Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
GEOTHERMAL
POWER PLANT
Prepared by:
November 27 2018
I. Introduction
Geothermal power plants are used in order to generate electricity by the use of geothermal
energy (the Earth's internal thermal energy). They essentially work the same as a coal
or nuclear power plant the main difference being the heat source.
Geothermal heat originates from Earth’s fiery consolidation of dust and gas over 4 billion
years ago. At earth core – 4,000 miles deep – temperatures may reach over 9,000 degrees F.
Geothermal energy is
the energy stored in
the form of heat
beneath the earth's
surface.
History
The world’s first Geothermal power station (made by Prince Piero Ginori Conti) was built
in 1911 in Larderello, in Southern Tuscany, Italy. Since Roman times steam and hot water
springs emerging from this geologically active ground has been used for hot water and for
bathing.
In 1904 emerging steam was used to turn a small turbine which in turn powered four
light bulbs – the first ever demonstration of geothermal electricity generation. In 1911
the Valle del Diavolo (Devil’s Valley) was chosen as the site of what would remain the
world’s only geothermal power station for almost half a century. By 1913 a 250kW power
station had been built which provided power for the Italian electric railway system.
II. Principles
In flash steam power plant, high pressure hot water from deep inside the earth is taken
out and collected in a steam separator. This high pressure hot water comes to the surface
by its own and its pressure keeps on
decreases as it moves upward, this
allows hot water to gets converter into
steam. Steam gets separated in steam
separator, and allowed to turn the
turbine generator. When the steam
cools, it is again injected back into the
earth surface to be used again.
Nowadays most of the geothermal
power plants used are of flash steam
plants. This power plant requires a
temperature of atleast 180 degree
Celsius for its operation.
Principles:
Then the steam now, make to the surface of the earth, due to high pressure.
(Geothermal power plants that uses steam only were dry steam power plant)
Other geothermal power plants seeps out both steam at the superheated fluid form
the earth with the help of production wells, this steam and fluid is collected to spin
the turbine which we attach a generator.
The steam spins the turbine, and the turbine spins the generator creating electricity,
which will be step up for the power distribution.
Speaking in simple term it's all in the process of water heating and its transfer to
steam which can be then used to drive a turbo-generator that generates electricity or
this steam passes through heat exchangers and heats water creating necessary heat
for central heating of households and industrial facilities.
1. Hydrothermal/Geothermal resources: It is a source which has both heat and water. In the
earth crust we have both water and heat (magma).
2. Dry or hot water wells: These are the wells through which the dry steam and hot water
from the earth is taken out. If dry steam is taken out than it is called as dry steam well and if
hot water is taken out through it than it is called as hot water well.
3. Steam Separator: It is a separating device which is used to separate steam from hot
water.
4. Turbine: It is rotating device which converts the kinetic energy of the fast moving steam
into rotational energy (i.e. Mechanical energy).
5. Generator: It is coupled to the turbine shaft and converts mechanical energy of the
turbine into electrical energy.
6. Steam Condenser: It condenses the exhaust steam from the turbine and changes it to
water.
7. Injection Well: It is the well which is drilled in the earth to inject the condensed water
again into the earth crust.
Geopressured Systems
Geopressured geothermal resources consist of hot brine, saturated with methane, found
in large, deep aquifers under high pressure. The water and methane are trapped in
sedimentary formations at a depth of about 3 km to 6 km, and the temperature of the
water is in the range of 90C to 200C. Three forms of energy can be obtained from
geopressured resources: thermal energy, hydraulic energy from the high pressure, and
chemical energy from burning the dissolved methane gas. The major region of
geopressured reservoirs discovered to date is in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Magma Energy
Magma, the largest geothermal resource, is molten rock found at depths of 3 km to10 km
and deeper. It has a temperature that ranges from 700C to 1,200C. The concept of using
this heat source theorizes that thermal energy contained in magmatic systems could
represent a huge potential resource of energy. In the U.S., for example, useful energy
contained in molten and partially molten magma within the upper 10 km of Earth’s crust
has been estimated at 5 to 50 x 10 to the 22 power J (50,000 to 500,000 quads). This
technology is far from becoming commercially viably, however, says Sanyal. Not only is it
extremely localized, but it also poses a host of technical challenges, including developing
drilling and completion techniques as well as developing a technology for extracting heat
from magma.
Hydrothermal (or hot water) resources arise when hot water and/or steam is formed in
fractured or porous rock at shallow-to-moderate depths (100 m to 4.5 km) as a result of
either the intrusion in the earth’s crust of molten magma from the planet’s interior or the
deep circulation of water through a fault or fracture. High-temperature hydrothermal
resources (with temperatures from 180C to over 350C) are usually heated by hot molten
rock. Low-temperature resources (with temperatures from 100C to 180C) can be
produced by either process.
Many sedimentary formations, including some that contain oil or gas, may be hot enough
to serve as commercial geothermal reservoirs. Though no fracturing will be needed for
this commercially unproven technology, it may require deeply drilled wells. Sanyal
believes that this system could be commercially feasible if reservoir flow and capacity
and temperature are high enough.
Oil and Gas Field Waters
Hot water produced with deep drilling for oil or gas or from depleted oil/gas wells is being
used more and more. But though it poses few technical challenges, the power cost using
this process may not always be attractive.
VI. References
Biggest Power Plants in the Philippines
The Geysers Geothermal Complex located about 121km north of San Francisco, California, is comprised
of 18 power plants making it the biggest geothermal installation in the world. The complex has an
installed capacity of 1,517MW and active production capacity of 900MW.
Calpine owns 15 power plants in the complex, with a combined net generating capacity of about
725MW, while two power plants are jointly owned by Northern California Power Agency and Silicon
Valley Power, plus US Renewables Group, which owns the Bottle Rock Power plant. Ram Power is
constructing a new 26MW geothermal power plant at the complex.
The complex covers an area of approximately 78km². Production from the geothermal field commenced
in 1960 and reached its peak in the 1980s. The turbine suppliers for the power plants in the complex
include Toshiba and Mitsubishi Steam.