CHAPTER 1

Introduction
The Philippines lies in the volcanic belt known as the Pacific rim of fire. A considerable
number of high quality geothermal resources can be found in the country. The
abundance of geothermal energy in the country makes it the most promising among the
indigenous sources of energy.
In today’s world the main focus is on the issue of climate change resulted out of the
deliberating pollution caused by conventional fossil fuels based power plants. Therefore,
the developed countries and developing countries are giving attention towards reduction
of production of electricity by coal, gas etc. as much as possible and to produce
electricity by renewable and green energy resources. Eco-friendly power generation
techniques stand as a challenge in front of the scientific community of the world. It is to
be noted that geothermal energy is an excellent example of renewable energy and can
be a promising source of electricity generation. Geothermal energy is a clean and green
energy technology. Many countries throughout the globe already developed geothermal
power plant. Geothermal energy is the natural heat of the earth’s interior. This energy is
produced from decay of radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium, potassium etc.
which are stored in the rock structure of the earth’s crust. Geothermal resources can be
divided into four types: hydrothermal, geo pressured, hot dry rock, and magma. Except
for geothermal (or ground-source) heat pumps, which utilize the heat contained in
shallow soil, all existing uses of geothermal energy make use of hydrothermal
resources, which consist of some combination of hot water and steam located in
permeable rock.
In 2018, data shows that the installed geothermal energy capacity worldwide is
14601.3452 megawatts (MW) in 2018, while in the Philippines stood at about 1927.9
MW in 2018, occupying third spot in the list of countries leading the way in geothermal
capabilities. It is home to major geothermal power plants that include Makban
Geothermal Complex and Tiwi Geothermal Complex, which have capacities of 458MW
and 289MW respectively. In Asia Pacific, the total installed geothermal capacity is
5487.6 megawatts.
The government embarked on a comprehensive energy development programme to
reduce the impact of the Greenhouse gases (GHG) and harmful chemical in the
atmosphere. They launched this strategic programme to make the country self-reliant in
its energy requirements .In line with this plan, the government expanded its thrust on
the exploration and development of indigenous energy resources. The Leyte
geothermal power project is the largest geothermal development undertaken in the
Philippines. It involves the commissioning of 600MWe of power plant in the Mahiao,
Malitbog and Mahanagdong sectors at Tongonan, split over three staged phases of
development.
The Philippines may be one of the pioneers and in the forefront of world geothermal
energy production.
 CHAPTER 2
Energy Analysis
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal
energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. The geothermal energy
of the Earth's crust originates from the original formation of the planet and from
radioactive decay of materials.

2.1 Uses of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy use can be divided into three categories: direct-use applications,
geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), and electric power generation.

2.1.1 Direct Use

Probably the most widely used set of applications involves the direct use of heated
water from the ground without the need for any specialized equipment. All direct-use
applications make use of low-temperature geothermal resources, which range between
about 50 and 150 °C (122 and 302 °F). Such low-temperature geothermal water and
steam have been used to warm single buildings, as well as whole districts where
numerous buildings are heated from a central supply source. In addition, many
swimming pools, balneological (therapeutic) facilities at spas, greenhouses, and
aquaculture ponds around the world have been heated with geothermal resources.
Other direct uses of geothermal energy include cooking, industrial applications (such as
drying fruit, vegetables, and timber), milk pasteurization, and large-scale snow melting.
For many of those activities, hot water is often used directly in the heating system, or it
may be used in conjunction with a heat exchanger, which transfers heat when there are
problematic minerals and gases such as hydrogen sulfide mixed in with the fluid.
2.1.2 Geothermal Heat Pumps
Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) take advantage of the relatively stable moderate
temperature conditions that occur within the first 300 metres (1,000 feet) of the surface
to heat buildings in the winter and cool them in the summer. In that part of the
lithosphere, rocks and groundwater occur at temperatures between 5 and 30 °C (41 and
86 °F). At shallower depths, where most GHPs are found, such as within 6 metres
(about 20 feet) of Earth’s surface, the temperature of the ground maintains a near-
constant temperature of 10 to 16 °C (50 to 60 °F). Consequently, that heat can be used
to help warm buildings during the colder months of the year when the air temperature
falls below that of the ground. Similarly, during the warmer months of the year, warm air
can be drawn from a building and circulated underground, where it loses much of its
heat and is returned.
2.1.3 Electric Power Generation
Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) take advantage of the relatively stable moderate
temperature conditions that occur within the first 300 metres (1,000 feet) of the surface
to heat buildings in the winter and cool them in the summer. In that part of the
lithosphere, rocks and groundwater occur at temperatures between 5 and 30 °C (41 and
86 °F). At shallower depths, where most GHPs are found, such as within 6 metres
(about 20 feet) of Earth’s surface, the temperature of the ground maintains a near-
constant temperature of 10 to 16 °C (50 to 60 °F). Consequently, that heat can be used
to help warm buildings during the colder months of the year when the air temperature
falls below that of the ground. Similarly, during the warmer months of the year, warm air
can be drawn from a building and circulated underground, where it loses much of its
heat and is returned.
In flash steam power plants, pressurized high-temperature water is drawn from beneath
the surface into containers at the surface, called flash tanks, where the sudden
decrease in pressure causes the liquid water to “flash,” or vaporize, into steam. The
steam is then used to power the turbine-generator set. In contrast, binary-cycle power
plants use steam driven off a secondary working fluid (such as ammonia and
hydrocarbons) contained within a closed loop of pipes to power the turbine-generator
set. In this process, geothermally heated water is drawn up through a different set of
pipes, and much of the energy stored in the heated water is transferred to the working
fluid through a heat exchanger. The working fluid then vaporizes. After the vapour from
the working fluid passes through the turbine, it is recondensed and piped back to the
heat exchanger.

2.2 Malitbog Geothermal Power Station

The Malitbog Geothermal Power Station is a 232.5 MW geothermal power plant or an
earth steam turbined electric generator--the world's largest geothermal power plant
under one roof located in Malitbog, Kananga, Leyte, Philippines. The power plant is one
of four operating in the Leyte Geothermal Production Field. The power plants serve 10
million households in the Visayas with an average of 160 kiloWatthour per Household of
3 per month. The other 7 million is served by the Panlipin-on Geothermal Power of 100
Megawatts.

The chemical results of the discharge fluids of nine deep wells in the Mahiao (1121 to
1942 m) and one in the Malitbog area (ME-I , 1665 m) are shown in Table 1 . The
discharge enthalpy was calculated from a measurement of the critical lip pressure and
the water discharge at atmospheric pressure (James 1970) taken on the day of
sampling.

Table 1.
Chemical Composition of the deep well fluids at Tongonan , Leyte
Where:
h* : discharge enthalphy
SP : sampling pressure
1 : undifferentiated residual gases
2 : total carbonates
-: analysis not available
Table 2. shows the calculated geothermometry temperatures of the deep fluid in nine
deep wells in the Mahiao and one in the Malitbog areas.

Table 2.

2.3 Summary of the fuel analysis

The Tongonan,Leyte ‘s geothermal fluid is suitable to run a Geothermal Power plant. All
the properties are in accordance to the acceptable standard values of a typical
geothermal fluid.
 CHAPTER 3
Geothermal Steam Gathering System Design

High temperature geothermal resources are found in few areas around the world with
active tectonic activity. Most of the resources are developed for power generation and
other direct use applications. To utilise these high temperature fluids, fluids have to be
transported from deep down the well to the points of use. This therefore calls for design
of system of pipes and other equipment to transport and make the fluid suitable for
specific application. Fluid flowing from a geothermal well can be single phase (single
water or single steam) or two phase (mixture of water and steam). Steam gathering
system can therefore be defined as network of pipes from production wells to separator
stations, separator stations to power plants and injection wells, separator stations and
accompanying control equipment to ensure safe operation. Pipe network and separator
stations will be the main focus of this study. Steam gathering system for flash
geothermal power plant can therefore be divided into the following parts, namely:

1. Production and injection wells;

2. Pipelines;
3. Steam separators.

All these parts need careful design to ensure efficiency of the entire gathering system.
Piping system is required to transport fluids between the points. All pipes in the system
have supports, anchors and expansion loops to absorb thermal expansion of the pipe
due to temperature difference during installation and operation.

Production and injection wells

Geothermal well is a structure of pipes that transports hot fluids from the reservoir to the
surface. Most geothermal wells are drilled to depths between 2000 m to 3000 m.
Production wells discharge hot fluids that are used for power generation and forms the
starting point for fluid utilisation. Injection wells are used to dispose separated water and
used water back to the geothermal reservoir. System of pipes transport geothermal fluid
from the production wells and to injection wells. The fluid from the geothermal well can
therefore be defined by its temperature, pressure and enthalpy. The fluids discharged
by a geothermal well can be single phase or two-phase. Re-injection wells are normally
located far from production zone within the geothermal field.
Pipes

Transport of fluid from one point to another occurs through a pipe line. Piping system
includes pipe, fittings (e.g. elbows, reducers, branch connections, etc.), flanges, valves
and pipe supports. Suitable route for the pipeline should be obtained to help reduce
pressure drop. Two phase pipelines should be designed in most cases to go downhill to
avoid plug and slug flow regimes for two-phase flows with low steam ratio. Pressure
drop in brine pipelines is controlled to eliminate brine pumping where necessary
however it may not be as important since the fluid is being disposed. Pressure loss in
steam pipes may affect the overall power capacity of the plant and the turbine inlet
pressure. The design of this part of the system entails careful selection of pipe diameter
and fluid velocity to minimise total pipeline cost. Steam pipes are relatively bigger
compared to water pipes due to low density of steam. The main concern in steam pipe
design is the pressure drop. Pressure drop is inversely proportional to pipe diameter,
larger pipes have less pressure drop and vice-versa. Installing larger pipes will lead to
expensive pipelines that may be uneconomical in the long term. When separators are
located close to the power house, the length of steam pipelines will be shorter and when
separators are located at well pads, the pipe length might be longer and may result in
higher steam pressure drop. A compromise between cost and pressure drop in steam
pipes is sometimes necessary. Where separator is located away from the plant, steam
traps are fitted in pipelines to remove any condensate formed inside the pipeline.
Moisture removers may also be placed close to the power plant to ensure steam
entering the turbine is dry. Selection of pipe material for particular application is
necessary so as to reduce the chances or rate of corrosion of the pipe material. Pipes
are insulated to reduce heat loss, steam pipelines should have less insulation as this
will make some steam condense inside the pipeline and help wash and dissolve
carryover brine from the separator that can be drained away using drain pots. Higher
pressure drop in steam pipelines results in super-heated steam at the end of the pipe,
this leads to evaporation of brine carryover from the separator making dissolved solids
in brine to form dust that will be trapped in the turbine blades if not removed. These dust
will form scales on the turbine blades making it less efficient. Steam pipes should
therefore be designed to have less insulation and low pressure drop.
Separators
When geothermal well produce mixture of steam and water (two-phase fluid), the two
phases need to be separated from each other. A separator is required to separate the
two phases. The separation of the phases occurs due to large density difference
between steam and water. Separators can be classified by orientation as either vertical
or horizontal (DiPippo, 2007). The separators can be located at the power house, at
satellite stations in the field or at the wellheads. Good separator should have high
separator efficiency and high outlet steam quality. In geothermal power plants,
additional moisture removers are always required to ensure the steam that enters the
turbine is dry. The design of these moisture removers and quite similar to the design of
separators.
 CHAPTER 4
SYSTEM DESIGN
System design and components is one of the significant part of designing a plant,
subsequently it discusses the system itself, advantages/disadvantages and its working
principle. On the other hand, plant component’s that was considered for the design,
component’s description will be discussed in this chapter
4.1 Geothermal Power Plant
Geothermal power plants are used in order to generate electricity by the use of
geothermal energy (the Earth's internal thermal energy). They essentially work the
same as a coal or nuclear power plant, the main difference being the heat source. With
geothermal, the Earth's heat replaces the boiler of a coal plant or the reactor of a
nuclear plant.
Hot water or steam is extracted from the Earth through a series of wells and feeds the
power plant. In most geothermal plants the water pulled up from the ground is returned
back to the subsurface. The rate of water used is often larger than the rate of water
returned, so make-up water supplies are generally needed.
4.2 Types of Geothermal Power Plant
4.2.1 Dry or Superheated Geothermal Plant
These plants use dry steam that is naturally produced in the ground. This steam travels
from the production well to the surface and through a turbine, and after transferring its
energy to the turbine it condenses and is injected back into the Earth. These types are
the oldest types of geothermal power plants, the first one was built back in 1904 in Italy.
Because this type of power plant requires the highest temperatures they can only be
used where the temperature underground is quite high, but this type requires the least
fluid flow.

The dry steam plants at the Geysers in northern California, first drilled in 1924, are the
largest geothermal source of electricity. At their peak production in the late 1980s they
produced a whopping 2 GW of electricity - the equivalent of two large coal or nuclear
power plants. However due to high rates of extraction, power has since declined to 1.5
GW of capacity, with an average output of less than 1 GW.
4.2.2 Single Flashed Geothermal Plant
The steam entering the plant is often run through a demister to eliminate any entrained
droplets of moisture. A small portion of the steam is directed to a steam jet ejector
system and the balance is directed to the turbine. The ejector system generates a very
low vacuum at the turbine exit, maximizing the mechanical energy produced by the
turbine. Steam exiting the turbine is directed to a condenser operating at the low
vacuum. Water from a cooling tower is typically sprayed inside the condenser,
condensing the steam back into water. This water is then pumped to the top of the
cooling tower for heat rejection to the atmosphere.
The terminology single-flash system indicates that the geofluid has undergone a single
flashing process, a process of transitioning from a pressurized liquid to a mixture of
liquid and vapor, as a result of lowering the geothermal pressure below the saturation
pressure corresponding to the fluid temperature.

The geofluid starts off as a compressed somewhere in the reservoir, then it experiences
a flashing process in the separator, where the two-phase are separated. The steam is
then used to drive the turbine which in turn drives the electric generator. The schematic
diagram of single-flash system is given in Fig. 1.
The processes undergone by the geofluid are best viewed in a thermodynamic state
diagram in which the fluid temperature is plotted on the ordinate and the fluid specific
entropy is plotted on the abscissa. A temperature-entropy (T-s) diagram for the single
flash plant is shown in Fig. 2. The sequence of processes begins with geofluid under
pressure at state h, close to the saturation curve.
Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of Single Flash System

Figure 2: Temperature-entropy (T-s) Diagram of Single Flash System

4.2.3 Double Flash Geothermal Plant
Hot water (geofluid) is extracted from an underground water dominated reservoir. The
geofluid rises to the surface through the production well. A production well head valve
can be used to isolate the underground part of the system from the surface part.
The hot geofluid is in a liquid state when it reaches the surface. Pressure reduction
chambers are used to reduce the geofluid pressure. The reduction in pressure causes
some of the geofluid liquid to evaporate (‘flash off’). One flash chamber is used to create
high pressure steam whilst others are used to create low pressure steam.
Approximately 20% of the geofluid can be flashed to steam whilst the rest is returned to
the underground reservoir.
The generated steam is then used to drive a steam turbine and a generator that is
connected on a common shaft. Once the useful working energy from the steam has
been extracted, it is referred to as ‘waste steam’ and must be condensed in order that it
can be pumped.

4.2.4 Binary Geothermal Plant

Binary cycle geothermal power plants are the closest in thermodynamic principle to
conventional fossil or nuclear plants in that the working fluid undergoes an actual closed
cycle. The working fluid, chosen for its appropriate thermodynamic properties, receives
heat from the geofluid, evaporates, expands through a prime-mover, condenses, and is
finally returned to the evaporator by means of a feed pump. In its simplest form, a binary
plant follows the schematic flow diagram given in Fig.3. Binary cycle plants use the
geothermal water from liquid-dominated resource. These plants operate with a binary
working fluid (R245fa, R123a, etc.) that has a low boiling temperature in a Rankine
cycle. The working fluid is completely vaporized by the geothermal heat in the
evaporator. The vapor expands in the turbine, and then condensed in a water-cooled
condenser before being pumped back to the evaporator to complete the cycle (1-2’-3-4-
5-6-1).
The thermodynamic process undergone by the R245fa is shown in Fig. 4, a
temperature-entropy, T-s diagram. This type of diagram is most often used for
refrigeration and air condition cycles, but lends itself very well to geothermal binary
plant. The diagonal AB-C displays the geothermal water temperature change when
heating the working fluid.

Figure 3: Schematic Diagram of Saturated Steam Binary Cycle

Figure 4: Temperature-entropy (T-S) Diagram of Binary Rankine Cycle