fortunately, besides Chen Xin’s spare generator, the required materials were mainly various tal materials. With Chen Xin providing a large amount of steel as a substitute, he completed the upgrade with only one-tenth of the survival point consumption.
The upgraded generator beca larger, and two units turned into one, increasing fuel consumption but also greatly enhancing power generation.
Overall, energy consumption was still reduced because Chen Xin could now generate 1.9 tis the electricity with 1.75 tis the original fuel. Overall, it reduced consumption.
Moreover, after the upgrade, power generation efficiency improved, and the total electricity consumption did not change, effectively reducing fuel consumption.
Based on Chen Xin’s current fuel consumption, his stockpile and the gasoline he could exchange monthly with the special police force were sufficient to sustain his consumption.
Of course, this did not account for the impending increase in heating consumption.
For heating, Chen Xin was also troubled. Electric heating is the least efficient thod but also the simplest and quickest. Chen Xin only needed to plug in his electric heater.
As for burning a boiler, it’s not impossible. Boiler heating with water is an ancient and mature technology, relatively safe and stable. The carbon dioxide produced by burning can supply the oxygen machine for oxygen recycling, making it quite a good choice.
The only constraint for Chen Xin to adopt this heating thod is obtaining fuel.
To use this thod for heating, Chen Xin might need to add coal to his monthly transactions with the special police force.
Exchanging for coal poses no problem for Chen Xin since coal is not gasoline, and Fla Country’s coal production is quite high.
However, doing so would inevitably push the style of Chen Xin’s refuge towards a steampunk aesthetic.
Although he personally likes steampunk-style art, it doesn’t an he wants to live in that environnt because steampunk also implies coal smoke pollution.
In this post-apocalyptic setting, no one would bother checking if your PM2.5 levels are off the charts because the entire atmosphere’s PM2.5 has already exploded.
So, it’s certainly doable, but how to do it is a big problem.
In his childhood, Chen Xin had seen those briquette stoves in his old ho, a technology still widely used in Fla Country’s rural areas today.
If using briquettes for heating, Chen Xin thought this should be an acceptable and effective choice.
Besides, the earlier seen ground source heat pump system utilizing shallow geothermal energy is actually an excellent heating thod, and it wouldn’t increase additional energy consumption, which is perfectly suitable for Chen Xin, who currently faces problems with energy acquisition.
Ground source heat pump technology has long been used on Blue Star, first proposed in 1912. At the ti, energy procurent was relatively cheap, and technological limitations prevented large-scale application.
But since entering the new century, as the human energy problem has increasingly beco acute, clean, efficient, and renewable energy has gradually beco the focus of attention. Ground source heat pump technology’s developnt and widespread application for exploiting shallow geothermal energy naturally gained considerable traction.
In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region of Fla Country, this technology has already been applied for local residents’ heating, but the technology is not very mature. Although it is applied, it remains limited to simple heating.
However, the advantage of this technology lies in its relatively high heating efficiency.
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