CONFERENCE ON HEAT-PUMP TECHNOLOGY USING MINEWATER

18/01/2010 National Coal Mining Museum for England will be hosting a conference on heat-pump technology using minewater on 22 February 2010. Conventional closed-loop heat pump systems have now become commonplace in the repertoire of heating systems available. The use of open-loop heat-pump systems is, however, still in its infancy, although they have the potential to provide heating on a large scale where appropriate resources are available.

Large areas of Britain - Wales, Scotland, Kent, the Midlands and the north of England, have been mined for coal; the abandoned coal workings generally fill up with water that is hotter than the ambient temperature above ground and provide a potential source of heating. Already at Heerlen in Holland, a large amount of social housing is being heated using the heat from coal-mine workings. In many cases it is necessary for the Coal Authority to pump out and treat water from abandoned workings to avoid flooding by polluted water or contamination of watercourses. It is difficult to use this water when it emerges at its hottest, because iron oxide would precipitate within any heat exchanger, thereby blocking it within a short period of time. But it is possible to place closed-loop heat pumps into the warm lagoons to extract the heat for use.

It has also been found at the National Coal Mining Museum for England that the clean water at its point of discharge from the settling-tanks and reed-bed cleaning system is still hot enough to power heat pumps. The Museum is currently seeking funding to develop this system. If successful, this heat source could be utilised to provide heating for large-scale industrial or commercial or social housing projects alongside any of the various water-treatment schemes in the country.

To publicise these three alternative methods of heating, the National Coal Mining Museum is holding a conference on 22 February 2009, where the speakers have direct experience of the practical methods of implementing such systems and of places where they have already been introduced successfully. The conference should be of interest especially to housing associations, local-government housing departments and developers of large-scale industrial complexes, as well as to those working in the field of alternative clean energy and those dealing with research and the practical utilisation of coal-mining resources.

If there is sufficient interest, it is hoped to publish the proceedings of the conference, or else to put them on the Museum’s website. Thanks to generous funding from the Coal Authority and from CO2sense Yorkshire, there will be no charge for either the conference or for refreshments, although the Museum would be delighted to receive donations on the day towards its current underground project. Numbers at the conference are limited to 200; it is expected that the conference will prove to be very popular, so early booking is advisable.

For details of the programme please e-mail info@ncm.org.uk

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