Cálculo del Gradiente Geotérmico Usando el Método de Volúmenes Finitos

Abstract

The analysis of the geothermal gradient allows to appreciate the variation of the temperature with respect to the depth in the Earth's crust. Which is a topic of great importance because it is used to calculate geothermal energy, a topic that is being used in many countries in order to solve the energy problems they present. In this work the partial differential equation (EDP) that governs heat conduction in the earth is solved. The technique used to solve said EDP is based on the finite volume method (MVF), which is an alternative technique to that of differences and finite elements. To use this method it is necessary to consider a discretization mesh of the space or object to be analyzed. Then at each point of this mesh a control volume is constructed that does not overlap with those of neighboring points. In this way the total volume of the object turns out to be equal to the sum of the considered control volumes. It is important to emphasize that the main property of the solution of the system of equations resulting from discretization is that it satisfies exactly the conservation equations considered, regardless of the size of the mesh.