[6. 11. 2024] All these topics were explored by pupils of the primary schools Na Valech and Budyně nad Ohří during yesterday's lecture at the RINGEN Research Centre. In addition to the basic concepts, they learned about how the earth's heat can be used, they talked about geothermal reservoirs, heat pumps and geobatteries. Finally, Petr Dědeček, a geothermist from the Institute of Geophysics of the Czech academy of science, described the geothermal potential of the Czech Republic.
The lecture on the Earth's heat took place within the framework of the festival of the Week of science at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. This event includes lectures, exhibitions, visits of labs, documentary films, workshops and many other activities across the country and all scientific disciplines. This year's 4th edition runs from 4 to 10 November.
In addition to primary school pupils, secondary school students also visit the RINGEN Research Centre. Students from Kadaň and Karlovy Vary high schools planned their visit as part of an environmental programme they had prepared for their guests from the Netherlands at the end of October. The high school students not only listened to a presentation about recently the most important geothermal project SYNERGYS, but also visited the geothermal laboratory where the thermal properties of rock samples are studied.
But what interested them the most was the experiment simulating hydraulic stimulation. This is used to create a so-called geothermal exchanger, where fluid pressure is used to widen existing or create new fractures between two deep wells. The way a geothermal exchanger works is that cool water flows down one borehole to a depth of several kilometres, is gradually heated by the earth's heat, passes through the fractures and flows up the other borehole. The hot water comes to the surface and is then used for heating or to generate electricity.
Students tried the principle of hydraulic stimulation through a simple experiment. "The experiment consists of sticking a straw into a clear jelly, solidified in a clear container, and carefully blowing coloured juice into it. The jelly is cracked by the pressure of the liquid. The cracks in the jelly, filled with coloured juice, are clearly visible in the transparent container," explains Prokop Závada from the Institute of Geophysics of the CAS. The students worked in groups of three, so several of these "boreholes" were created side by side using straws, and some of the cracks actually connected the "boreholes".
Photo: Veronika Slavíková
