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Ball State Geothermal System
Dedicated
Ball State University’s geothermal project was officially dedicated March 20 with
a ceremony for the nation’s largest ground
source closed-loop district heating and
cooling system. Ball State President Jo Ann
M. Gora and Hollis E. Hughes Jr., president
of the university’s board of trustees, oversaw the dedication. Keynote speaker for
the ceremony was Amory Lovins, chairman
and chief scientist for the Rocky Mountain
Institute.
Under the leadership of Jim Lowe,
director of engineering, construction and
operations, work was recently completed
on Phase 1 of the project, which is now
operational and includes two geothermal
fields, construction of the North District
Energy Station and connection of buildings
on the northern part of campus to the new
distribution system.
Work has begun on Phase 2, which
includes installation of 780 of the remaining 1,800 boreholes in a field on the south
area of campus. Construction will continue
throughout 2013-2014 and will include a
new South District Energy Station containing two 2,500-ton heat pump chillers and
a hot water loop around the south portion
of campus.
Courtesy Ball State University
Photographic Services.
Ball State University’s new North District Energy
Station is part of Phase 1 of the campus’s
geothermal project.
The system will connect to 47 buildings on campus – eventually providing
heating and cooling to 5. 5 million square
feet. When fully implemented, the project
will allow the university to shut down its
aging coal-fired boilers, cutting the campus
carbon footprint nearly in half and saving
$2 million in annual operating costs.
Ball State’s geothermal system was
funded with assistance from federal and
state governments. The U.S. Department
of Energy provided a grant of $5 million
under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Indiana General Assembly
authorized nearly $45 million in state
capital funding.
Spirax Sarco Introduces
VLM10 Flow Meter
Spirax Sarco recently released its
VLM10 in-line vortex flow meter for
mass, volumetric and energy flow measurement on steam, liquid and gas
applications in sizes 1 inch to 12 inches.
The VLM10 combines an in-line vortex
meter, a built-in flow computer and an
integral temperature sensor, giving users
an all-in-one solution for their metering
needs. The VLM10 is precise and reliable
with a steam or gas mass flow accuracy
of ± 1. 5 percent of range over a wide
20-to- 1 flow range. The fully welded,
no-gasket design ensures safe measurement of steam and allows the sensors
and resistance temperature detector to
be removed without having to shut down
the line first. The built-in Web server
allows customers to monitor flow and
meter health through the Internet. Digital
communication delivers information on
demand using Modbus RTU, BACnet
MS/TP and Modbus TCP/IP technology
with standard analog and pulse outputs.
The VLM10 is available in a wide range
of connections and pressure ranges.
EBRD Finances Ukraine
District Heating Upgrades
The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) will provide a
loan of up to 10 million euros ($13.2 million) to finance a priority investment program aimed at reducing energy loss in gas
and electricity consumption and improving
the quality of district heating services in
the Ukrainian municipality of Zhytomyr. A
10-year loan will be extended to Zhytomyr
Teplokomunenergo, a municipal district
heating utility that supplies heat and hot
water services to approximately 75,000
Zhytomyr residential apartments. The loan
will be used to install mini combined heat
and power plants, introduce individual
heating substations equipped with heat
meters, rehabilitate and modernize boiler
houses, and replace obsolete network
pipes with preinsulated pipes.
This is the first municipal project in
Ukraine to receive grant funding under
the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and
Environment Partnership (E5P), the establishment of which was ratified by the
Ukrainian Parliament in July 2011. A
5 million euro ($6.6 million) grant from
the E5P Fund will complement the EBRD
loan and will finance the installation of biomass plants using mainly locally available
wood waste as well as finance the installation of additional individual heating substations and subsequent conversion from
four- to two-pipe distribution networks.
The project is expected to reduce gas
consumption by 3. 7 million cu m (130.7
million cu ft) per year, electricity savings of
up to 29,000 MWh per year and an overall
increase in energy efficiency. The project
will also achieve substantial reductions in
carbon dioxide and nitric oxide emissions
( 34,381 tonnes and 6. 2 tonnes per year,
respectively).
Fortum, 7-Technologies Sign
Agreement
7-Technologies announced the signing of an agreement with Fortum for the
rollout of its TERMIS hydraulic modeling
software tool in Fortum-operated district
heating systems. TERMIS simulates flow,
pressure and thermal behavior in district
energy distribution networks, using real-time data to analyze and track the current
situation. The first installation will be at
Stockholm District Heating, which supplies
some 3,000 MWt to Sweden’s capital city
and has one of the largest district heating networks in the world. Stockholm has
purchased the recently released TERMIS
Operation 4.0 with a large number of
operator stations and viewers as well as
the temperature optimization module. The
