Thermal Energy from Urban Surface Water

 There are four important stages when deploying this system, which are: the extraction from the source (the urban water), the extraction and the storage of the thermal energy and the distribution to the final users. In order to extract the thermal energy from the water an exchange system must be established. A heat exchanger is usually installed to do this. For thermal energy storage the reader is referred to the section on ATES

The locations of the extraction, storage and the users are critical to the efficiency of the system. When distributing thermal energy over longer distances large losses can occur, as is generally the case with thermal energy systems. Therefore the source, i.e. the water body, must be relatively close to the final users. Luckily, within larger cities it is common to find ponds, canals, natural existing urban waters and sometimes lakes within close range. It is obvious that the size of the surface water area and the depth of the water bodies determine the thermal energy exchange with the atmosphere and the total storage capacity. It is worth mentioning that the stored thermal energy usually needs to go to boilers before going to the user. This applies especially for the provision of hot water. Depending on the user’s demand and the state of the thermal energy system, storage can be skipped and a direct connection between the heat exchanger and user can be established.