GEO 903 Technology leads geothermal

plant to reduce costs and environmental

impacts

CASE STUDY – POWER

CH-1556
An Ecolab Company

BACKGROUND and Guatemala (49.5MWH) that also

Geothermal energy continues to be a continue with projects for exploration
growing trend due to its sustainability and generation.
impact in not using fossils fuels The geothermal fluids are extracted
and the resulting lower impact on through wells with depths as long
emissions to the environment. as 2,000 meters, which have
Because developing economies in chemical characteristics with high
Central America must import fuels scale potential, principally silica and
and due to the geothermal potential in calcite. If not well managed, these
the region’s geography, there is a high species will form deposits on the
incentive to invest in these types of internal parts of the wells and/or in
plants. Countries like Costa Rica and the outside heads. These conditions
El Salvador, for example, have about disminish steam production and affect
24% (204 MWH) and 12% (167 MWH), MWH generation to the point that
respectively, of their generation the well can collapse, affecting plant
matrix based on geothermal energy, availability and increasing total cost of
in addition to Nicaragua (87 MWH) operation.

Geothermal Power Plant Diagram

e ROI
SM

Environmental Indicators Economic Results

Reduction or energy purchasing to Savings for US$11.9 millons/year

third parties equivalent to 21 MWH avoiding production losses and
electricity sales.
ENERGY

Reduction of 114,055 ton/yr CO2. Annual greenhouse gas emissions

from 21,556 passenger vehicles
AIR

Reduccion in the hazardous US$500,000 each well

chemical usage and cleaning costs
of the wells
EARTH

Nalco reports eROI outcomes to consistently communicate sustainable business value with environmental results along with
performance and total cost of operational impact.
SITUATION Table 1
A geothermal field in Central America
has production wells with chemistry
that has scale characteristics for
calcite reaching Saturation Indixes
(I.S.) of 36.6 or higher. This condition
demands the use of a scale inhibitor
to avoid the reduction of steam
production and generation losses, in
addition to the high cost associated
with the cleaning and maintenance of
the well.

During commissioning, the plant

reported losses associated with scale
just 10 days after the startup of the
production well with an impact in
the electricity generation of about
21 MWH, in addition to costs related
to the chemical cleaning of the well.

SOLUTION
The customer requested a solution
from Nalco that would optimize
operation and production of the
production wells without affecting Well#1#1Production
Pozo Production (Dosis
(DosisHP1340
HP1340= 2-3
= ppm)
2-3 ppm)
operating costs.

Based on experience at others

geothermal fields, Nalco recom-
mended the application of a high-
purity polimeric dispersant to
prevent deposits and scale of calcium
carbonate and to disperse suspend
solids. The proposed dosage to start
was 2-3 ppm based on the total flow. Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
The monitoring program and calcite Flow Kg/s
inhibition evaluation established a
calcium transport base line relative
to the transport of a non-scale
element (i.e. Chlorides) without outlet and monitored the following As observed in the graphic below for
inhibitor, and based in the production chemical parameters: calcium, well #1, the production (Kg/s) and the
well data. chlorides, bicarbonates, pH and calcite transport were maintained
CO2 in vapor phase. The team also in control for approximately 5
The team then started with the months without any alteration in
measured operational parameters
chemical feed sampling at the well the availability and efficiency of the
such as pressure, temperature and
flow. electricity generation unit.
RESULTS Table 2 – Calcite Inhibitor Application in Production Wells
Return on Inventments
By implementing the correct
chemical program and implementing Description Estimated Production Annual Valuel @ US$65/MWH
a monitoring program coordinated
Production 4 wells with
and managed by the plant staff, it inhibitor 21 MWH $ 11.8 MM
was possible to operate the four
Potential Savings Cleaning & well Maintenance Total Cost
production wells at this geothermal
plant at base capacity while US$500K each US$ 2 MM
maintaining such Key Performance
Indicators as availability, capacity  

factor and efficiency at desired

values.

The Table 2 summarizes the savings

calculated due to the prevention of
scale and wells slowdown production
at this geothermal plant:

Nalco, an Ecolab Company

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