Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thund... more Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thunderstorms, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis have become an important research trend. Among these natural hazards, earthquakes and tsunamis are the most destructive, in terms of loss of life and destruction of property. The present paper deals with the technique of short term earthquake precursors using seismo-geochemical monitoring. Continuous He and 222Rn along with gamma dose rate were simultaneously monitored for pre-seismic signatures at two thermal springs in India. The monitoring stations are placed in dissimilar geological environments and in different seismic zones of the country and are separated by a distance of 1612 km. One of the monitoring stations is located at the thermal spring site at Bakreswar which lies in the eastern part of the country in a moderate risk zone - seismic zone III. The other monitoring station is situated at the Tatta Pani thermal spring site which falls...
The chemical composition of fluids trapped within the pore matrix of rock structures in an unstre... more The chemical composition of fluids trapped within the pore matrix of rock structures in an unstressed region of the crust generally remain in equilibrium with its surroundings. However, fluid transport properties of rocks and sediments undergo substantial changes upon application of tectonic stress and strain such as those that precede earthquakes. Therefore the relative composition of crustal fluids and gases in reservoir rocks may alter appreciably preceding an earthquake occurrence. Soil and spring gases along with spring water composition may undergo anomalous changes that may announce the possibility of an earthquake occurrence. Such changes are enhanced in geothermal areas and in active fault regions. In the present presentation, we describe the monitoring observations in thermal spring gas composition from two distant geothermal areas at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tatta Pani (Jammu, J&K) and Mud volcano at Baratang (A & N). We examine the data and obtained anomalies against ...
To deal with the issue of climate change and carbon emission the power sectors of many developed ... more To deal with the issue of climate change and carbon emission the power sectors of many developed and developing countries including India have already set up a mission to generate electricity from clean, green and renewable energy sources. India’s limited resources of coal and natural gas and its nonviable resources for harnessing solar energy and its inability to use other sources such as wind power, biomass etc. make nuclear power programme an important option for this country. However, Fukushima nuclear disaster immediately followed by German capping of nuclear programme, India’s nuclear power programme, in recent years, has turned into a controversial and debating issue. In this ungainly and retrograde circumstance it becomes compelling to seek an alternate, acceptable, safe and viable power generation mode. A geothermal power utilization programme fits in naturally to meet the prospective power demands of the country. Geothermal energy resource of the country has the capacity t...
The subject matter of earthquake prediction has been under the scanner of various research fields... more The subject matter of earthquake prediction has been under the scanner of various research fields for a fairly long time. Anomalous fluctuations of geochemical signals are well recognised worldwide as a promising short-term precursor of earthquakes. Pre-seismic sporadic emanations of helium and radon from sub-soil and hydrothermal gases have been observed by several investigators across the globe during the last three decades or more. The present paper deals with time series analysis obtained from data registered during the period of December 14, 2007 to January 18, 2008 through continuous, online, round the clock monitoring at a network of geochemical monitoring laboratories at diverse locations in India at (i) Bakreswar thermal spring site (230 52’30” N; 870 22’ 30” E), West Bengal, (ii) Tatta Pani thermal spring site (330 14’ 16”N, 740 24’ 43” E), Jammu & Kashmir and at Baratang mud volcano site (120 07’ 44” N; 920 47’ 29” E), Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Pronounced increase in the...
We are monitoring geochemical precursory signals for earthquake continuously since the last 8 yea... more We are monitoring geochemical precursory signals for earthquake continuously since the last 8 years and round the clock at three different field site laboratories in India. It is implicitly required that the multi-parametric data (helium, methane, radon etc. in hydrothermal gases and soil gases) from all the above three field stations, namely, Bakreswar thermal spring, WB; TattaPani thermal spring, J&K and Baratang mud volcano, A&N must be transferred and gathered concurrently at a common server computer to develop a data bank. With an aim to develop an automated network system having facilities of automatic data downloading from equipment, auto data transferring, auto graph generating and auto update, presently we along with Clematis Software Technologies, Kolkata are working on Earthquake Precursor Data Automation Software. As of now we have developed software for automatically accumulating various geochemical gas data obtained from the different instruments installed at these thr...
Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thund... more Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thunderstorms, floods, climate change, earthquakes and tsunamis have become an important research trend. Among these natural hazards, earthquakes and tsunamis are the most destructive, in terms of sudden loss of life and destruction of property. The present paper deals with the technique of short term earthquake precursor recognition using pre-seismic geochemical signal monitoring and the technique of nonlinear time series analysis. Continuous He and 222Rn along with gamma dose rate were monitored to detect pre-seismic signatures at the thermal spring at Tatta Pani, Jammu which falls in the north-western part of India in a high risk zone (Seismic Zone IV). Tatta Pani is located in a non-volcanic geothermal area that lies within the mountain folds of Jammu & Kashmir, situated in proximity to the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) of the Lesser Hi malayas. In this paper, we make a comparative study, of...
We present a brief review of the research work being carried out in India to detect and analyse g... more We present a brief review of the research work being carried out in India to detect and analyse geochemical precursors for earthquakes. Concentration changes of terrestrial helium, methane and radon-222 emanating from hydrothermal vents are monitored continuously and round the clock at three seismo-geochemical monitoring observatories. These field site laboratories were set up at different regions of the country having different geological settings to monitor the pre-seismic geochemical signatures. Several noteworthy geochemical anomalies were recorded over the past few years that occurred prior to some major earthquakes within India and its neighborhood. In this paper, we make a cross correlation study of geochemical time series data sets recorded at these observatories. We have applied nonlinear statistical techniques to the recorded geochemical data sets. The results show significant dissimilarity between time series data sets that were recorded during two geophysical states – se...
The Indian landmass has a unique geotectonic structure. It is sandwiched between two major tecton... more The Indian landmass has a unique geotectonic structure. It is sandwiched between two major tectonic plate boundaries, the Eurasian Plate in the north and the Indo-Australian Plate in the south. Besides, the country also sits on a number of major fault lines. As a result, all the five possible classified seismic zones, I through V, are present at different geographical locations of the country. With a main objective to detect precursory signals related to regional seismic occurrences, we have taken up simultaneous monitoring of the hourly concentration change in the radioactive gas 222Rn along with the light gas helium and associated hot spring / mud-volcano gases at three locations in different regions of the country. The paper describes experimental methods adopted for the online measurement of the stable gases along with radon at the field stations together with discussions on analytical techniques used in isolating and quantifying an observed anomaly to that of an earthquake occu...
The hot springs at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tatta Pani (Jammu & Kashmir) are surrounded by a f... more The hot springs at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tatta Pani (Jammu & Kashmir) are surrounded by a fractured network of conduits that supply geothermal fluids to these springs. Gases released along with hot waters from both these springs are known to be rich in helium as well as radon. The present work deals with the analysis of helium and radon time series data taken across several months in the hot spring as well as soil gases from these geothermal areas and their response to regional and trans-regional tectonic events. Moreover, a review of Indian scenario on helium and radon precursors for earthquakes is discussed. Extension of soil helium and radon study to the exploitation of geothermal energy and extraction possibility of large scale helium is highlighted as well
Earthquake prediction is a challenging and widely debated subject matter in the global scientific... more Earthquake prediction is a challenging and widely debated subject matter in the global scientific community. Although much progress has been made in many fields dealing with earthquake science over the last three decades, however, precise information regarding probable location, occurrence time, magnitude and intensity of an imminent earthquake is still lacking. Given the scenario, short term prediction methods involving several geophysical and geochemical techniques seem to have the inherent capacity to provide basic information to its success. In the present paper we describe our attempt to develop seismo-geochemical algorithm based on experimentally recorded continuous time series data (for the period 2005-2012) involving concentration changes in several geochemical parameters such as excess release of helium and radon in gases released from hot springs and mud volcanoes along with soil gases in different geothermal areas in India ahead of some regional and trans-regional earthqu...
Geothermal energy as a source of electricity draw attention of the scientists and engineers since... more Geothermal energy as a source of electricity draw attention of the scientists and engineers sinceearly twentieth century. The world's first geothermal power plant was setup in Larderello, Italy in 1904 and is still producing 920MW power. Geothermal energy is the heat from the earth's interior. The source of the heat is due to the decay of the radioactive nuclei having long half-life like uranium, thorium and potassium in addition to primordial heat source that originated during accretion process of the earth. Geothermal energy production capacity of the world in 2015 is around 12636 MW and that is contributed by 24 countries. However, the most unfortunate scenario is that there is no such power plant is India till the date even after drastic advancement made is the renewable energy programme of the country in the last 10-15 years. Geothermal energy scenario of India seems promising due to many factors such as existence of large number of hot springs (more than 300) in the country, no generation of by-products, negligible environmental impact etc. Recently NIT Durgapur has taken up a research project for the feasibility study for installation of a prototype Pilot Geothermal Power Plant at Bakreswar geothermal area, West Bengal. The area consists of a cluster of hot springs having temperature range of 42-72 0 C and with a characteristic of high heat flow rate ~ 230 MW/m 2 , high geothermal gradient ~90 0 C/Km. Recently, we have collected water samples and gas samples from various hot springs, bore well water, tube well water of the region & subsequently different analysis were performed. The result indicates that the temperature of the geothermal reservoir of Bakreswar may belong to 126-130 0 C by means of geothermometry. The entire study reveals that the said area is an ideal site for installation of prototype geothermal power plant.
Conference: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY- EXTENSION & OUTREACH, 2016
It is well recognized by different geophysical & geochemical techniques such as Audio Magnetutelu... more It is well recognized by different geophysical & geochemical techniques such as Audio Magnetuteluric survey, Magnetuteluric survey, geochemical survey that Bakreswar-Tantloi area is a potential geothermal province located in eastern part of India. We have estimated that reservoir temperature lies in the range of 126 0 C-139 0 C. In this paper we mostly discussed about different aspects on geothermal power plant technologies. Here we propose pilot scale Kalina cycle based binary power plant utilizing geothermal fluids (hot water) as hot fluid. A steam and gas separator will be used to separate the water and gas phase. Organic fluid of lower boiling temperature may be used as working fluid for the proposed binary cycle power plant. Our study shows that the Kalina cycle will be appropriate for power production from this low enthalpy geothermal system at Bakreswar. Here we have discussed in detailed about the Kalina cycle and proposed operational aspect of the power plant.
Geothermal power production is one of the key technology in generation of renewable and green ene... more Geothermal power production is one of the key technology in generation of renewable and green energy throughout the globe. However this field is still ignored in India. There are more than 300 hot springs in India and many of them are potential sites for development of geothermal power plant. Here we have focused our attention to explore some of the geothermal fields of India by various geophysical and geochemical methods. For the sake of investigation we have selected the hot spring site in West Bengal (Bakreswar). The technique of non-linear analysis of geochemical and geophysical time series data are often used in exploration of geothermal energy. The methodology for such exploration study includes online monitoring of terrestrial gas samples at potential target area (geothermal area) followed by some of linear and non-linear analysis of the recorded time series data. Different stable gases such as He, CH4, N2, CO2 etc. and radioactive gases such as 222 Rn were continuously (24X7) monitored for one year in hot spring emanations of the said geothermal area. The linear statistical approaches along with various nonlinear techniques such as FFT, multi-fractal etc. were applied to the recorded data set. The result shows high He and 222 Rn fluxes in this region along with variation of those due to various effect such as earth's tidal effect, tectonic activity. The entire analysis indicates that the above sites could be utilized as potential sources for geothermal power.
A great deal of interest and importance is currently being given to predicting the location and t... more A great deal of interest and importance is currently being given to predicting the location and time of large earthquakes, because of their potential to create sudden disasters at unexpected places. As growing populations keep expanding to previously uninhabited areas the need for earthquake prediction becomes more acute. Although much is known about where earthquakes are more likely to occur, there is as yet no reliable way to predict the days or months when an event will occur in any specific location. Earthquake magnitude and timing are controlled by a host of geological features that include the size of a fault segment or lineament, the rigidity and dynamic behavior of rocks and the amount of accumulated stress. These along with other local features add to the complexity of the task of predicting earthquakes. There are however several emerging ways that greatly assist in the task of observing earthquake precursors. Primarily among them are the geochemical study of terrestrial gas composition such as H 2 , He, CH 4 , Ar and 222 Rn changes through spring emanations or even soil air, or various geophysical techniques such as stress changes, change in soil electrical resistance, magnetic anomaly etc. Given the diversity and range of structural features of the earth, any one of the above mentioned techniques might not by itself suffice in coming to terms of the task required to reliably predict an earthquake. We discuss briefly some physical principles that underlie earthquake formation and some general techniques that are adopted for earthquake prediction, together with the geochemical monitoring work that is currently being carried out at the thermal springs at Bakreswar.
The present paper deals with the application of multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis techn... more The present paper deals with the application of multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis technique on soil radon-222 time series data recorded at Earthquake Precursory Observatory at TattaPani, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The earth being a complicated dynamic system composed of diverse rock types subjected to spatially varying stress patterns, understanding seismic activity-induced soil gas anomaly in such a complex scenario calls for using nonlinear statistical techniques. Therefore, we have adopted several multifractal parameters especially the generalised Hurst exponent, scaling exponent as well as the multifractal spectrum of the radon time series to the problem. A 2-month data (November 5 to December 31, 2012) on soil radon taken at 10-min interval show a wide variation from 2.34 to 58.99 kBq/m 3 with four prominent fluctuations ([mean ± 2r). The data consists of several nonlinear features such as fractal structures and long-range correlation. The observed nonlinear characteristics are pointed to seismic-induced physico-chemical instability within the earth's interior. The estimated local fluctuations or root mean square values greatly assist to distinguish the anomalous pattern present in the recorded time series data.
In this paper, our main focus is on the FFT analysis of the gamma dose rate data recorded at Tatt... more In this paper, our main focus is on the FFT analysis of the gamma dose rate data recorded at Tatta Pani Laboratory, J&K. There are few complex time series data sets whose time domain representation does not confirm of presence of small fluctuations and prominent seismic induced anomalies. However, if the same time series is being analyzed in the frequency domain by means of the periodogram of the data, a large number of information could be derived from the time series and also the small fluctuation and anomalies could be revealed. The temporal variations in gamma dose rate raw time series data and the moving average data along with the abnormal changes (>M+2σ; M is the average and σ is the standard deviation of the data set) had been observed. The periodogram shows the power spectrum of the original time series data.
The paper presents the technical knowhow to build an automation software approach for monitoring,... more The paper presents the technical knowhow to build an automation software approach for monitoring, recording, and real time analysis of earthquake precursory signals. Three laboratories in different locations such as Bakreswar hot spring site, West Bengal, Baratang mud volcano site, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Tattapani hot spring site, Jammu & Kashmir have been developed so far to detect earthquake precursory signals. The various instruments in each of the laboratories include Alpha Guard radon monitor, Micro-gas chromatograph, Barasol radon monitor. All of these instruments are connected through a serial interface (RS-232) to the local server computer installed at each of the laboratories. Here we discuss in detail about the software algorithm in which automatic data acquisition from the connected instruments to the local server computer and automatic transmission of the stored data to the main server computer installed at NIT-Durgapur is done in real time. A web interface to the main server computer is also made. Using this web interface, a particular instrument of a particular laboratory can be selected. Time period (start date to end date) of the data to be accessed could be chosen and real time analysis of the data can be done.
Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thund... more Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thunderstorms, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis have become an important research trend. Among these natural hazards, earthquakes and tsunamis are the most destructive, in terms of loss of life and destruction of property. The present paper deals with the technique of short term earthquake precursors using seismo-geochemical monitoring. Continuous He and 222Rn along with gamma dose rate were simultaneously monitored for pre-seismic signatures at two thermal springs in India. The monitoring stations are placed in dissimilar geological environments and in different seismic zones of the country and are separated by a distance of 1612 km. One of the monitoring stations is located at the thermal spring site at Bakreswar which lies in the eastern part of the country in a moderate risk zone - seismic zone III. The other monitoring station is situated at the Tatta Pani thermal spring site which falls...
The chemical composition of fluids trapped within the pore matrix of rock structures in an unstre... more The chemical composition of fluids trapped within the pore matrix of rock structures in an unstressed region of the crust generally remain in equilibrium with its surroundings. However, fluid transport properties of rocks and sediments undergo substantial changes upon application of tectonic stress and strain such as those that precede earthquakes. Therefore the relative composition of crustal fluids and gases in reservoir rocks may alter appreciably preceding an earthquake occurrence. Soil and spring gases along with spring water composition may undergo anomalous changes that may announce the possibility of an earthquake occurrence. Such changes are enhanced in geothermal areas and in active fault regions. In the present presentation, we describe the monitoring observations in thermal spring gas composition from two distant geothermal areas at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tatta Pani (Jammu, J&K) and Mud volcano at Baratang (A & N). We examine the data and obtained anomalies against ...
To deal with the issue of climate change and carbon emission the power sectors of many developed ... more To deal with the issue of climate change and carbon emission the power sectors of many developed and developing countries including India have already set up a mission to generate electricity from clean, green and renewable energy sources. India’s limited resources of coal and natural gas and its nonviable resources for harnessing solar energy and its inability to use other sources such as wind power, biomass etc. make nuclear power programme an important option for this country. However, Fukushima nuclear disaster immediately followed by German capping of nuclear programme, India’s nuclear power programme, in recent years, has turned into a controversial and debating issue. In this ungainly and retrograde circumstance it becomes compelling to seek an alternate, acceptable, safe and viable power generation mode. A geothermal power utilization programme fits in naturally to meet the prospective power demands of the country. Geothermal energy resource of the country has the capacity t...
The subject matter of earthquake prediction has been under the scanner of various research fields... more The subject matter of earthquake prediction has been under the scanner of various research fields for a fairly long time. Anomalous fluctuations of geochemical signals are well recognised worldwide as a promising short-term precursor of earthquakes. Pre-seismic sporadic emanations of helium and radon from sub-soil and hydrothermal gases have been observed by several investigators across the globe during the last three decades or more. The present paper deals with time series analysis obtained from data registered during the period of December 14, 2007 to January 18, 2008 through continuous, online, round the clock monitoring at a network of geochemical monitoring laboratories at diverse locations in India at (i) Bakreswar thermal spring site (230 52’30” N; 870 22’ 30” E), West Bengal, (ii) Tatta Pani thermal spring site (330 14’ 16”N, 740 24’ 43” E), Jammu & Kashmir and at Baratang mud volcano site (120 07’ 44” N; 920 47’ 29” E), Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Pronounced increase in the...
We are monitoring geochemical precursory signals for earthquake continuously since the last 8 yea... more We are monitoring geochemical precursory signals for earthquake continuously since the last 8 years and round the clock at three different field site laboratories in India. It is implicitly required that the multi-parametric data (helium, methane, radon etc. in hydrothermal gases and soil gases) from all the above three field stations, namely, Bakreswar thermal spring, WB; TattaPani thermal spring, J&K and Baratang mud volcano, A&N must be transferred and gathered concurrently at a common server computer to develop a data bank. With an aim to develop an automated network system having facilities of automatic data downloading from equipment, auto data transferring, auto graph generating and auto update, presently we along with Clematis Software Technologies, Kolkata are working on Earthquake Precursor Data Automation Software. As of now we have developed software for automatically accumulating various geochemical gas data obtained from the different instruments installed at these thr...
Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thund... more Investigations dealing with the forecasting techniques of natural calamities like cyclones, thunderstorms, floods, climate change, earthquakes and tsunamis have become an important research trend. Among these natural hazards, earthquakes and tsunamis are the most destructive, in terms of sudden loss of life and destruction of property. The present paper deals with the technique of short term earthquake precursor recognition using pre-seismic geochemical signal monitoring and the technique of nonlinear time series analysis. Continuous He and 222Rn along with gamma dose rate were monitored to detect pre-seismic signatures at the thermal spring at Tatta Pani, Jammu which falls in the north-western part of India in a high risk zone (Seismic Zone IV). Tatta Pani is located in a non-volcanic geothermal area that lies within the mountain folds of Jammu & Kashmir, situated in proximity to the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) of the Lesser Hi malayas. In this paper, we make a comparative study, of...
We present a brief review of the research work being carried out in India to detect and analyse g... more We present a brief review of the research work being carried out in India to detect and analyse geochemical precursors for earthquakes. Concentration changes of terrestrial helium, methane and radon-222 emanating from hydrothermal vents are monitored continuously and round the clock at three seismo-geochemical monitoring observatories. These field site laboratories were set up at different regions of the country having different geological settings to monitor the pre-seismic geochemical signatures. Several noteworthy geochemical anomalies were recorded over the past few years that occurred prior to some major earthquakes within India and its neighborhood. In this paper, we make a cross correlation study of geochemical time series data sets recorded at these observatories. We have applied nonlinear statistical techniques to the recorded geochemical data sets. The results show significant dissimilarity between time series data sets that were recorded during two geophysical states – se...
The Indian landmass has a unique geotectonic structure. It is sandwiched between two major tecton... more The Indian landmass has a unique geotectonic structure. It is sandwiched between two major tectonic plate boundaries, the Eurasian Plate in the north and the Indo-Australian Plate in the south. Besides, the country also sits on a number of major fault lines. As a result, all the five possible classified seismic zones, I through V, are present at different geographical locations of the country. With a main objective to detect precursory signals related to regional seismic occurrences, we have taken up simultaneous monitoring of the hourly concentration change in the radioactive gas 222Rn along with the light gas helium and associated hot spring / mud-volcano gases at three locations in different regions of the country. The paper describes experimental methods adopted for the online measurement of the stable gases along with radon at the field stations together with discussions on analytical techniques used in isolating and quantifying an observed anomaly to that of an earthquake occu...
The hot springs at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tatta Pani (Jammu & Kashmir) are surrounded by a f... more The hot springs at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tatta Pani (Jammu & Kashmir) are surrounded by a fractured network of conduits that supply geothermal fluids to these springs. Gases released along with hot waters from both these springs are known to be rich in helium as well as radon. The present work deals with the analysis of helium and radon time series data taken across several months in the hot spring as well as soil gases from these geothermal areas and their response to regional and trans-regional tectonic events. Moreover, a review of Indian scenario on helium and radon precursors for earthquakes is discussed. Extension of soil helium and radon study to the exploitation of geothermal energy and extraction possibility of large scale helium is highlighted as well
Earthquake prediction is a challenging and widely debated subject matter in the global scientific... more Earthquake prediction is a challenging and widely debated subject matter in the global scientific community. Although much progress has been made in many fields dealing with earthquake science over the last three decades, however, precise information regarding probable location, occurrence time, magnitude and intensity of an imminent earthquake is still lacking. Given the scenario, short term prediction methods involving several geophysical and geochemical techniques seem to have the inherent capacity to provide basic information to its success. In the present paper we describe our attempt to develop seismo-geochemical algorithm based on experimentally recorded continuous time series data (for the period 2005-2012) involving concentration changes in several geochemical parameters such as excess release of helium and radon in gases released from hot springs and mud volcanoes along with soil gases in different geothermal areas in India ahead of some regional and trans-regional earthqu...
Geothermal energy as a source of electricity draw attention of the scientists and engineers since... more Geothermal energy as a source of electricity draw attention of the scientists and engineers sinceearly twentieth century. The world's first geothermal power plant was setup in Larderello, Italy in 1904 and is still producing 920MW power. Geothermal energy is the heat from the earth's interior. The source of the heat is due to the decay of the radioactive nuclei having long half-life like uranium, thorium and potassium in addition to primordial heat source that originated during accretion process of the earth. Geothermal energy production capacity of the world in 2015 is around 12636 MW and that is contributed by 24 countries. However, the most unfortunate scenario is that there is no such power plant is India till the date even after drastic advancement made is the renewable energy programme of the country in the last 10-15 years. Geothermal energy scenario of India seems promising due to many factors such as existence of large number of hot springs (more than 300) in the country, no generation of by-products, negligible environmental impact etc. Recently NIT Durgapur has taken up a research project for the feasibility study for installation of a prototype Pilot Geothermal Power Plant at Bakreswar geothermal area, West Bengal. The area consists of a cluster of hot springs having temperature range of 42-72 0 C and with a characteristic of high heat flow rate ~ 230 MW/m 2 , high geothermal gradient ~90 0 C/Km. Recently, we have collected water samples and gas samples from various hot springs, bore well water, tube well water of the region & subsequently different analysis were performed. The result indicates that the temperature of the geothermal reservoir of Bakreswar may belong to 126-130 0 C by means of geothermometry. The entire study reveals that the said area is an ideal site for installation of prototype geothermal power plant.
Conference: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY- EXTENSION & OUTREACH, 2016
It is well recognized by different geophysical & geochemical techniques such as Audio Magnetutelu... more It is well recognized by different geophysical & geochemical techniques such as Audio Magnetuteluric survey, Magnetuteluric survey, geochemical survey that Bakreswar-Tantloi area is a potential geothermal province located in eastern part of India. We have estimated that reservoir temperature lies in the range of 126 0 C-139 0 C. In this paper we mostly discussed about different aspects on geothermal power plant technologies. Here we propose pilot scale Kalina cycle based binary power plant utilizing geothermal fluids (hot water) as hot fluid. A steam and gas separator will be used to separate the water and gas phase. Organic fluid of lower boiling temperature may be used as working fluid for the proposed binary cycle power plant. Our study shows that the Kalina cycle will be appropriate for power production from this low enthalpy geothermal system at Bakreswar. Here we have discussed in detailed about the Kalina cycle and proposed operational aspect of the power plant.
Geothermal power production is one of the key technology in generation of renewable and green ene... more Geothermal power production is one of the key technology in generation of renewable and green energy throughout the globe. However this field is still ignored in India. There are more than 300 hot springs in India and many of them are potential sites for development of geothermal power plant. Here we have focused our attention to explore some of the geothermal fields of India by various geophysical and geochemical methods. For the sake of investigation we have selected the hot spring site in West Bengal (Bakreswar). The technique of non-linear analysis of geochemical and geophysical time series data are often used in exploration of geothermal energy. The methodology for such exploration study includes online monitoring of terrestrial gas samples at potential target area (geothermal area) followed by some of linear and non-linear analysis of the recorded time series data. Different stable gases such as He, CH4, N2, CO2 etc. and radioactive gases such as 222 Rn were continuously (24X7) monitored for one year in hot spring emanations of the said geothermal area. The linear statistical approaches along with various nonlinear techniques such as FFT, multi-fractal etc. were applied to the recorded data set. The result shows high He and 222 Rn fluxes in this region along with variation of those due to various effect such as earth's tidal effect, tectonic activity. The entire analysis indicates that the above sites could be utilized as potential sources for geothermal power.
A great deal of interest and importance is currently being given to predicting the location and t... more A great deal of interest and importance is currently being given to predicting the location and time of large earthquakes, because of their potential to create sudden disasters at unexpected places. As growing populations keep expanding to previously uninhabited areas the need for earthquake prediction becomes more acute. Although much is known about where earthquakes are more likely to occur, there is as yet no reliable way to predict the days or months when an event will occur in any specific location. Earthquake magnitude and timing are controlled by a host of geological features that include the size of a fault segment or lineament, the rigidity and dynamic behavior of rocks and the amount of accumulated stress. These along with other local features add to the complexity of the task of predicting earthquakes. There are however several emerging ways that greatly assist in the task of observing earthquake precursors. Primarily among them are the geochemical study of terrestrial gas composition such as H 2 , He, CH 4 , Ar and 222 Rn changes through spring emanations or even soil air, or various geophysical techniques such as stress changes, change in soil electrical resistance, magnetic anomaly etc. Given the diversity and range of structural features of the earth, any one of the above mentioned techniques might not by itself suffice in coming to terms of the task required to reliably predict an earthquake. We discuss briefly some physical principles that underlie earthquake formation and some general techniques that are adopted for earthquake prediction, together with the geochemical monitoring work that is currently being carried out at the thermal springs at Bakreswar.
The present paper deals with the application of multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis techn... more The present paper deals with the application of multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis technique on soil radon-222 time series data recorded at Earthquake Precursory Observatory at TattaPani, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The earth being a complicated dynamic system composed of diverse rock types subjected to spatially varying stress patterns, understanding seismic activity-induced soil gas anomaly in such a complex scenario calls for using nonlinear statistical techniques. Therefore, we have adopted several multifractal parameters especially the generalised Hurst exponent, scaling exponent as well as the multifractal spectrum of the radon time series to the problem. A 2-month data (November 5 to December 31, 2012) on soil radon taken at 10-min interval show a wide variation from 2.34 to 58.99 kBq/m 3 with four prominent fluctuations ([mean ± 2r). The data consists of several nonlinear features such as fractal structures and long-range correlation. The observed nonlinear characteristics are pointed to seismic-induced physico-chemical instability within the earth's interior. The estimated local fluctuations or root mean square values greatly assist to distinguish the anomalous pattern present in the recorded time series data.
In this paper, our main focus is on the FFT analysis of the gamma dose rate data recorded at Tatt... more In this paper, our main focus is on the FFT analysis of the gamma dose rate data recorded at Tatta Pani Laboratory, J&K. There are few complex time series data sets whose time domain representation does not confirm of presence of small fluctuations and prominent seismic induced anomalies. However, if the same time series is being analyzed in the frequency domain by means of the periodogram of the data, a large number of information could be derived from the time series and also the small fluctuation and anomalies could be revealed. The temporal variations in gamma dose rate raw time series data and the moving average data along with the abnormal changes (>M+2σ; M is the average and σ is the standard deviation of the data set) had been observed. The periodogram shows the power spectrum of the original time series data.
The paper presents the technical knowhow to build an automation software approach for monitoring,... more The paper presents the technical knowhow to build an automation software approach for monitoring, recording, and real time analysis of earthquake precursory signals. Three laboratories in different locations such as Bakreswar hot spring site, West Bengal, Baratang mud volcano site, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Tattapani hot spring site, Jammu & Kashmir have been developed so far to detect earthquake precursory signals. The various instruments in each of the laboratories include Alpha Guard radon monitor, Micro-gas chromatograph, Barasol radon monitor. All of these instruments are connected through a serial interface (RS-232) to the local server computer installed at each of the laboratories. Here we discuss in detail about the software algorithm in which automatic data acquisition from the connected instruments to the local server computer and automatic transmission of the stored data to the main server computer installed at NIT-Durgapur is done in real time. A web interface to the main server computer is also made. Using this web interface, a particular instrument of a particular laboratory can be selected. Time period (start date to end date) of the data to be accessed could be chosen and real time analysis of the data can be done.
Radon 222, radon progeny, qamrna, and helium escaping from the hot springs at Bakreswar (23° 52' ... more Radon 222, radon progeny, qamrna, and helium escaping from the hot springs at Bakreswar (23° 52' 30" N; 87°02' 30" E), West Bengal, are monitored round the clock to observe concentration changes. The data transmitted from the field observatory through satellite using C-Band transponder to our Centre at Kolkata unfold two distinct patterns. A regular small undulation generated by diurnal strain changes due to earth tides is observed. Infrequently however anomalous large, positive as well as negative, swings are recorded that may easily correlate with regional earthquake occurrences. The paper describes details of the experimental setup at the monitoring station along with a few correlated seismic events and the mathematical modeling of the data set.
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Papers by Hirok Chaudhuri
There are few complex time series data sets whose time domain representation does not confirm of presence of small
fluctuations and prominent seismic induced anomalies. However, if the same time series is being analyzed in the
frequency domain by means of the periodogram of the data, a large number of information could be derived from the time
series and also the small fluctuation and anomalies could be revealed. The temporal variations in gamma dose rate raw
time series data and the moving average data along with the abnormal changes (>M+2σ; M is the average and σ is the
standard deviation of the data set) had been observed. The periodogram shows the power spectrum of the original time
series data.
There are few complex time series data sets whose time domain representation does not confirm of presence of small
fluctuations and prominent seismic induced anomalies. However, if the same time series is being analyzed in the
frequency domain by means of the periodogram of the data, a large number of information could be derived from the time
series and also the small fluctuation and anomalies could be revealed. The temporal variations in gamma dose rate raw
time series data and the moving average data along with the abnormal changes (>M+2σ; M is the average and σ is the
standard deviation of the data set) had been observed. The periodogram shows the power spectrum of the original time
series data.