WILLIAM E. NORK, Inc.
950 Eo Greg Street • Sparks, Nevada 89431
0,
CONSULTING SERVICES IN HYDROLOGY AND GEOLOGY
Phone [7021358-7949
August 6, 1979
Larry J. Garside
Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
MacKay School of Mines
University of Nevada--Reno
Reno, NV 89557
Dear Mr. Garside:
Attached is the brief writ~up you requested concerning the
Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church geothermal spaceheating well and heating system. Due to an extremely tight
work schedule we were unable to get it to you any sooner. If
you have any questions regarding the write-up, do not hesitate
to contact Bill Nork or me.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM E. NORK, INC.
J~ C. ~ ~---lf"""
Dale
~.
Bugenig
The Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church space-heating
well was drilled in December 1976. The well is located in the
southwest corner of the church parking lot. Total depth of
the \\Tell is 375 feet. Unconsolidated formations, consisting
of interbedded sand~ clay, and silt, "Jere penetrated the ent i re
depth. Hot ground water was encountered below a 30-foot thick
confining blue clay layer located at approximately 100 feet
depth. Upon completion of drilling a temperature survey was
conducted. Bottom-hole temperature ,.,as measured at 179 of.
The results of the temperature survey is illustrated in Figure 1.
Ci
The upper 100 feet of the well was cased with 10 3/4-inch O.D.
blank steel casing. The casing was set firmly into the confining clay layer to effectively isolate the hot water zone
from cooler shallow ground water. Blank 8 5/8-inch O.D. i-inch
side\"all casing was installed to 325 feet depth, and from 325
to 375 feet depth factory mill-slot perforations was installed
(Figure 2.).
(
Heat from the well is extracted from a heat exchanger 'N"ithin
the ,,,ell placed to 375 feet depth. The heat exchanger is constructed of a two-inch copper pipe inside of a three-inch
copper pipe (Figure 2.). Water flows d0W11 the armular space
behlcen the two pipes and returns via the inner two-inch pipe.
Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church is a tvlO-story structure. The upstairs contains approximately 40,000 cubic feet of
space; the basement about 30,000 cubic feet. Heating of the
upstairs and dovmstairs is accomplished by 170,000 BTUH and
101,000 BTUH forced-air furnaces respectively, located in the
northwest · corner of the basement. Each heating unit operates
independently of the other.
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A closed-loop system supplies heating coils within the furnaces
with hot ~"ater from the well's heat exchanger. "later is recirculated through the system by two 3/4-horsepo,.,er circulating
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3-inch
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WELL HEAD
DETAIL
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- - - 1 0 3/4- i.nch casing
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8 S/8-inch casing
confining blue clay
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2-inch
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.gur e 2.
perfor-
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Well construction and gen erali ze d lithologic log for Sh e ph erd
of the Mountains Luthe r an Church space heating well
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.
-4and booster pumps at a flow rate of 60 gpm.
The temperature of the water entering the 'furnaces' varies
bet\veen 90° and 140°F depending on the time of year and the
church schedule. In the winter when the system operates virtually continuously the temperature may drop to 90°F without
aff ecting the performance of the heating units. In the summer
the temperature hovers near 140°F. Return··Ylater temperatures
approaching the 179°F measured in the T~lell during the temperature survey have never been rea.lized, possibly because the
60 gpm circulating rate may be too high to allow maximum heat
transfer . through the heat exchanger located in the \olell. No
significant temperature drop of the returning fluid has been
measured between the well head and t he church approximately
120 feet apart.
During the two and one-half years that the system has been in
operation i.t has performed trouble-free. A very constant 65°F
room temperature has been mai.ntained by the system. Until recently the system has been allmved to operate continuously · at
a substantial savings to the church. Presently the system is
turned down when the facilities are unoccupied in an effort to
cut electricity consumption even fur t her.