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Geothermal System Exceeds Expectations Adapted from a News Release by Missouri University of Science and Technology After the first year of operation for Missouri universi ty of Science and Technology’s (Missouri S&T’s) geothermal system, university officials have an- nounced the system has exceeded its pro- jected impact. Missouri S&T broke ground on the geothermal energy project in 2012. Con- sisting of 789 wells, 400-440 feet deep, the wells supply three regional plants, each with 500-ton capacity, plus a geo- thermal system for the Gale Bullman Building. This project involved a com- plete reconstruction of the chilled water system and required the placement - or replacement - of 125 miles of pipe in the ground. Nearly a mile of domestic water mains were replaced, which accord- ing to James Packard, director of facilities operations at Missouri S&T, eliminated underground leaks, and boosted the overall water savings for the last year to 30 million gallons, or over 35% of the campus use. Missouri S&T’s geothermal energy system, which allows energy to be stored in and reclaimed fromwell fields located throughout the campus, provides heating and cooling to 17 buildings on campus and chilled water to the majority of campus buildings. It consists of four separate plants which distribute energy from the system to different areas of the campus. “The results confirm that the system works as designed and will pay for itself over time from budgeted savings,” said Packard. “This project and follow-on projects eliminated over $60 million in deferred maintenance, a more than 25% reduction in the $220 million deferred maintenance backlog the campus had before the project began.” The geothermal systemwas expected to cut the university’s annual energy use by 50%; however, Missouri S&T saw a 57% reduction in energy use at the end of the first year of the system’s operation. The university expected to reduce its carbon footprint by 25,000 tons per year, and Missouri S&T exceeded that goal by 13 tons. The geothermal system was ex- pected to reduce Missouri S&T’s water usage by over 10%, or 10 million gallons per year. Actual water usage was cut by 18.7 million gallons. last April, Missouri S&T’s geothermal energy system received a first-place Chapter Technology Award from the St. louis chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers. $3- :163 &$.(0'$34 )13 5+( 45 006$. "+$..18 92.13$5,10 3,..(34 .,0,& 23,. $3' !1&- 15(. $4,01 $5114$ 13 311/ 3(4(37$5,104 64( &1'( # ! %: &$..,0* 13 7,4,5 $3'!1&- $4,01#6.4$ &1/ !11/ 3(4(37$5,10 '($'.,0( ,4 23,. #+(45 " 8,.. )($563( $ $5,10$. 3,..,0* 441&,$5,10 231*3$/ ,0'113 (9+,%,5134 165'113 ',42.$:4 $0' $ )6.. $*(0'$ 1) 5(&+0,&$. 23(4(05$5,104 13 /13( ,0)13/$5,10 &105$&5 3 7,4,5 +552 4('& 60. ('6 +3,4 .$3-( &&.$3-( 1'15 13* "&155 14%: 4&14%: 1'15 13* 60 MARCH 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®