EUROPEAN GEOTHERMAL CONGRESS 2022, the final GEOFIT event! 

Last 17th to 21st October 2022, GEOFIT partners presented several conference papers during the European Geothermal Congress held in Berlin, Germany. This event, the largest geothermal congress in Europe, brought together the entire European geothermal sector and attracted many from outside the continent providing a varied public with a range of different events. This congress was the perfect scenario to show main GEOFIT project results after the four and a half years developing cost-effective enhanced geothermal systems for energy efficient building retrofitting. 

Six conference papers were presented focusing on the milestones and outcomes of the project related with different topics: three of them focused on shallow geothermal, two of them on case studies including life cycle assessment and one of them on drilling. 

Giuseppe Edoardo Dino, from CNR, presented Techno-Economic Analysis of a Swimming Pool Heating System Retrofitting Through a Dual Source Heat Pump.  

Abstract:The European energy policies are aiming to the electrification of the heating sector as it is considered one of the solutions indicated for the decarbonization of the energy system. Heat pumps represent the most promising and widely adopted solution. However, there are some inherent technological problems to heat pumps, such as evaporator frosting for air-source heat pumps and ground thermal drift for ground source heat pumps. From this perspective a dual-source (air-geothermal) heat pumps represents a promising solution to overcome those challenges. GEOFIT H2020 project aims at developing a wide range of smart solutions for the retrofitting of thermal systems based on shallow and deep geothermal source. In this paper, the retrofitting of a gas boiler based system for the heating of a swimming pool in Galway (Ireland) with a dual-source heat pump with active regeneration of the soil is presented. Firstly, a swimming pool model developed in TRNSYS environment was validated through experimental campaign data retrieved by the Galway demo site. The baseline system composed by a gas boiler was simulated, then a reference retrofit solution composed by a dual source heat pump and an analogous system with a reduced design size were proposed and simulated for a long-term period (20 years). The analysis showed that a relevant primary energy saving is achievable and that the ground thermal drift is mitigated through the active ground heat regeneration. The techno-economic analysis revealed that the proposed system could have a replicability in retrofit solutions, especially in those with a seasonal inbalance where only heating loads are required during the whole year. Considering the current and foreseen increase of the fossil fuel costs, the economic competitiveness will be more favourable. 

Stephan Kling, from AIT, presented GeoFit: Experimental investigations and numerical validation of shallow spiral collectors as a basis for development of a design tool for geothermal retrofitting of existing buildings.  

Abstract: The H2020 GEOFIT (grant no. 792210) project will implement and demonstrate easy-to-install and economical geothermal systems in combination with heat pumps for energy-efficient building retrofits at five pilot sites across Europe – a historic building (ITA), a school (ESP), an indoor swimming pool (IRL), an office building (FRA) and a single-family house (IRL) (GEOFIT,2018). Heat pump tests and experimental laboratory tests with shallow geothermal heat collector types are carried out in climate chambers at the AIT. Material data of different soil types are determined in the thermophysics laboratory. Furthermore, CFD simulations of the conducted experiments are calculated with ANSYS Fluent. All this provides data and know-how for the development of a design tool for ground collector configurations such as helices and slinky loops, which are particularly relevant for building retrofits in GEOFIT. Experimental work focused on near-surface spiral geothermal heat exchanger configurations that can be installed at a maximum depth of five metres. Real-scale experiments were carried out for vertically oriented spiral collectors (helix) in real soil. One objective was to develop a measurement concept in the laboratory environment to create the framework for a reliable database. This database is used as a basis for the further development or new development of engineering design tools. Distributed resistance temperature sensors and a fibre-optic temperature measurement system (DTS) were used. The moisture content of the soil was recorded using soil moisture sensors. A heat flow was conditioned by means of a helix shaped electric heating cable in a 1m³ cuboid soil container. The measurements were carried out in a climate chamber at a defined constant temperature of 10 °C. The evaluation of the transient response behaviour is spatially resolved. This results in coordinate-related temperature points, which describe temperature gradients in all axes of the container over time. Three different types of soil were investigated. The temperature behaviour of humus soil, sand and a mixture of these was investigated experimentally in smaller experiments and the material data such as heat capacity, thermal conductivity and density were determined thermophysically in the laboratory. Based on this data, a CFD model was developed which can be used to modify the geometry parameters of the helix. 

Ewa Alicja Zukowska, from EURECAT, presented Environmental approach of an enhanced geothermal system for energy efficient building retrofitting in a decentralized context.  

Abstract: The life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with the stages of the life cycle (LC) of a product, process, or service. This paper compares the results of the entire LCA (cradle-to-grave analysis) of a hybrid heating geothermal system that includes a novel hybrid heat pump 8kW and set of heating components integrated with the novel ground source heat pump (GSHP) concept which was installed in a building located in the Aran Islands (Ireland) within the framework of the H2020 GEOFIT project against the heating system, that existed before the retrofitting. The building selected for the demonstration had in its original version a 21kW diesel boiler (Firebird model S/90) used for heating and an emission system based on 9 radiators with individual on / off control located in different rooms, as well as a coal stove in the living room. To determine the heat energy of the building before and after the retrofitting, simulations of the heat energy were carried out with the IDA Indoor Climate and Energy 4.8 simulation software, and the SimaPro v.9.1 program was used to calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The results show that a new heating system (after GEOFIT) is better alternative than conventional one (before GEOFIT), mainly in terms of generating more heat with less heating energy consumption during the operation stage. 
The new system can reduce annual operational emissions by more than 53% in comparison to the reference one. 

Juan Ramon, from IDP, presented GeoFit project creating the opportunity of Geographical – BIM (GEOBIM) platform to manage geothermal systems

Abstract: Within the GEOFIT project (Smart Geothermal Systems1), BIM environment has been defined as GeoBIM platform. This term refers to those specific geothermal applications which are included in a tailormade BIM platform to manage the geothermal systems, building, site and assets information from models, sensors installed and simulations. In GEOFIT project, the demo-sites location is enriched up to the holistic view of the retrofitted buildings with all the geothermal facilities designed, simulated, installed, commissioned, and monitored, from inception onward, during the lifecycle of a facility and includes all stakeholders who need facility information – from the designers to the occupants with the building in operation. This holistic view includes the execution control and the permanent geographical reference because the simulation, monitoring and design processes happen in a specific geographical context. The definition and implementation of a GEOBIM platform is paramount for the project and it is one of the main outcomes of GEOFIT project. While BIM implementation is ubiquitous in the architectural issues of the project, relying mostly on CAD designs, geographical information has a limited role particularly in construction projects, it is often restricted to some specific tasks or seen as a potential redundancy to BIM. Considering the geographical dependent tasks in GEOFIT, GIS can bring a valuable complementary contribution to the BIM process by providing spatial input and geospatial visualization, adding information on the retrofitting demo-site’s surrounding environment and underground thermal information that is essential for design decisions and the approval processes regarding building integrity and geothermal energy availability. In this paper, an interdisciplinary cooperation, data exchange, and data transfer occurs among the different professionals and disciplines involved for the successful retrofitting project planning and energy efficiency demonstration throughout the GEOBIM platform. This is implemented to assemble this set of powerful assessment, inspection and ground research, testing, and real time monitoring tools. 

Albin Wessling, from Luleå University of Technology, presented Discrete Element Modelling of Rock Drilling.  

Abstract: Percussive rotary drilling is recognized as the most efficient method for hard rock drilling. Despite clear advantages over conventional rotary methods, there are still some uncertainties associated with percussive drilling. For geothermal applications, drilling accounts for a large portion of the total cost. Specifically, the wear of drill bits when drilling in hard rock is a predominant cost factor and drilling parameters are often based on the experience of the field operator. Within the framework of the H2020 project GEOFIT, numerical simulations of percussive drilling are performed in order to evaluate the rock drilling process and gain insight about the trade-off between wear and Rate of Penetration (ROP). In the simulations, the rock material was represented by the Bonded Discrete Element Method (BDEM), the drill bit by the Finite Element Method (FEM), the drilling fluid by the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) and the abrasive wear on the surface of the drill bit was represented by Archard’s wear law. The drilling simulations were conducted for two rock materials; a sedimentary rock material corresponding to what was found when drilling at the GEOFIT pilot site in Aran Islands, Ireland, and a harder reference rock similar to granite. The results show that, at a drill bit impact force of 10 kN, the ROP in the sedimentary rock was 6.3 times faster than for granite. When increasing the impact force to 40 and 50 kN, however, the ROP for the sedimentary rock is only 1.9 and 1.6 times faster, respectively. Furthermore, the wear rate decreased with increased impact force when drilling in the granite rock. For the sedimentary rock, however, the loading resulting in the best trade-off between abrasive wear and ROP was the second highest loading of 40 kN, which suggests that an increase in impact energy may increase the rate of penetration but may not be economically motivated. 

Henk Witte, from Groenholland Geo-energysystems, presented Development and validation of analytical solutions for earth basked (spiral) heat exchangers.  

Abstract: In this paper we present an analytical solution and its validation for earth basket (vertical spiral) ground heat exchangers. The model, based on the well known Finite Line Source Equation, accounts for the heat exchanger pipe diameter and seasonally varying near surface temperature. For computational efficiency the standard approach of using G-functions has been implemented as well. The analytical model is validated based on laboratory experiments and extensive CFD analysis. 

GEOFIT at the World Geothermal Congress 2020+1

The GEOFIT project was recently presented at the World Geothermal Congress 2020+1 on 26th October in Reykjavík, Iceland. Around 300 people attended the conference across its 3-day duration (25-27 October), and there were 31 participating European-funded research projects (GEOFIT + 30 others) represented in the European Research & Innovation Pavilion organized by the GEOTHERMICA Project (Grant agreement ID: 731117). The pavilion has a dedicated website, and Twitter handle. The pavilion highlighted Research & Innovation European project’s cooperation, displaying the research outcomes, and boosting the positive impact on geothermal needs and untapped energy. There was an opening speech at the Pavilion by EC Project Officer Ms. Filipa Vieira Matias. The GEOFIT presentation was delivered by Zia Lennard of R2M Solution, and after a general introduction of the project it focused on briefing the 5 Pilots and the various tools and methods being utilized within the project. The presentation was recorded and images of the slides are shown below.

Dự đoán kết quá xổ số nhanh nhất chính xác nhất ,đem lại niềm vui và sự bất ngờ cho anh dự đoán xsmn xoso me em đam mê chơi xổ số

WGC 2020+1 had a limited focus on shallow geothermal for low temperature heating and cooling. However, in that regard hopefully the onsite GEOFIT presentation and the associated earlier virtual presentation delivered by Michael Lauermann and Edith Haslinger of the Austrian Institute of Technology raised awareness to the innovativeness of technology coupling at system level, as well as the wide potential and positive socioeconomic impact of geothermal technologies for building renovation for the attendees of the conference, market players, and scientific researchers.

Iceland has a total installed geothermal power generation capacity of 755 MW and is among the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to electricity generation from geothermal. In terms of direct use, Iceland has developed into a role model both with its extensive use for district heating (90% of all homes are heated by geothermal energy), but also in the cascaded use of geothermal heat for bathing and swimming, greenhouse operations, fish farming and more. Moreover, the potential impact of GEOFIT was very apparent when seeing how all homes and buildings in Iceland used to be heated by direct use of geothermal steam, as illustrated in the image below.

GEOFIT PROJECT 8TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY – PERUGIA 29TH NOVEMBER – 1ST DECEMBER 2021

AFTER TWO YEARS OF COVID_19 THE CONSORTIUM MET AGAIN WITH A PILOT FINISHED AND THE PROJECT IN ITS LAST RUN

The GEOFIT consortium celebrated its 8th General Assembly in person in the city of Perugia for three days. This time and after a long lockdown for the project consortium, the partners joined the meeting in the University of Perugia headquarters (Universidad degli Studi de Perugia). This General Assembly represents a big milestone within the project because of the Pilot leaded by the University of Perugia is now running, and the installation and commissioning processes have been successfully completed.

The partners presented their progress regarding the different work packages and explained the work done during the last months after the 7th General Assembly held remotely in May 2021.

GEOFIT Project Partners at University of Perugia

For the restrictions already existing as consequence of COVID_19 pandemic, some partners attended the meeting remotely. This situation did not represent any inconvenient to review the project progress and plan the next steps towards the project closing next year.

The different Work Packages and deliverables are in a very finished status according to the work plan. The meeting had a big issue to discuss in terms of the demo sites progress, to this respect, the pilot owners showed the results obtained during this period. For Bordeaux demo site the drilling works are finished, and the installation of geothermal systems (EGS) is planned to be done the week before Christmas. The commissioning is planned to be performed during the Q1 2022. Regarding the Sant Cugat demo site, the control system must be completed in December 2021 and the commissioning of the geothermal system is planned for the third week of January 2022, while the passive cooling system will be installed in Easter 2022. With respect to Galway demo site, the first heat pump has been produced and sent, the other one will be ready in early February 2022 while some other aspects of the works to be performed on the site are being solved. In Aran demo site, the drilling works have been done, and the insulation material is being installed in the house.

One of the main objectives of the meeting at Perugia has been the visit to the first demo site completed. This visit to Sant’ Apollinare was really satisfactory as the results of the project have been successfully presented by Anna Laura Pisello and Jessica Romanelli from University of Perugia.

Visit to Sant’ Apollinare – Perugia Demo site of GEOFIT Project

Besides the technical development and piloting of the project, the consortium agreed to reinforce the dissemination and publicity actions of the different technologies used in the project. To this respect, a benchmarking tool will be published as web-tool – to be embedded in the GEOFIT website.

Finally, the participation in several reference congresses and events are important actions that will be continued in 2022. As a GROENHOLLAND initiative, the project will be present in the European Geothermal Congress and also as panel expert in Berlin in October 2022. Some partners like AIT, EURECAT, NUIG and IDP have submitted abstracts for the Congress. The consortium will also be present at GeoTherm Congress in Offenburg – Germany at the beginning of 2022. A stand to exhibit the different technologies developed in GEOFIT will be available.

Visit to the technical room at Sant’ Apollinare – Perugia

Meet our partners: Ochsner

This interview is part of a series! You can see all our partner interviews here.

Ochsner Wärmepumpen (OCHSNER) was founded in 1978 as one of the first companies in Europe to produce heat pumps on an industrial scale, being a well-known producer of innovative heat pump systems covering all types of heat sources and capacities ranging from 2 to 1.600 kW.

In GEOFIT, they are responsible for several innovations with regards to optimising the design of heat pumps. These innovations have never been applied in heat pumps design and sizing and they will allow to decrease the environmental footprint while in parallel making heat pumps more affordable so that they can compete against non-renewable technologies.

One of the innovations, in collaboration with AIT, regards the design of an innovative, electrically-driven heat pump system with low/medium GWP synthetic refrigerant, which in turn makes a more cost-effective use of heat exchangers (HEX). They have also contributed to new methods to calculate heat pump sizing requirements which have been implemented within the IDDS framework used to design our pilot sites. This new methods will prevent oversizing of the heat pump component in geothermal systems which often results in non-optimal efficiencies/return on investment and can decrease the competitiveness of geothermal technologies with respect to competing systems.

These innovations have never been applied in heat pumps design and sizing and they will allow to decrease the environmental footprint while in parallel making heat pumps more affordable so that they can compete against non-renewable technologies.

In this interview, Oschner founder Dipl. Ing. ETH Karl Ochsner talks about the benefits of using the heat pumps in geothermal retrofitting, how projects like GEOFIT can connect themselves to the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), and its impact on the market and the environment.

Model development and performance analysis of Novel Shallow Ground Heat Exchangers

by Henk Witte – Groenholland

One of the key aspects of the EU GEOFIT project is the development of integrated engineering design tools for different types of ground heat exchangers. This toolkit provides design methodologies for vertical borehole heat exchangers, shallow horizontal and slinky type heat exchangers, and earth basket (spiral) heat exchangers.

Ground heat exchangers (GHEX) are used to provide a heat source or heat sink used for heating or cooling a building. They are typically constructed of plastic pipes installed in different configurations in the ground. A fluid is circulated in the pipes and the GHEX extracts heat from the ground (heating operation) or rejects heat to the ground (cooling operation).

For the validation of the analytical solutions used in the integrated engineering design toolkit, especially the new finite line source solutions developed for earth basket (spiral) heat exchangers laboratory experiments (figure 1) and detailed numerical simulations (figure 2) have been performed.

Figure 1. Experimental sandbox setup for earth basket (spiral) heat exchanger characterisation (foto: AIT)

The performance of a ground heat exchanger can be summarized to two key parameters:

  1. Pressure drop: A measure of the pump energy needed to move the fluid through the heat exchanger.
  2. Thermal resistance between fluid and ground: A measure of the thermal performance of the GHEX.
Figure 2. CFD simulation of earth basket (spiral) heat exchanger (foto: AIT).

The goal of the performance analysis is to identify key-design parameters affecting the overall system performance. Parameters investigated include:

  • Diameter of the earth basket (spiral) heat exchanger
  • Pipe diameter in relation to flow rate and pressure drop
  • Distance between adjacent rings in relation to total length and buried depth
  • Soil thermal parameters

Evaluation of the results of the performance analysis should take into account the actual effect on system performance. As an example, it can be attempted to reduce the thermal resistance in all cases as much as possible. However, the effect on performance is related to the actual heat rate of the system (figure 3). It is clear that with a low heat rate (5 W/m) the thermal resistance can be allowed to be high without affecting performance. These results will have implications for operating these systems during part-load conditions, which is important in view of the application of frequency-controlled compressors in the heat pumps. In this way, the results of the GEOFIT project not only provide designers with the tools to evaluate different types of ground heat exchangers in one integrated tool but also allows optimization of actual system operational control.

Figure 3. Relation between thermal resistance (fluid to ground) and energy performance degradation for different specific heat rates.

REFERENCES

Meeng, C.L (2020). Development of an engineering tool for the design of novel shallow ground heat exchangers – GEOFIT. MSc Thesis TU Eindhoven.

Dörr, C.J. (2020). CFD Analysis of Ground Heat Exchangers. MSc Thesis Montan Universität Leoben, Austrian Institute of Technology.

Kling, S. (2020). Experimental characterization of Helix-Type Ground Source Heat Exchangers Configurations for Developing a Standardized Design Tool. MSc Thesis FH Burgenland University of Applied Sciences, Austrian Institute of Technology.

We end May with our 7th General Assembly!

The GEOFIT consortium successfully held its 7th Virtual General Assembly on May 20 and 21 2021, our first GA for 2021! The meeting was organised online in two intense half-day sessions during which work package leaders where able to present the progress made with the core technologies, demonstration activities and coordination work packages.

Kicking-off our 7th meeting!

The first-day session started with a focus on the state of the art of technical work packages (WP). Lead by our colleagues from IDS Georadar, Groenholland, AIT, and Nuig Galway, we got to review WP2 which focused on-ground research, worksite inspection, and improved drilling technologies, and wrapped up its work last April 2021. The presentations for WP 3, 4, and 5 presented the different advances made with our Shallow Ground Heat Exchangers, Heat Pumps, system integration and efficiency management. After a short coffee break, we had the presentation of the progress of pilot implementation. In this sense, we were celebrating the commissioning of our first pilot site in Perugia, an important milestone for the project! Our Bordeaux pilot has also taken important steps in the past months when it comes to drilling.

The GEOFIT Team

On the second day, we were able to review the advances made on our GeoBIM platform and the standardisation, exploitation, and communication activities and R2M started an open discussion on possible business cases, UNE presented different approaches to the standardisation language including the CWA and COMET updated on the most recent events and the new website design and materials.

The meeting wrapped up with high hopes that next time we might meet again in person and with a clear view of the next steps that will be taken by all partners during the next 6 months.

Marco Calderoni elected as New Chair of the RHC-ETIP

GEOFIT project coordinator, Marco Calderoni, was elected as new chair of the RHC-ETIP, the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling. His mandate started on the 1st January 2021 and will run until the end of 2021. The RHC-ETIP represents stakeholders from the biomass, geothermal, solar thermal sectors, heat pumps, district heating and cooling, thermal storage and hybrid systems. It is, therefore, a unique ETIP covering all the renewable heating and cooling technologies.

Marco Calderoni takes over for Javier Urchueguía, RHC-ETIP Chairman in 2020. As key takeaways from his presidency period, Dr.Urchueguía pointed out the influential role of the RHC-ETIP to tip the balance of the budgetary distribution towards renewable heating and cooling. During his first meeting as Chairman of the RHC-ETIP, Marco Calderoni highlighted the potential positive impact of new alliances formed in 2020, such as the one with ETIP SNET and the Clean Energy Transition Partnership.

GEOFIT is already part of their project database and is now closer to the RHC Platform that it has been so far. Thus we can indirectly contribute to their work of maximising synergies and strengthening efforts towards research, development and technological innovation of Geothermal Energy within the European Union.

You can now read the full press release from RHC-ETIP here.

On Wednesday and Thursday 4th & 5th November, We Held Our GA#6!

The GEOFIT consortium successfully held our 6th General Assembly (GA) on November 4th and 5th, 2020, hosted remotely by R2M Solution. Important progress has been carried concerning the design of the GEOFIT systems to be installed in each of our five pilots. And although we are facing some delays during this installation phase due to the COVID-19 sanitary situation, the geothermal field in the school of Sant Cugat has been completed during the summer and installation at other pilots is planned to start before the end of the year.

Drilling and civil works for the horizontal connection to the plant room in Sant Cugat pilot (AJSC)

During the two-day meeting, we discussed the progress of our work and individual Work Packages, putting special focus on the pilots’ progress. The project moves in the right direction and the work is getting more advanced.

Among the progress included in the partners’ presentations, overviews on the last decisions made regarding the Bordeaux and Galway pilots were shown by NUI GALWAY and NOBATEK, progress on the engineering design tool for ground heat exchangers was shown by GROENHOLLAND, as well as how the GeoBIM platform is being implemented by IDP in the more advanced demo-sites, Sant Cugat and Perugia.

Two workshops were also organized during the GA, the first one to discuss the life cycle approach within the project context, led by EURECAT, and the second one to start analyzing the pilot business cases and discuss why Geothermal is an appealing technology for building retrofitting, led by R2M.

The meeting closed by setting up the next steps and plans for the upcoming six months.

GEOFIT at Sustainable Places 2020

On Day 3 of the 4-day virtual Sustainable Places 2020 (SP2020) conference, Thursday 29th October from 14.00 – 17.00 CET, Marco Calderoni from GEOFIT contributed to the “Renewable Heating and Cooling Solutions for Buildings and Industry Workshop”, and the presentations and video recordings are publicly accessible.

Banner for “Renewable Heating and cooling solutions for Buidlings and Industry” at SP2020

The workshop brought together a selection of H2020 EU-funded projects involving experts from the biomass, geothermal, solar thermal and heat pump sectors to discuss a common strategy for increasing the use of renewable energy technologies for heating and cooling for buildings and industry. Renewable energy technologies for heating and cooling are safe, clean, efficient and increasingly cost-competitive. The workshop comprised four thematic sessions, namely “RHC for industrial applications”, “Storage solutions for RHC support in buildings”, “Innovative solutions for RHC deployment in buildings”, and finally the one that GEOFIT presented in called “Demonstration actions for RHC in buildings”.

Marco Calderoni from R2M Solution presented the GEOFIT project and highlighted first lessons learnt based on experience at the five demonstration sites.

R2M Solution organizes the annual international Sustainable Places conference, and the recent 8th as usual focused on the built environment at building, district, and urban scales to include our transport and energy infrastructures. Renowned for showcasing results coming out of the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme via the participation of cutting-edge research and innovation projects, the scope of Sustainable Places is captured directly in its name. It involves designing, building and retrofitting the places we live and work in a more sustainable way.

A GEOFIT poster was also displayed in the virtual room of Sustainable Places 2020.

Participating projects wereSWS-Heating – HYBUILD – CREATE – TRI-HP – HYCOOL – SHIP2FAIR – SUNHORIZON – Heat4Cool – GEOFIT – SCORES – Innova microSolar – Hybrid BioVGE – RES4BUILD – SolBioRev – FRIENDSHIP

Chair of the workshop: Andrea Frazzica (CNR ITAE) – partner of GEOFIT

SIART and IDSGEORADAR Perform Structural Monitoring at Sant Cugat Pilot

From 27th to 31st July, SIART and IDSGEORADAR were at Sant Cugat pilot for structural monitoring, during the same week drilling works started. The goal was to perform structural monitoring before and during drilling, and see any impact in the school buildings.

IDSGEORADAR installed a Hydra-G system which monitored real-time measurements of sub-millimetric displacements in the administrative building and in the primary school. This system provides the high-accuracy and resolution radar technology. The system was accompanied by an optical and infrared HD camera providing real- time visual inspection of monitored area, draping radar data on a 3D model of the scene created using the radar system.

On the other hand, SIART installed several accelerometers in both buildings, administrative and primary school, to monitor vibrations before and during the first drilling carried out on 31st July. The goal of monitoring before drilling works is to know the building frequency, and see, once the drilling starts, if it has changed due to the vibrations propagation throughout the terrain. Once data has been captured, SIART will analyze them and present some results.

On the left: one of the accelerometers installed by SIART; On the right: Hydra-G system and camera installed by IDSGEORADAR.