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This paper presents the main objectives and expected outputs of the project Geothermal Energy Capacity Building in Egypt (GEB), funded by the European Union program Erasmus+, within the Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices (CBHE-JP - Capacity Building in higher education - Joint Projects). Five Egyptian universities (Cairo, Suez Canal, Ain Shams, Aswan and Egypt Japan University of Science and Technology), two Egyptian governmental/industrial bodies (New and Renewable Energy Authority and South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company), and three European universities (Bologna, Zagreb and Valladolid) are the partners in this project. GEB duration is 3 years, from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of 2024. GEB builds the capacity of the Egyptian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and develops a higher education engineering graduate diploma on geothermal energy in Egypt. The main objective of this diploma is to supply the national market with qualified engineers/graduates in the field of geothermal energy, with special attention to applications in cooling and heating processes. The program will also include topics on geothermal power plants, project management, and monitoring systems with available technologies customized to the different applications of geothermal energy in the national circumstances. This project will provide the opportunity for building an engineering knowledge foundation, both theoretical and practical, for the future use of geothermal energy in Egypt. The project’s expected outcomes include the first graduate diploma in Geothermal Energy, the first educational pilot plant, geothermal energy centers (i.e., qualified staff and laboratories at each Egyptian university) and the establishing of the Egyptian Society of Geothermal Energy. The graduate diploma is the seed that will lead to generations of knowledgeable and well-trained engineers/graduates who can supply the national demand. The educational pilot plant, along with geothermal energy centers, would be used in the practical training of the diploma graduates and the dissemination of practical knowledge to local enterprises. Finally, the Egyptian Society of Geothermal Energy (which will be composed of qualified staff from the Egyptian partners) would represent a qualified engineering society, able to offer consultancy to universities, local enterprises and national decision makers.

The thesis presents new solutions for the fractures problem in ornamental stone quarries which entails economic and material loses. The thesis aimed at developing methodologies and providing solutions for evaluation and production optimization of ornamental stone deposits. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was selected, among several methods, as a fracture detection tool for this research. A combination of the use of a low frequency GPR antenna and laboratory rock tests for evaluation of an ornamental stone deposit showed encouraging results. Based on GPR survey, particularly high frequency antennas, a 3D deterministic fracture modeling approach was developed and implemented in several case studies of block and bench scales. A fracture index was proposed for deposit evaluation based on fracture detections from GPR survey. Additionally, an in-situ GPR test allowed formulating a propagation velocity model for 3D mapping of the dielectric constant of the medium, within macro and micro scale of the rock mass of a bench in a sandstone quarry. This finding is significant for future improvement of the deterministic accuracy level of the developed fracture modeling approach and, generally, for the GPR applications in rock mass. Regarding quarrying optimization, two 3D algorithms, based on fracture modeling or mapping, were developed for production and/or revenue optimization of cutting slabs from blocks and cutting blocks from benches. The algorithms were coded in two software packages named SlabCutOpt and BlockCutOpt. SlabCutOpt was applied to a case study of a limestone block through testing 37 different commercial-sizes of slabs, investigating the optimization results in terms of recovery ratio (a geo-environmental direction) and revenue (an economic direction). BlockCutOpt was applied to two case studies (quarries) with different site characteristics. The results showed that optimum cutting direction of blocks can vertically and horizontally vary, giving geometric information about the cutting grid of blocks that optimizes the production.

Fractures in rock mass threaten exploitability and productivity of ornamental stones quarries. Since propagation of fractures inside the rock mass is a random phenomenon, a non-destructive detection method of fractures shall be used. Between several fractures detection methods, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was selected as data acquisition tool. GPR is fast, accurate and reliable method of fractures detection in rock masses. The in-situ survey, in a case study in a sandstone quarry in Firenzuola, Italy, was planned for achieving two main targets. The first one was focused on accurately modeling fractures as 3D surfaces from data obtained by a high frequency GPR antenna. The second main target was focused on surveying the rock mass to detect large aperture fractures surfaces as deep as possible by a low frequency GPR antenna. The proposed method was applied to two different benches using 400 MHz and 70 MHz antennas. A visualized 3D semi-deterministic model (as close as possible to reality) of sub-horizontal and sub-vertical fractures in a rock mass of 25 m length x 6m width x 2.5m depth was obtained from the high frequency GPR antenna survey. Whilst the low GPR frequency antenna survey allowed characterizing the extension, shape and orientation of the detected fractures surfaces in a rock mass of 12m length x 7m width x 14m depth. Moving from these results to further sustainable objectives, suggested exploitation and planning scenarios based on the presented fracture models are described in this paper in objectives to short term production optimization and long term production planning.

Quarrying of ornamental stone deposits produces huge amount of wastes due to rock mass fractures that entail economic losses. Fractures in rockmass affect the quality and the required commercial size of stones blocks or may lead to difficulty of exploitation. There are several fracture detection and characterization methods and choice of a method is controlled by the application objective. After a review of fractures detection methods, we introduced a classification based on destructive and non-destructive methods. Among these methods, the authors investigated ground penetrating radar (GPR) as a data acquisition tool. The objective of this research is to image large aperture fractures (2-3 cm) as deep as possible, in a case study in a sandstone quarry in Firenzuola, Italy. The data acquisition was carried out by low frequency GPR antenna (70 MHz) in a 3D survey grid (7 m x 12 m) over the bench surface. Due to the wet and fractured condition of the rock mass, a penetration depth of just 14 m was obtained. Wise data processing led to enhancing the signal. A processing software allowed visualizing the data in 3D GPR cuboid. Interpretation of the main fractures was performed through the entire body of the cuboid. Extension, shape and orientation of the main fracture surfaces could be explored to be then an aid for the quarrying decision makers of this bench.

The document is an extended abstract presented at "GeoENV 2016", the 11th International Conference on Geostatistics for Environmental Application Conference, 6-8 July 2016, Lisbon, Portugal.

The document is an extended abstract presented at "GeoENV 2016", the 11th International Conference on Geostatistics for Environmental Application Conference, 6-8 July 2016, Lisbon, Portugal.

The paper presents the evaluation of quarrying operations as specified by the Eco-Label standards for hard coverings, while it develops the work done by (Elkarmoty et al., 2020a). The economic and environmental optimization of the quarry activities were analysed taking in to account several parameters: production costs, obtainable revenues, waste production, dust and CO2 emissions, water and energy consumption, and the Eco-Label ‘natural resource’ criteria for hard coverings. For the dust and CO2 emissions, water and energy consumption, the research presents a comparison between a chain saw cutter machine and a diamond wire cutter machine. The research’s objective is to evaluate the optimal sustainable engineering and optimization practice in terms of economy and the environment by means of block dimensions and block cutting machinery choices. The research was implemented in a case study of limestone quarry bench in Italy. The highest obtainable recovery ratio was detected as 53%, while the obtainable revenues were found in correlation with the recovery ratio, decreasing with increasing block surface area. However, the lowest production costs were obtained for the block dimension that reflected the lowest recovery ratio, hence, highest waste volume. The dust emissions, energy consumption and carbon footprint of the block cutting operations of the quarry were lower when the diamond wire cutter was used, compared to the chain saw cutter, respectively. For the block cutting of the bench, using blocks with lower surface area were found to have higher recovery ratios than the threshold value which Eco-Label natural resources criteria indicates. The excellence level of the Eco-Label criteria can be obtained in the presented case study only by one block dimension. Each criterion was evaluated in order to find the best practice for the quarry in terms of environment, economy and sustainability.

Površinske temperature i hidrogeološki uvjeti ključni su parametri u mnogim inženjerskim primjenama poput izgradnje podruma i drugih podzemnih prostorija te kod procjene plitkoga geotermalnog potencijala. Međutim, teško je otkriti prirodne, tj. izvorne, toplinske uvjete, poglavito u plitkim, podzemnim, gradskim područjima. Razlog tomu je ljudski utjecaj. Stoga procjena toplinskih varijabli u takvim uvjetima postaje sve važnija, jer raste i uporaba geotermalne energije, posebice kao obnovljivoga izvora. Cilj rada bio je prikazati trodimenzionalni model takvih uvjeta, kalibriran eksperimen-talnim podatcima. Tako je opisano ponašanje topline u podzemlju pod utjecajem građevina u odabranome seoskom području Italije. Temperaturne varijacije u prostoru i vremenu ovisile su o površinskim stijenama (i/ili tlu), klimi i svojstvima same građevine. Svi ti parametri razmatrani su unutar modela sezonskih promjena temperatura. Rezultati modela u područjima niske urbanizacije neizravno upućuju kako promatrani parametri imaju veliku važnost u visoko urbaniziranim područjima. Nadalje takvi rezultati mogu se uključiti u buduće modele plitkoga podzemlja i razmjenji-vača topline te unaprijediti kako njih, tako i opću uporabu geotermalne energije. Ground temperature and hydrogeological conditions are key parameters for many engineering applications, such as the design of building basements and underground spaces and the assessment of shallow geothermal energy potential. Especially in urban areas, in the very shallow depths, it is difficult to find natural undisturbed underground thermal conditions because of anthropic interventions. The assessment of underground behaviour in disturbed conditions will become more and more relevant because of increasing awareness to energy efficiency and renewable energy topics. The purpose of this paper is to show a three-dimensional representation - based on models calibrated on experimental data - of the underground thermal behaviour affected by a building in a rural area in Italy. Temperature varies in space and time and it depends on ground, climate and building characteristics, and all these parameters are taken into account by the seasonal periodic modelling implemented. The results obtained in a context of low urbanization indirectly suggest the importance of these effects in dense urban areas; taking greater account of these aspects could lead to improvements in the design of underground spaces and geo-exchanger fields for geothermal energy exploitation.

The exploitation potential of shallow geothermal energy is usually defined in terms of site-specific ground thermal characteristics. While true, this assumption limits the complexity of the analysis, since feasibility studies involve many other components that must be taken into account when calculating the effective market viability of a geothermal technology or the economic value of a shallow geothermal project. In addition, the results of a feasibility study are not simply the sum of the various factors since some components may be conflicting while others will be of a qualitative nature only. Different approaches are therefore needed to evaluate the suitability of an area for shallow geothermal installation. This paper introduces a new GIS platform-based multicriteria decision analysis method aimed at comparing as many different shallow geothermal relevant factors as possible. Using the Analytic Hierarchic Process Tool, a geolocalized Suitability Index was obtained for a specific technological case: the integrated technologies developed within the GEOTeCH Project. A suitability map for the technologies in question was drawn up for Europe.

Rock mass fractures adversely affect the cutting of commercial-size blocks and cause rock material loss in ornamental stone quarries. In order to obtain a reliable evaluation and an optimized production of ornamental stone deposits, it is fundamental to detect fractures in a non-destructive manner identifying them through 3D deterministic modeling. In this study, a recently published fracture modeling strategy, based on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey was implemented on a large area of bench (27.0 m &times, 65.0 m) in a limestone quarry in Italy. The survey was done using a dual-frequency GPR system (250 MHz and 700 MHz). The objective of this work was to investigate the large-scale applicability of the mentioned fracture model for future consideration in quarrying optimization studies. Only the 700 MHz radargrams were considered for the fracture modeling, as they provided a higher resolution than the 250 MHz radargrams and a penetration depth of about 4.0 m. The bulk dielectric constant of the rock mass of the bench was estimated by averaging the velocities obtained from fitting the hyperbolic diffractions of fractures at different depths. The model showed that fractures from the same family set can have noticeable spatial variations. The results allowed us to roughly estimate the sizes of the blocks exploitable from the different rock layers of the quarry bench.