Development Potential and Environmental Benefit Analysis of Geothermal Medium–Deep Buried Pipe Heating System in Capital Cities in Northwest China

In this paper, the current situation of heating and ambient air quality in the capital city of Northwest China has been reviewed and comparatively analyzed. The results suggest that the traditional heating method is one of the main factors affecting the ambient air quality in the region, while the use of geothermal clean energy will help improve the ambient air quality. In recent years, a new type of geothermal development and utilization technology “medium–deep buried pipe heating system” has emerged and is developing rapidly. But most of the previous studies have focused on the research of surface heating system and heat transfer capacity of pipe wells, and less on the research of geothermal resource storage and bearing capacity. In this paper, on the basis of analyzing the scope of application of this technology, the geothermal resource conditions in the capital cities of five northwestern provinces has been summarized, an appropriate method has been adopted to estimate the recoverable resources of geothermal resources in combination with the scope of urban construction, the prospects and environmental benefits of promoting the use of medium–deep buried pipe heating systems in cities has been analyzed, and the direction of subsequent research has been proposed.