6
Double-Flash Steam Power Plants 125

Fig. 6.15 Silica condition after flash processes [9].

the amount of supersaturation being 214 ppm. Thus, the fluid is prepared to lose that
amount of silica as soon as precipitation commences.
The line c-d shows the increase in concentration of silica in the brine as it
undergoes a 1-stage flash process from 225 C to 137.5 C. The latter temperature
is the separation temperature found from the “equal-temperature-split” rule for an
optimum single-flash plant with a 50 C condenser. Since point d lies below point g,
the solution is in equilibrium respect to amorphous silica, and no precipitation
would be expected.
In general, the hotter the resource, the higher the silica concentration in the incom-
ing geofluid, the greater the supersaturation in the waste brine, from either type of
flash plant, and the greater the likelihood of precipitation in the flash vessel, in the
piping leading to the injection wells, in the injection wells, or in the formation. A more
thorough treatment of this subject can be found in Ref. [9].
One last comment on this phenomenon: The potential for silica precipitation is
mitigated to some degree when binary plants are used (see Chap. 8) because the
geofluid is not flashed, but only cooled. Thus, there is no increase in the concentration
of the silica as the fluid passes through the plant. With reference to Fig. 6.15, the
geofluid follows a horizontal line from right to left in a binary plant, which tends
to keep the fluid in the safe region below the amorphous silica equilibrium curve. In
comparison to a flash plant, this allows the geofluid to be cooled to a lower temperature
before silica precipitation can occur.

6.7 Environmental aspects for double-flash plants

Double-flash plants have the same potential environmental impacts as single-flash
plant that were described in Sect. 5.7. In the matter of water pollution, the waste