CBE Spring Energy Seminar: Eugene Nikiforovich

Description

Geothermal Energy Limit of Boreholes, Quantity and Quality of GE

The paper deals with the comprehensive analysis of the quantity and quality of geothermal energy extracted by Ground Source Heat Pumps with borehole sets. Analysis is based on the theory of Vertical Geothermal Systems early designed by author. For Heat Pumps considered, COP from Carnot (Carnot efficiency of Heat pumps) has been introduced as a quality characteristic of the high-temperature energy resulting from the compression of refrigerant vapor. The relationship between the amount and quality of the energy produced by Ground Source Heat Pumps with parallel- and series-connected boreholes heat exchangers has been analyzed in detail. It has been shown that the maximum СOP of such Heat Pumps can be reached with a single well, but the capacity of such a well remain bounded from above by introducing Geothermal Energy Limit notion. Connecting boreholes heat exchangers in parallel allows achieving any given capacity, but the COPpar (COP   with parallel connected boreholes) decreases compared with the COPsingle (COP with single borehole) with increase in the number of wells. However, the relative decrease in the COP is substantially less than the relative increase in the capacity of the system compared with Heat Pumps with a single borehole. The quantitative relations between the amount and quality energy produced by Heat Pumps with parallel- and series-connected wells show that the amount of energy increases by tens of percent as the COP decreases by several percent in the former case. In the latter case, both the amount of energy and the COP increase by several percent.
Based on the obtained results, new scientific–technological approaches to creating optimum strategies for design, control and operation of Heat Pumps can be formulated.

Eugene Nikiforovich is an Institute of International Education Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) fellow and visiting professor at the Daugavpils University, LATVIA. He is a Professor of Fluid Mechanics, Head of Department of Institute of Hydromechanics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, UKRAINE and a Professor at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”. His research focuses on fundamental physicochemical hydrodynamics issues that pertain to the use of renewable energy sources and their technological applications in the decarbonization of the energy sector and modelling of pollutant transport on the sea and river surface. His teaching focus is on sustainable energy systems and sustainable development education at the MSc and PhD levels. Dr. Nikiforovich develops societal engagement by bridging academia, industry, and municipalities, with a goal of transforming urban energy systems in Ukraine and Latvia towards sustainability. 
Eugene Nikiforovich earned his doctorate in Institute of Hydromechanics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev. He is an honored worker in science and technology in Ukraine, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and professor of fluid mechanics.

He and his wife took a trip outside Ukraine on February 17, 2022 and were expected to return to Kyiv on February 26, 2022. On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, causing them to be unable to return home. On March 4th, they were moved to Munich, Germany. Shortly thereafter, they decided to move to the city of Daugavpils, Latvia, where he was born. He applied to the IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund and came to Daugavpils University in June 2022. 

While at DU, Dr. Nikiforovich aims to contribute meaningfully to research and scholarly discussions, and has written papers and given numerous talks in classrooms and conferences on the sustainable energy technologies and basic problems of shallow gepthermal energy using. He has good experience in European projects, including Horizon and ERAZMUS+ . In particular, he acted as Ukrainian coordinator of a number of international projects that resulted in development of new MSc- and PhD-level programs and courses in the field of sustainable energy systems in Universities of Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.