Producing Electricity from Geothermal Energy

Shaikh Md. Rubayiat Tousif Shaiyek Md. Buland Taslim

Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering Dept. of Electric Power Engineering
American International University-Bangladesh Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Dhaka, Bangladesh Stockholm, Sweden
Email: tousif@aiub.edu Email: taslim@kth.se

Abstract—This work emphasis on producing electricity from

geothermal energy. The paper talks about geothermal energy and
also focuses on geothermal power plant and the basic operation
of such a plant. It also focuses on issues like the potential,
environmental impacts and generation capacity of geothermal
power plant. It provides ample information which justifies why
this method of producing electricity can be a primary choice in
near future.

Keywords-geothermal energy;hydrothermal resources; power

plant;environmental impacts

I. INTRODUCTION (GEOTHERMAL ENERGY)

The word geothermal comes from the Greek words geo
(earth) and therme (heat). Geothermal energy is heat from
within the earth.
Geothermal energy is generated in the earth’s core, almost
4,000 miles beneath the earth’s surface. The double-layered
core is made up of very hot magma (melted rock) surrounding
a solid iron center. Very high temperatures are continuously
produced inside the earth by the slow decay of radioactive
particles. This process is natural in all rocks.
Surrounding the outer core is the mantle, which is about
1,800 miles thick and made of magma and rock. The outermost
layer of the earth, the land that forms the continents and ocean
floors, is called the crust. The crust is 3–5 miles thick under the
oceans and 15–35 miles thick on the continents.
The crust is not a solid piece, like the shell of an egg, but is
broken into pieces called plates. Magma comes close to the
earth’s surface near the edges of these plates. This is where
volcanoes occur. The lava that erupts from volcanoes is partly
magma. Deep underground, the rocks and water absorb the
heat from this magma.
We can dig wells and pump the heated, underground water
to the surface. People around the world use geothermal energy
to heat their homes and to produce electricity.
Geothermal energy is called a renewable energy source
because the water is replenished by rainfall and the heat is
continuously produced deep within the earth. We won’t run out
of geothermal energy.
Figure 1. The earth’s interior
II. FINDING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Some visible features of geothermal energy are volcanoes,
hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles. But these geothermal
resources cannot be seen. They are deep underground. There
may be no clues above ground that a geothermal reservoir is
present below.
Geologists use different methods to find geothermal
reservoirs. The only way to be sure there is a reservoir is to
drill a well and test the temperature deep underground.
The most active geothermal resources are usually found
along major plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes
are concentrated. Most of the geothermal activity in the world
occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire. This area borders the
Pacific Ocean.
III. HYDROTHERMAL RESOURCES
There is more than one type of geothermal energy, but only
one kind is widely used to make electricity. It is called
hydrothermal energy. Hydrothermal resources have two common
ingredients: water (hydro) and heat (thermal). Depending on the
temperature of the hydrothermal resource, the heat energy can
either be used for making electricity or for heating.

978-1-4244-8782-0/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

A. Low Temperature Resources: Heating secondary fluid is then used to power the steam turbine, and the
Hydrothermal resources at low temperatures (50 to 300 water in this case is not directly used in the power generation
degrees Fahrenheit) are located everywhere in the United process.
States, just a few feet below the ground. This low temperature
geothermal energy is used for heating homes and buildings, The diagram below shows a simplified diagram of a
growing crops, and drying lumber, fruits, and vegetables. geothermal power plant.
In some countries geothermal heat pumps are used to heat
and cool homes and public buildings. In the U.S. each year
approximately 50,000 geothermal heat pumps are installed.
Many people in France and most of the population of Iceland
use geothermal energy to heat their homes and buildings.

B. High Temperature Resources: Electricity

Hydrothermal resources at high temperatures (300 to 700
degrees Fahrenheit) can be used to make electricity.
These high-temperature resources may come from either
dry steam wells or hot water wells. We can use these resources
by drilling wells into the earth and piping the steam or hot
water to the surface. Geothermal wells are one to two miles
deep.
In a dry steam power plant, the steam from the geothermal
reservoir is piped directly from a well to a turbine generator to
make electricity. In a hot water plant, some of the hot water is
turned into steam. The steam powers a turbine generator just
like a dry steam plant. When the steam cools, it condenses to
water and is injected back into the ground to be used over and
over again.
Geothermal energy produces only a small percentage of
U.S. electricity. Today, it produces about 15 billion kilowatt-
hours, or less than one percent of the electricity produced in
this country.
IV. GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT
There are three types of geothermal power plants:
A. Dry Steam Plants
This method consists of pumping water down a borehole
deep into the Earth, where the heat turns the water into steam.
The steam rises through a second borehole and powers a steam
turbine. This method relies on natural seams and fractures in
the rock, or completely man-made boreholes to pass the water
from the surface to the depths, and back to the surface.
B. Flash Steam Power Plants
In this case, the return fluid is in the form of water with a
temperature over 360 degrees F. A flash chamber is installed
before the steam turbine. The super heated water is sprayed
into the flash chamber, which is at a much lower pressure than
the water. The water “flashes” into steam, and is then passes to
the steam turbine.
Figure 2. Geothermal power plant
D. Production Well
Geothermal fluids, such as hot water and steam, are brought
to the surface and piped into the power plant. These wells can
extend up to few kilometers. The pipes are designed with
certain technology so that it is able to withstand the high
temperatures.
E. Power Plant
Inside the power plant, the geothermal fluid turns the
turbine blades, which spins a shaft, which spins magnets inside
a large coil of wire to generate electricity.
F. Injection Well
Used geothermal fluids are returned to the reservoir.
V. GEOTHERMAL POWER IN ICELAND
Today, Iceland is a world leader in geothermal power
production. Iceland is located on a geological “hot spot”, where
volcanic activity is frequent, and deep depths are not required
to tap the geothermal energy. In 2005, Iceland generated over
26% of its electricity from geothermal sources. In addition, the
majority of residential housing in Iceland uses geothermal
methods to heat their home, rather than relying on electric, gas,
or oil heating sources. Iceland also relies heavily on
hydroelectric power, making it one of the countries with the
least dependence on fossil fuel for electricity.

C. Binary Cycle Power Plants

If the return fluid has temperatures less than 400 degrees F,
a binary cycle is used to convert the fluid into steam. A heat
exchanger is used to transfer the energy from the hot water to a
secondary fluid with a much lower boiling point. The

Figure 3. The Ring of Fire :Most of the geothermal activity in the world
occurs around the Pacific Ocean in an area called the Ring of Fire.
VI. RESOURCES
The earth’s heat content is 1031 joules. This heat naturally
flows to the surface by conduction at a rate of 44.2 terawatts,
(TW,) and is replenished by radioactive decay at a rate of 30
TW. These power rates are more than double humanity’s
current energy consumption from primary sources, but most of
this power is too diffuse (approximately 0.1 W/m2 on average)
to be recoverable. The Earth's crust effectively acts as a thick
insulating blanket which must be pierced by fluid conduits (of
magma, water or other) to release the heat underneath.
Electricity generation requires high temperature resources
that can only come from deep underground. The heat must be
carried to the surface by fluid circulation, either through
magma conduits, hot springs, hydrothermal circulation, oil
wells, drilled water wells, or a combination of these. This
circulation sometimes exists naturally where the crust is thin:
magma conduits bring heat close to the surface, and hot springs
bring the heat to the surface. If no hot spring is available, a well
must be drilled into a hot aquifer. Away from tectonic plate
boundaries the geothermal gradient is 25-30°C per kilometer
(km) of depth in most of the world, and wells would have to be
several kilometers deep to permit electricity generation. The
quantity and quality of recoverable resources improves with
drilling depth and proximity to tectonic plate boundaries.
In ground that is hot but dry, or where water pressure is
inadequate, injected fluid can stimulate production. Developers
bore two holes into a candidate site, and fracture the rock
between them with explosives or high pressure water. Then
they pump water or liquefied carbon dioxide down one
borehole, and it comes up the other borehole as a gas. This
approach is called hot dry rock geothermal energy in Europe,
or enhanced geothermal systems in North America. Much
greater potential may be available from this approach than
from conventional tapping of natural aquifers.
Estimates of the electricity generating potential of
geothermal energy vary from 35 to 2000 GW depending on the
scale of investments. This does not include non-electric heat
recovered by co-generation, geothermal heat pumps and other
direct use. A 2006 report by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), that included the potential of enhanced
geothermal systems, estimated that investing 1 billion
US dollars in research and development over 15 years would
allow the creation of 100 GW of electrical generating capacity
by 2050 in the United States alone. The MIT report estimated
that over 200 zettajoules (ZJ) would be extractable, with the
potential to increase this to over 2,000 ZJ with technology
improvements - sufficient to provide the entire world's present
energy needs for several millennia.
At present, geothermal wells are rarely more than
3 kilometers (2 mi) deep. Upper estimates of geothermal
resources assume wells as deep as 10 kilometers (6 mi).
Drilling at this depth is now possible in the petroleum industry,
although it is an expensive process. The deepest research well
in the world, the Kola super deep borehole, is 12 kilometers (7
mi) deep. This record has recently been imitated by
commercial oil wells, such as Exxon's Z-12 well in the Chayvo
field, Sakhalin. Wells drilled to depths greater than
4 kilometers (2 mi) generally incur drilling costs in the tens of
millions of dollars. The technological challenges are to drill
wide bores at low cost and to break larger volumes of rock.
Geothermal power is considered to be sustainable because
the heat extraction is small compared to the Earth's heat
content, but extraction must still be monitored to avoid local
depletion. Although geothermal sites are capable of providing
heat for many decades, individual wells may cool down or run
out of water. The three oldest sites, at Larderello, Wairakei,
and the Geysers have all reduced production from their peaks.
It is not clear whether these plants extracted energy faster than
it was replenished from greater depths, or whether the aquifers
supplying them are being depleted. If production is reduced,
and water is re-injected, these wells could theoretically recover
their full potential. Such mitigation strategies have already
been implemented at some sites. The long-term sustainability
of geothermal energy has been demonstrated at the Lardarello
field in Italy since 1913, at the Wairakei field in New Zealand
since 1958, and at The Geysers field in California since 1960.
VII. WORLDWIDE PRODUCTION
The International Geothermal Association (IGA) has
reported that 10,715 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power in
24 countries is online, which is expected to generate 67,246
GWh of electricity in 2010. This represents a 20% increase in
geothermal power online capacity since 2005. IGA projects
this will grow to 18,500 MW by 2015, due to the large number
of projects presently under consideration, often in areas
previously assumed to have little exploitable resource.
In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal
electricity production with 3,086 MW of installed capacity
from 77 power plants; the largest group of geothermal power
plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal
field in California. The Philippines follows the US as the
second highest producer of geothermal power in the world,
with 1,904 MW of capacity online; geothermal power makes [6] Geothermal Energy Systems: Exploration, Development and Utilization.
up approximately 18% of the country's electricity generation. by Ernst Huenges.

VIII. BENEFITS OF GEOTHERMAL POWER

Geothermal Power is clean, generating very little in the way
of by-products or emissions. The hot water used for injection is
reclaimed and reused, resulting in a sustainable system. Unlike
solar power, geothermal power can be generated 24 hours a
day, and is not dependent on environmental conditions.
Geothermal power plants can be scaled to meet local need, and
can provide cost-effective energy near natural geothermal
sources.

IX.
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Geothermal energy does little damage to the environment.
Another advantage is that geothermal plants do not have to
transport fuel, like most power plants. Geothermal plants sit on
top of their fuel source. Geothermal power plants have been
built in deserts, in the middle of crops, and in mountain forests.
Geothermal plants produce almost no emissions because
they do not burn fuel to generate electricity.

X. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

It is concluded by the Geologist that there are more than
one type of geothermal energy. The most common type is the
hydrothermal energy. Different methods must be used to
determine the existence of geothermal reservoirs and its type.
The detection process may be expensive as it requires drilling
up of wells and testing temperatures deep underground but
once the plant is set up it can serve as an outstanding source of
renewable energy. So it is very important for all countries to
look for availability of geothermal resources in their territory.
As proper utilization of geothermal energy can greatly enhance
a nation’s net production of electrical energy or in other words
can significantly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels used up
by conventional methods of producing electrical energy.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank Prof. Sekh Abdur Rob for helping
us with his valuable ideas and supporting us throughout. We
would like to thank him for motivating us to work on
geothermal energy.

REFERENCES

[1] Geothermal Energy: An Alternative Resource for the 21st Century by

Harsh K. Gupta , Sukanta Roy.
[2] Geothermal Power Plants, Second Edition: Principles, Applications,
Case Studies and Environmental Impact by Ronald DiPippo.
[3] Geothermal Energy: Utilization and Technology by Mary H. Dickson
[4] Renewable Energy: Technology, Economics and.. and Environment by
Martin Kaltschmitt.
[5] Intermediate Energy Infobook.