Christopher Traifalgar Caingles Jr.

ME 153 – Assignment

Alternative Energy Resource

Power Plant that Uses Alternative Energy Resource

     Since fuel is slowly becoming obsolete and the resources are non-renewable, the new
trend in power generation are the renewable resources of energy or the alternative sources.
These includes the following:

 Solar Energy
 Wind Energy
 Tidal Energy
 Geothermal Energy

GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT

      In the economic development of every country, energy plays a very important
role. Geothermal energy is considered as one of the dominant sources that covers a
considerable amount of share in electricity demand and power generation in countries.
     Geothermal power is power generated by geothermal energy.  This type of energy
principally uses steam in producing electricity. The steam that is used is from the reservoirs
of hot water found below the surface of the Earth. The steam collected from the reservoir is
expended to rotate a turbine which in turn will stimulate a generator to produce the
electricity. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power
stations and binary cycle power stations. 

Importance of Geothermal Energy:

1. Environment Friendly: Geothermal energy is more environment friendly compared

to fossil fuels. It also has a very low amount of carbon footprint is good because the
world is already facing global warming.
2. Renewable: The reservoirs underneath the surface of the Earth are naturally
replenished which means we will never run out of geothermal energy.
3. Huge Potential: Geothermal energy has a huge potential because there are still a
lot of untapped geothermal resources that are available for use. 
4. Sustainable: The reservoirs underneath the surface of the Earth are naturally
replenished which means we will never run out of geothermal energy.
 Components of a Geothermal Power Plant:

1. Production Well: it is a well that is drilled underneath the surface of the earth after
exploratory well searched for the location of the geothermal reservoir. 
2. Pump: it is used to displace the fluid from the geothermal source.
3. Valve: the valve is responsible in controlling the flow of fluid passes through. 
4. Separator: using a separator, the brine and dirt are removed in the steam so that
the performance of the turbine blades will not be affected.
5. Steam Turbine: the component of the plant where geothermal energy is converted
into mechanical energy. 
6. Generator: it is used to produce electricity by converting mechanical energy to
electrical energy
7. Condenser: transfer the used steam from gaseous state into liquid form. 
8. Injection Well: it is used to inject the unused water back to the ground for reheating
purpose to be used again in another cycle.
9. Cooling Tower: it acts as support to the condensers.
Three types of Geothermal Power Plant:

 Dry Steam Power Plant

In a dry steam plant, direct steam released from production wells are used to
operate the turbines. Among other types of geothermal power plant, dry steam is
considered as the oldest and the simplest. With steam as its working fluid, the
plant only needs a steam temperature of at least 150℃. The used steams are
afterwards brought back through injection wells. 
 
 Flash Steam Power Plant

Flash steam plant is the most frequently used type of geothermal plant
nowadays. In flash steam plant, the steam temperature needed to operate
turbines should be at least 180℃. Using its own pressure, high-pressure hot
water rises through production wells entering the steam separator, which splits it
from the water. The separated steam will then be used to drive and rotate the
turbine. The unused water as well as the condensed steam will be transported
back through the injection wells.
 

1. Single Flash Steam Plant

For liquid-governed geothermal fields, single-flash steam plants

are most likely to be constructed. DiPippo (2012) studied that
for a typical geothermal plant using the single-flash design with
installed capacity of 30 MW, a total of 5-6 production wells are
needed and a number of 2-3 injection wells. The layout design
for single-flash steam plant only uses a single separator. Due
this, both the steam and liquid are kept at constant pressure
and temperature in the separator as they part from each other. 
 
2. Double Flash Steam Plant
The second type of flash steam is the double flash steam plant which
has a more complex design compared to the single-flash steam. It
uses two separators which causes different pressure of steam, both
low and high, to enter and operate the turbine. Because of that reason,
the double-flash steam plant produces more power output of about 15-
25% than the single-flash steam. Since it has two separators, its layout
is more costly and requires more maintenance.
  Binary Cycle Power Plant

Binary cycle power plants are the recent development of geothermal power
plants. In this type of plant, electricity can be produced using a steam
temperature of less than 150℃. A binary cycle power plant uses a heat
exchanger to heat up the secondary fluid with a lower boiling point than water,
such as isobutene, pentane, or butane. After heating, the generated steam is
utilized to rotate the turbine to produce electricity. The geothermal fluids used in
heat extraction are reinjected back to the ground. 
 

QUESTIONS:
1. Where does the geothermal energy used in geothermal power plant coming from? Ans:
steam
2. What type of well is drilled before the production well in order to locate the geothermal
resource? Ans: exploratory well
3. What are the three types of GPP? Ans: dry steam, flash steam and binary cycle
4. What are the two classifications of a flash steam geothermal power plant? Ans: single
flash and double flash
5. What type of geothermal power plant is commonly used nowadays? Ans: flash steam 
6. How many percent more power does a double flash steam produce compared to a single
flash steam? Ans: 15% to 25%'
7. What type of geothermal power plant uses steam with temperature below 150 degree
C? Ans: binary cycle
8. Why is the unused water being injected back to the ground? Ans: to reheat the water
and use it again in another cycle.
9. What country is the top producer of geothermal energy? Ans: USA
10. What component of geothermal power plant removes impurities from the steam? Ans:
separator
Reference:

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/geothermal/

https://www.nrel.gov/research/re-geo-elec-production.html

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/double-flash-system