GEOTHERMAL Power Plant

3
Geothermal Power Plant

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the session, students should be able to:

1. Discuss different types of geothermal power plants;

2. Perform cycle analysis; and
3. Calculate performance of Flashed-Steam Geothermal Power Plant
Geothermal Power Plant
What is Geothermal Power Plant?

• Geothermal power plants use hydrothermal resources

that have both water (hydro) and heat (thermal).
• Geothermal power plants require high-temperature
(300°F to 700°F) hydrothermal resources that come
from either dry steam wells or from hot water wells.
• The hot water or steam powers a turbine that
generates electricity. Some geothermal wells are as
much as two miles deep.

Types of Geothermal Plants:

1. Dry or superheated Geothermal Power Plant
2. Flash Steam Power Plant
3. Binary Cycle Power Plant
Geothermal Power Plant
Dry or superheated Geothermal Power Plant

• Dry steam plants are the most common types of

geothermal power plants, accounting for about half of
the installed geothermal plants.
• They work by piping hot steam from underground
reservoirs directly into turbines from geothermal
reservoirs, which power the generators to provide
electricity.
• After powering the turbines, the steam condenses into
water and is piped back into the earth via the injection
well.
Geothermal Power Plant
Flash Steam Power Plant

• Flash steam plants differ from dry steam because they

pump hot water, rather than steam, directly to the
surface. These flash steam plants pump hot water at a
high pressure from below the earth into a “flash tank”
on the surface.

• The flash tank is at a much lower temperature, causing

the fluid to quickly “flash” into steam. The steam
produced powers the turbines.

• The steam is cooled and condenses into water, where

it is pumped back into the ground through the injection
well.
Geothermal Power Plant
Binary Cycle Power Plant

• In these binary cycle plants, the main difference is that

the water or steam from below the earth never comes
in direct contact with the turbines. Instead, water from
geothermal reservoirs is pumped through a heat
exchanger where it heats a second liquid—like
isobutene (which boils at a lower temperature than
water.)

• This second liquid is heated into steam, which powers

the turbines that drives a generator. The hot water from
the earth is recycled into the earth through the injection
well, and the second liquid is recycled through the
turbine and back into the heat exchanger where it can
be used again.
Geothermal Power Plant
Performance of Flashed-Steam
Geothermal Plant

• mg - mass flow rate of ground water

• ms - mass flow rate of steam entering the turbine

1. Throttling process (1-2)

𝐡𝟏 = 𝐡𝟐 = 𝐡𝐟 + 𝐱𝐡𝐟𝐠
𝟐
Where: x – quality after throttling

2. Mass flow rate of steam entering the turbine

𝐦𝐬 = 𝐱𝐦𝐠

3. Turbine Output = 𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝟑 − 𝒉𝟒 𝒏𝑻

where: 𝑛 𝑇 - turbine efficiency

4. Generator Output = 𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝟑 − 𝒉𝟒 𝒏𝑻 𝒏𝒆

where: 𝑛𝑒 - generator efficiency

Geothermal Power Plant
Performance of Flashed-Steam
Geothermal Plant
5. Heat Rejected in the Condenser = 𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝟒 − 𝒉𝟓

𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐮𝐭
6. Overall Plant Efficiency = 𝐦𝐠 𝐡𝟏
Geothermal Power Plant
Example Problem:

A liquid dominated geothermal plant with a single flash separator receives water at 204℃. The separator pressure
is 1.04 MPa. A direct contact condenser operates at 0.034 MPa. The turbine has a polytropic efficiency of 0.75.
For a cycle output of 50 MW, what is the mass flow rate of the well-water in kg/s?
Geothermal Power Plant
Example Problem:

A liquid dominated geothermal plant with a single flash separator receives water at 204℃. The separator pressure
is 1.04 MPa. A direct contact condenser operates at 0.034 MPa. The turbine has a polytropic efficiency of 0.75.
For a cycle output of 50 MW, what is the mass flow rate of the well-water in kg/s?