A Design of Geothermal Power plant in Kidapawan City

A Design Presented to the Faculty of the college of Engineering

Mindanao Polytechnic College

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Power Plant Engineering for the Degree

Of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Geothermal energy is the only alternative energy source which can supply base-
load or dispatchable power, independent of climate and weather. Although not evenly
distributed geographically, geothermal energy potential is substantial in many countries.
Today, more than 10 GW of geothermal power plants are in operation around the world.

Unlike fossil fuel power plants, in geothermal power generation most of the capital costs
are incurred up front in the development of the resource. The risks and challenges are all
related to exploration, drilling, and managing the resource. Geothermal fluids come in a
wide range of temperatures and consist of steam, brine of different chemical properties, as
well as non-condensable gases.

Power conversion is the most predictable part of a geothermal project, as it consists of

well-established engineering designs. Most plants use steam turbines, and about 20%,
use the Organic Rankine Cycle. The economic exploitation of a geothermal fluid of given
characteristics is achieved by choosing the power station configuration so as to maximize
the exergy efficiency of the whole system (resource and plant) and not only the thermal
efficiency of the plant.

Nomenclature
Chapter 1

Introduction

Mindanao-2 power plant is the second geothermal power station in Mindanao

Geothermal Production Field operated by PNOC-EDC in the island of Mindanao in the
Philippines (Figure 1). Mindanao-2 was commissioned in June 1999 with a base load
capacity of 52 MWe. The plant is a dual (high pressure-low pressure) flash type. High-
pressure steam that flows at a rate of 360 TPH is supplied by eight production wells. The
turbine inlet pressure of the high-pressure steam is 7.0 bar abs. Low-pressure steam
comes from second flash of the separated water from adjacent Mindanao-1 high-pressure
separators. Turbine inlet pressure of low-pressure steam is 3.6 bar abs. and flows at a
rate of 52 TPH.

Mindanao geothermal field is a typical island-arc andesite volcano hosted

hydrothermal system. The upflow center of this system is believed to extend from central
to the northwest section of a 4.5 x 3-km wide oval shaped depression called Sandawa
collapse (Figure 2). Seven out of the nine production wells used in Mindanao-2 were
drilled in this sector. Deep temperatures of fluids produced from these wells range from
290-320°C. A shallow two-phase zone formed atop this upflow sector. Three wells: KN5D,
TM3D and TM4D tapped this shallow two-phase zone and discharges dry steam at the
wellhead. The rest of the production wells tapped the deep liquid reservoir with variable
contributions from the two-phase zone. Two wells KN2D and KN3B, which tapped the
deep liquid reservoir, discharged highly acidic fluids. The pH of the fluid ranged from 3.2 to
4.5 as measured at ambient condition. Four other wells namely KN1D, PS1D, TO1D and
TO2D drilled in Sandawa produce or are expected to produce acid fluids. Well KN1D was
converted into a re-injection well. PS1D was cement-plugged while TO1D and TO2D
remain unused until now. Steam from wells KN2D and KN3B contributes about 35% of the
total high-pressure steam for Mindanao-2.

All Mindanao-2 production wells drilled in Sandawa are piped to a central

steam/liquid separator station. The brine from this separator is re-injected to well KN1RD
at a temperature of 170°C.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

Geothermal Power Plant They work by piping hot steam from underground reservoirs
directly into turbines from geothermal reservoirs, which power the generators to provide
electricity. These flash steam plants pump hot water at a high pressure from below the
earth into a “flash tank” on the surface.

Chapter 3
Methodology

The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the design of a system because decisions
made here can affect up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &Moran, 1996).
In this section, a methodology is proposed to simplify the assessment of a geothermal for
generating electricity using binary energy conversion technology.
Figure 1 gives a flow-chart of the methodology outlined in
the following steps:
1. Problem specification:
The main parameters that should be specified are
geothermal fluid temperature (Tgeo), geothermal
rejection temperature (Trej), geothermal fluid pressure (Pgeo), mass flow of geothermal
(􀝉􁈶 􀯚􀯘􀯢), ambient temperature (To) and ambient pressure (Po).
2. Synthesis: Synthesis is concerned with combining separated elements into a
thermodynamic cycle. The step consists of four system elements that should be
conducted simultaneously.
a. Selection of working fluid: the selection of the most appropriate working fluid has great
implications for the performance of a binary plant (DiPippo, 2008). The criteria used for the
selection of the working fluid are good physical and thermodynamic characteristics
providing high thermodynamic performance and high exploitation of the available
heat source. The selected working fluid should be environmentally friendly indicated by
low toxicity, minimised global warming potential and characteristics of low to zero in-
flammability. In order to have good availability and low cost, several common working
fluids in commercial binary geothermal power plants are considered.
b. Selection of cycle design: another key aspect affecting the ORC system performance is
the thermodynamic cycle design (Branchini, De Pascale, & Peretto, 2013). A basic binary
geothermal power plant is designed by standard (Std) cycle (DiPippo, 2008). A
recuperative (Rec) cycle is used when Trej has any temperature limitation. The design is
able to increase the Trej and thermal efficiency, because the addition of a recuperator
increases heat absorbed from geothermal fluid. However, the design is less
economical than Std design and the regenerator will not increase the produced power
(Valdimarsson, 2011). The schematic diagram of both cycle designs
is shown in Figure 3.
c. Selection of component types: the type of four basic main components of the binary
plant (turbine, evaporator, condenser and pump) should be selected for further analysis in
the following steps. The selection depends on operating conditions and the size of the
plant. The two turbine types used for a binary power plant are axial turbines and radial
inflow turbine (DiPippo, 2008). The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with brine on tube side
and working fluid on shell side is the most commonly type used for the binary plants.
DiPippo (2008) et al. mentioned that the preheater can also use a horizontal cylinder and
corrugated plate type. Moreover, they stated that the evaporator/superheater can use a
horizontal cylinder or kettle-type boiler. The dry cooling system uses air-cooled condenser.
The centrifugal pumps are widely used for industrial applications (Bejan & Moran, 1996)
and the type is also used in the geothermal areas. The materials of the main components
should be selected to calculate main component costs in the further analysis.
d. Determination of cycle parameters: the assumption parameters are required to create a
thermodynamic cycle of the binary plant.
Table 1 shows the parameter values that are usually used by various ORC research
groups. A few degrees of superheat is required to avoid liquid droplets at the inlet of the
turbine although the superheated vapour condition gives penalties in terms of power and
costs (Toffolo, Lazzaretto, Manente, & Paci, 2014). The superheat value in the table 1
may be changed for the optimization purpose.
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &
2. METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical early step in the
design of a system because decisions made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a project (Bejan &

METHODOLOGY
The pre-feasibility study is a critical
early step in the
design of a system because decisions
made here can affect
up to 80% of the total capital cost of a
project (Beja

Overview
 Geothermal power plants use hydrothermal resources that have both water (hydro)
and heat (thermal). Geothermal power plants require high-temperature (300°F to 700°F)
hydrothermal resources that come from either dry steam wells or from hot water wells.
People use these resources by drilling wells into the earth and then piping steam or hot
water to the surface. The hot water or steam powers a turbine that generates electricity.
Some geothermal wells are as much as two miles deep.

Mindanao-2 power plant is the second geothermal power station in Mindanao

Geothermal Production Field operated by PNOC-EDC. Mindanao-2 was commissioned in
June 1999 with a base load capacity of 52 MWe. The plant is a dual (high pressure-low
pressure) flash type. High-pressure steam is provided by nine production wells piped to
two central separator stations, while the low-pressure steam is supplied from second flash
of separated water from the adjacent Mindanao-1 power plant. Two production wells used

by Mindanao-2 discharge acid NaCl + SO 4= fluids with pH ranging from 3.2 to 5.5 at 25°C.
Steam production from these two wells contributes about 35% of total high-pressure
steam production. Separated water from the high-pressure steam-liquid separators used
by Mindanao-2 is also acidic with pH ranging from 3.8 to 5.8.
After two years of utilization of the acidic wells there were no significant thinning observed
in the surface piping and wellhead facilities of Mindanao-2 based on UT (ultrasonic test)
measurements and visual inspections. Scales consisting of magnetite and amorphous
silica are deposited in the inner surface of the casing from the fluid. These scales are also
found in the re-injection piping system and produced by the acidic separated water.
Although the silica content of the separated water exceeds saturation level by more than
45% voluminous amorphous silica scales were not observed in the re-injection pipelines.
The acidity of brine significantly delayed the onset of silica polymerization effectively
preventing scale formation in the injection well and pipelines. However, significant
erosion/corrosion was experienced in the piping system when the separated water was
discharged to the atmosphere.
The experience gained from the use of acid wells in Mindanao-2 is encouraging and may
eventually result in the utilization of other acid wells currently not used in the field.

Problem scope
 The proponents in the design like the Geothermal power plant is to determine the
capacity to generate electricity. Geothermal energy is renewable and has less carbon
effect hence its increased use will lead to reduced development and use of fossil fuels in
power generation and mitigate against global warming since most of the global
contribution to greenhouse gases emissions come from power stations which is currently
dominated by fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and diesel power plants which are polluting
and non-renewable. The challenge we have is that development of geothermal power
plants is expensive and takes very long time to realize