SOLVED BOARD PROBLEMS

in
GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT

ME Board Problem – April 1981

In a geothermal power plant, the mass flow rate of ground water is 400 kg/s and the quality
after throttling is 20%. If the turbine power is 80 MW, what is the change in enthalpy of steam at the
inlet and outlet of the turbine?

Solution:
 s  h3  h 4 
Wt  m
Wt  m
 s h
Solving for ms :


ms  xmg  0.20 400 kg
s   80 kg s
kJ
Wt 80, 000 s  1, 000 kJ
thus, h  
kg
ms 80 kg
s
Answer: h = 1,000 kJ/ kg

ME Board Problem – April 1981

A flashed steam geothermal plant has pressurized underground water available at 102 kg/cm 2
and 240 C. In order to produce steam-water mixture, the ground water is passed and throttled to 5.4
kg/cm2 in a steam separator. The dry steam produced in the separator is fed to double flow impulse and
reaction turbine with guaranteed engine efficiency of 85%. The turbine is directly coupled to a 3 phase,
60 Hz, 80% power factor, 13,800V air-cooled generator. Exhaust is to be direct-contact spray type
main condenser designed to operate a vacuum of 647.5 mm of Hg. Generator efficiency is 95%,
ground water is 459 kg/s. What is the enthalpy of steam-water mixture in the steam separator?

Solution:
At P1 = 102 kg/cm2 (10 Mpa) and at t1 = 240 C

From steam table, h1 = 1038.10 kJ/kg Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, what is the enthalpy of steam entering the turbine?
Solution:
At P3 = P2 = 5.4 kg/cm2 (0.53 Mpa)
h3 = hg = 2751.3 kJ/kg

thus, hentering = 2751.3 kJ/kg Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, what is the enthalpy of the exhaust steam?

Solution:
At P4 = – 647.5 mm Hg + 760 mmm Hg = 112.5 mm Hg = 0.015 MPa
hf = 225.94 kJ/kg
hfg = 2373.1 kJ/kg
Sf = 0.7549 kJ/kg
Sfg = 7.2536 kJ/kg

At P3 = P2 = 0.53 MPa
S1 = Sg = 6.8017 kJ/kg
S3 – S4 = Sf + xSfg
6.8017 = 0.7549 + x4 (7.2536)
x4 = 0.8336
h4 = hf + x4hfg
h4 = 225.94 + 0.8336 (2373.1) = 2204.15 kJ/kg

thus, h4 = 2204.15 kJ/kg Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, what is the mass flow rate of steam entering the
turbine?

Solution:
At P2 = 5.4 kg/cm2 (0.53 Mpa)
hf = 649.78 kJ/kg
hfg = 2101.5 kJ/kg
h1 = h2 = hf + x4hfg
1038.1 = 649.78 + x2 (2101.5)
x2 = 0.1848
 ms = x2 mg
= 0.1848 (459.33) = 84.88 kg/s

thus, ms = 84.88 kg/s Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, what is the actual power generated by the plant in MW?

Solution:
Power Output = ms ( h3 – h4 ) ( t  gen )
Power Output = 84.88 (2751.3 – 2204.15) (0.85  0.95)
Power Output = 37,501.98 kW

Thus, Power Output = 37.50 MW Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, what is the apparent power developed by the generator
in KVA?

Solution: Apparent,
Reactive,
KVA
KVAR
Power Output
Apparent Power = Power
Power Factor
Output
37501.98
Apparent Power =  46,877.475 KVA
0.80

Thus, Apparent Power = 46,877.475 KVA Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, how many cubic meter per hour of fresh water that must
be supplied to the main condenser if water from cooling tower enters the condenser at 35 C and leaves
at 48 C?
Solution:
By heat balance,
QR = Qw
ms (h4 – h5 ) = mw Cpw tw

At P4 = P5 = 0.015 Mpa
h5 = 225.94 kJ/kg

84.88 (2204.15 – 225.94) = mw (4.187) (48 – 35)

mw = 3084.83 kg/s = 11,105,393.49 kg/hr

m w 11,105,393.49
w    11,105.393 m3 hr
w 1000

thus, w = 11,105.393 m3/hr Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, how many production wells are needed to supply the
plant with pressurized water if each well has a capacity of 127,200 kg/hr?

Solution:
mass of the groundwater 459.33  3600  kg hr
No. of wells =   13 wells
capacity of each well 127, 200 kg hr-well

No. of wells = 13 wells Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

Based on the data in previous problem, determine the thermal efficiency of the geothermal
plant.

Solution:
turbine output 37,501.98
plant =   0.0786
m f h1  459.33  1038.1

thus, plant = 7.86 % Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1981

In a certain geothermal area, studies show that 1,500,000 kg/hr of pressurized groundwater is
available at 2500 psia and 620 F. The water will be throttled to 250 psia to produce wet steam and this
mixture will be passed through a water separator to remove the water droplets so that saturated steam
at 250 psia is available at the entrance of steam turbine for the proposed power plant. Other data are as
follows:
Discharge pressure of turbine : 25 in Hg vacuum
Turbine engine efficiency : 75%
Mechanical loss : 1.5% of shaft power
Generator efficiency : 97%

Assume atmospheric pressure to be 30 in Hg. Determine the maximum amount of power in kW

that the plant can generate.

Solution:
At 2500 psi (17.232 MPa) and 620F (326.667 C)
h1 = 1490.0 kJ/kg

At 250 psi (1.7232 MPa)

h1 = 875 kJ/kg
hfg = 1921 kJ/kg
h3 = hfg @ 1.7232 MPa = 2796 kJ/kg

h1 = hf + x2hfg
1490.9 = 875 + x2(1921)
x2 = 0.3206
ms = x2mg
= 0.3206 (1,500,000)
= 480,915 kg/hr

P4 = 30 – 25 = 5 in Hg
= 0.016932 MPa

From Mollier Chart:

h4 = 2085 kJ/kg

then,
 480,915 
Shaft Power =    2796  2085   1  0.015   0.75   70,167 kW
 3600 
Thus, Plant Output = 70,167 kW (0.97) = 68,062 kW

Plant Output = 68.06 MW Answer

ME Board Problem – April 1988

A flashed steam geothermal power plant is located where the underground hot water is
available as saturated liquid at 700 kPa. The well head pressure is 600 kPa. The flashed steam enters a
turbine at 500 kPa and expands to 15 kPa when it is condensed. The flow rate from the well is 29.6
kg/s. Determine the power produced in kW.

Solution: