Empa is researching underground storage
The Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute (Empa) is setting up a research campus in Dübendorf. Among other things, a heat storage facility in the ground is to be tested here. The underground storage facility is being tested with 144 geothermal probes at a depth of up to 100 meters.
Empa is setting up an experimental, seasonal energy storage facility under its new research campus in Dübendorf, the research institute informs in a message . The waste heat from ventilation and laboratory equipment is to be stored in the ground below the area. The aim is to supply the entire Empa area with energy, writes Empa.
A geothermal probe field with a temperature gradient serves as a heat store, in which 144 geothermal probes anchored up to 100 meters deep in the ground are installed. With their help, the Empa researchers want to set an optimal mix between temperature, efficiency and energy storage. The temperatures in the underground storage can fluctuate by up to 50 degrees in the center and 10 degrees in the peripheral areas. At a depth of 100 meters, the storage system works particularly effectively and loses very little heat to the environment, explains Empa.
The research institute can use the heat storage system for ten years, primarily for its own research purposes. On the one hand, an underground storage facility is very effective, but due to its large mass it is also sluggish, according to the press release. The researchers assume that it will take about three to four years to set the final operating temperature.