‘energy within earth’

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

AKHIL KUMAR
6-EE-005
EEE
 WHAT IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY?

Word geothermal comes from greek words-

Geo (earth) & Thermal (heat)

 A renewable energy source because the

water is replenished by rainfall and the heat
is continuously produced inside the earth.

 Geothermal is number three of the

renewable energy sources in world
electrictity production after hydro and
biomass. It is followed by wind and solar
energy
 HOW IT IS PRODUCED?
 Geothermal energy is generated in the
earth's core, about 4,000 miles below
the surface. Temperatures hotter than
the sun's surface are continuously
produced inside the earth by the slow
decay of radioactive particles, a process
that happens in all rocks.

 Different layers are shown in adjacent

fig.

 earth's crust is broken into pieces called

plates.

 The temperature of the rocks and water

get hotter and hotter as you go deeper
underground.
DIFFERENT GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
SOURCES
 Hydrothermal convective Reservoirs:
• Vapour -dominated (dry steam fields)

• Liquid-dominated system(wet steam fields)

• Hot water fields

 Petro-thermal or Hot dry rocks

 Molten magma.

 Valcanoes .
WHERE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IS
FOUND?

 Geothermal energy can

sometimes find its way to
the surface in the form of:
 volcanoes and fumaroles
(holes where volcanic
gases are released)
 hot springs and
 geysers.

 Most of the geothermal

activity in the world occurs
in an area called the Ring of
Fire.
TYPES OF GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS
 Dry steam plants - use steam piped directly from a geothermal
reservoir to turn the generator turbines. The first geothermal power
plant was built in 1904 in Tuscany, Italy at a place where natural
steam was erupting from the earth.

 Flash steam plants - take high-pressure hot water from deep inside
the earth and convert it to steam to drive the generator turbines.
When the steam cools, it condenses to water and is injected back into
the ground to be used over and over again. Most geothermal power
plants are flash plants.

 Binary power plants - transfer the heat from geothermal hot water to
another liquid. The heat causes the second liquid to turn to steam
which is used to drive a generator turbine.
DRY STEAM PLANT
FLASH STEAM PLANT
BINARY CYCLE STEAM PLANT
GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS

 Geothermal power is generated

in over 20 countries around the
world including Iceland, United
States, Italy, Germany, Turkey,
France, The Netherlands,
Lithuania, New Zealand,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
Russia, Philippines, Indonesia,
People's Republic of China,
Japan and Saint Kitts and
Nevis. Chevron Corporation is
the world's largest producer of
geothermal energy.
USES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
 Direct use and district heating systems
which use hot water from springs or
reservoirs near the surface.
 Geothermal heat pumps use stable
ground or water temperatures near the
earth's surface to control building
temperatures above ground.
 Electricity generation in a power plant
requires water or steam at very high
temperature (300 to 700 degrees
Fahrenheit). Geothermal power plants are
generally built where geothermal
reservoirs are located within a mile or two
of the surface.
Geothermal

provinces

of India
 ADVANTAGES
 The heat source requires no purchase of fuel.

 Emissions of undesirable substances are small.

 Reduces reliance on fossil fuels and their inherent price

unpredictability.

 Useful minerals, such as zinc and silica, can be

extracted from underground water.

 Geothermal energy is “homegrown” . This will create

jobs, a better global trading position.
 DISADVANTAGES
 The geothermal fluid is corrosive, and worse, and thus
limits the efficiency of heat engines in extracting
useful energy as in the generation of electricity.

 Extracting large amount of water can cause land

subsidence, and this can lead to an increase in
seismic activity.

 There is the fear of noise pollution during the drilling

of wells.

 Brine can salinate soil if the water is not injected back

into the reserve after the heat is extracted.
END OF PRESENTATION

THANK YOU