GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal energy has been used for thousands of years in some countries for cooking
and heating. It is simply power derived from the Earth's internal heat. This thermal
energy is contained in the rock and fluids beneath Earth's crust. It can be found from
shallow ground to several miles below the surface, and even farther down to the extremely
hot molten rock called magma.
These underground reservoirs of steam and hot water can be tapped to generate
electricity or to heat and cool buildings directly.
A geothermal heat pump system can take advantage of the constant temperature of the
upper ten feet (three meters) of the Earth's surface to heat a home in the winter, while
extracting heat from the building and transferring it back to the relatively cooler ground in
the summer.
Geothermal water from deeper in the Earth can be used directly for heating homes and
offices, or for growing plants in greenhouses. Some U.S. cities pipe geothermal hot water
under roads and sidewalks to melt snow.
To produce geothermal-generated electricity, wells, sometimes a mile (1.6 km) deep or
more, are drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that drive
turbines linked to electricity generators. The first geothermally generated electricity was
produced in Larderello, Italy, in 1904.
The cross-section of the earth’s interior is subdivided into An inner core,
Outer core, Mantle, Crust.

The source of heat energy is radioactive decay and the crust of the earth
acts as a thermal insulator to prevent heat from escaping to space.
We can capture geothermal energy through:
Geothermal power plants, which use heat from deep inside the Earth to generate
steam to make electricity.
Geothermal heat pumps, which tap into heat close to the Earth's surface to heat water
or provide heat for buildings.
At a geothermal power plant, wells are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the Earth to pump
steam or hot water to the surface. You're most likely to find one of these power plants in
an area that has a lot of hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity, because these are
places where the Earth is particularly hot just below the surface.
Hot water is pumped from deep underground
through a well under high pressure.
 
When the water reaches the surface, the
pressure is dropped, which causes the water to
turn into steam.
The steam spins a turbine, which is
connected to a generator that produces
electricity.
The steam cools off in a cooling tower and
condenses back to water.
The cooled water is pumped back into the
Earth to begin the process again.
 At a Geothermal heat pumps, heat pumps can do heating and cooling homes to warming
swimming pools. These systems transfer heat by pumping water or a refrigerant (a special type
of fluid) through pipes just below the Earth's surface, where the temperature is a constant 50 to
60°F.
During the winter, the water or refrigerant absorbs warmth from the Earth, and the pump brings
this heat to the building above. In the summer, some heat pumps can run in reverse and help
cool buildings.
Water or a refrigerant moves through a loop of
pipes.
When the weather is cold, the water or
refrigerant heats up as it travels through the part
of the loop that's buried underground.
Once it gets back above ground, the warmed
water or refrigerant transfers heat into the
building.
The water or refrigerant cools down after its
heat is transferred. It is pumped back underground
where it heats up once more, starting the process
again.
On a hot day, the system can run in reverse. The
water or refrigerant cools the building and then is
pumped underground where extra heat is
transferred to the ground around the pipes.
There are three basic types of geothermal power plants:
a) Dry steam plants b) Flash steam plants and c) Binary cycle power plants.
a) Dry steam plants, the oldest geothermal technology, takes steam out of fractures in the
ground and uses it to directly drive the generator turbines, where natural steam erupted from
the Earth.

Block Diagram of a Geothermal Plants

b) Flash steam plants:
It 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 steam plants.
c) Binary cycle power plants
It transfer the heat from geothermal hot
water to a secondary fluid which is lower
boiling point than water. This causes the
secondary fluid to turn to vapor, which
then drives a turbine. Most geothermal
power plants in the future will be binary
plants.
Geothermal Temperature
The uses to which these resources are applied are also influenced by
temperature. The highest temperature resources are generally used only for
electric power generation. Current U.S. geothermal electric power generation
totals approximately 3,442 MW or about the same as five large nuclear power
plants.
The average temperature gradient for planet Earth is 20 ℃ (68 ℉) per
kilometre. However, there are many areas around the world where the gradient
is higher, the temperature increases at a faster rate with depth below the
ground.
With a temperature gradient of between 50 and 100 ℃ geothermal resources
are more readily accessible.
Above 20 ℃ (68 ℉) geothermal waters can be used for direct uses like
greenhouses, aquaculture and district heating.
Above 75 ℃ (167 ℉) the water is hot enough to be used for electricity
generation using binary cycle technology.
Above 160 ℃ (320 ℉) flash steam generation can be used to produce
clean, renewable electricity.
With better drilling technology geothermal resources at greater depth and
temperature can be reached.
There are many advantages of geothermal energy:
It can be extracted without burning a fossil fuel such as coal, gas, or oil.
Geothermal fields produce only about one-sixth of the carbon dioxide that a
relatively clean natural-gas-fuelled power plant produces.
Binary plants release essentially no emissions.
Unlike solar and wind energy, geothermal energy is always available, 365 days a
year.
It's also relatively inexpensive; savings from direct use can be as much as 80
percent over fossil fuels.
There are some disadvantages of geothermal energy:
It has some environmental problems. The main concern is the release of
hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten egg at low concentrations.
Another concern is the disposal of some geothermal fluids, which may contain
low levels of toxic materials.
Although geothermal sites are capable of providing heat for many decades,
eventually specific locations may cool down.
Available Geo thermal plant in Ethiopia:
Ethiopia is planning to build geothermal plants to offset restraints on power
production by hydroplants due to seasonal water variation.
American-Icelandic company Reykjavik Geothermal has an agreement to
develop a 1000 MW geothermal farm. The first 500 MW would be completed by
2018.
The following are three projects that the Ethiopian government wishes to
implement:
Project 1: Tendaho Geothermal Resource Development
Project 2: Aluto - langano geothermal pilot power plant rehabilitation and development
Project 3: Surface exploration in five geothermal prospects (corbetti, abaya, tulu
moye, dofan and fantale) and development of two selected geothermal fields