Design Alternative Solution for Re-activating and Maximizing the Output of Aluto-

Langano Geothermal Power Plant in Ethiopia

Authors: Samson Alemayehu a, Wondwossen Bogale b,c
a
Defense Engineering college
b
Director of University Industry Linkage and Technology Transfer, Addis Ababa University
c
Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

Abstract
Background: The chasing of sufficient and clean energy has been studied and implemented by
generating power through the exploitation of clean and renewable energy resources like
geothermal power generation over the past decades. Referring a country like Ethiopia, finding
geothermal energy source has a great role for sustainable green economical development.
Problem statement: However, this energy source has many revitalized and non-revitalized
problems. The solutions to revitalized problems could be maintaining, repairing, replacing or
rehabilitation or any other solving mechanism which can revamp the system to original or some
acceptable working condition.
Objectives: Thus, this study aims at proposing a possible alternative solution to reactivate and
maximize the energy potential of the Aluto Langano power plant by performing thermodynamic
analysis of the system for different working conditions and parameters.
Methodology: Detailed data of the plant has been collected. Then modeling of the plant has been
performed by using Matlab. Besides, a detailed sensitivity analysis has been performed by using
different operating parameters (i.e. condenser pressure and working fluids) and a new production
well has been also been introduced to upgrade the performance of the plant.
Results: The original plant used Iso-pentane as a working fluid, with a plant gross output of
4.648 MW under the current condition of the production wells. But the simulation results
indicate that, the power outputs will increase for both N-butane and Isobutane by 4.782 MW and
4.889 MW respectively.
Conclusion: Therefore using Butane as a working fluid would make the power plant more
efficient and economical.
Keywords: Aluto-Langano, Geothermal power plant, reactivating, efficiency
1. Introduction
Broad them or topic of the study : The expected rapidly increasing energy demand of the globe
and the unexpected rapid industrial and economic development of developing countries, like
China and India, have resulted in a significant increase in energy demand and worldwide energy
consumption. This ever increasing energy demand has led humankind on a quest for sufficient
and efficient power sources. The desire to find sufficient energy by using power generation
plants has led to overexploitation of resources. At the same time, power plant equipments have
been improved more efficiently. However, these solutions have also resulted in resource
depletion, environmental pollution, and excess carbon dioxide emission. Consequently, given all
the present and future challenges of the planet, the World Commission on Environment and
Development presented a conceptual report in 1987 entitled “Our Common Future” (WCED,
1987). The report focuses on global issues and addresses the problems from three different
angles; economic growth, environmental protection and social equity and proposed “Sustainable
Development” as the general solution to these problems. Since then, people, more specifically,
scholars and environmentalists across the globe have shown their concern to the environment by
fighting all devastating actions and proposing alternative ways to deal with these situations.
Accordingly, hunting for cleaner, cheaper and more sustainable energy resources for replacing
traditional fossil fuel dependent energy systems with sustainable energy systems has got
worldwide attention in the past few decades [1]. Wind, solar, hydropower and geothermal
energies are among the sustainable and/or renewable energy sources that could satisfy our energy
demands while least affecting the balance of the ecosystem. While nuclear energy has been used
as an alternative source of energy for over half a century, recently bio-fuels (such as ethanol,
biodiesel, etc) have also become widely accepted alternatives to fossil fuels [2].
Narrowing the topic: Geothermal energy is one of the proven renewable energy sources for
direct heat and reliable base load power generation. The earth’s geothermal energy was
originally conceived from the formation of planets, and is replenished at approximately 80% by
radioactive decay of minerals (i.e. uranium, thorium and potassium) at a rate of 30 TW [3], and
20% by residual heat from the earth’s interior such as volcanic activities and solar energy
absorbed by earth surface [3,4]. Thus, the geothermal energy is the earth’s internal heat, naturally
present in the earth’s core, mantle and crust, and flowing to the surface by conduction [5, 6].
Make it Specific: Ethiopia, one of the few countries with geothermal potential in Africa, is
endowed with a substantial amount of this energy system which is found scattered along the
Ethiopian Rift Valley and the Danakil Depression. Since the late 1970’s, geo-scientific surveys
mostly comprising geology, geochemistry, and geophysics, were carried out at, from south to
north, the Abaya, Corbetti, Aluto-Langano, Tulu Moye and Tendaho prospects [7]. In addition, a
reconnaissance survey of ten sites in the central and southern Afar has been carried out, some of
these being followed up by more detailed surface investigation. The geothermal potential of
Ethiopia is approximated to be well over 1.0 GW [8]. Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) has also carried
out a project about development potential of geothermal in Ethiopia on the sites considered for
development (2013) [9]. Even though Ethiopia has a huge geothermal potential, Aluto-Langano
is the first geothermal power plant with a net capacity of 7.2 MW el that is installed power plant.
This implies, Ethiopia is using only 0.002 % of its geothermal potential.
Literature review on Aluto-Langano: Number of researches and studies has been made on
the problems and current situation of Aluto-Langano geothermal power plant. Feasibility study
for the expansion of the Aluto-Langano Geothermal power has been recently completed by
Japanese researcher. The study indicated expansion of the Aluto Geothermal power plant to can
give additional 35 MWel [10].
Point out the gap: Even if, the cumulative results and findings of these studies and researches
are the ground for making the plant operational, they focused on identifying and clearing out of
the root cause problems of the existing system and hydrothermal properties of the geothermal
fluid [12, 13].
Reveal the research question: Even though, analysis of all and main problems related to the
hydrothermal properties of the geothermal fluid and related technical problems of Aluto-
Langano geothermal power plant has been discovered enough, it is very hard to find a detailed
study of the plant performance, real thermodynamic causes of malfunctioning of the geothermal
power plant and possibility of maximizing the energy performance of Aluto-Langano has not
been studied.
Significance of solving this problem: Therefore, understanding the real cause of the plant,
knowing how the plant behaves at different operating conditions and the possibility of
maximizing the plant performance will benefits the future intended geothermal projects in
Ethiopia.
Objectives: This study aims to contemplate on propose possible alternative solutions for non-
revitalized hydrothermal properties of the production wells and their corollary problems related
to the power production. The focus of this study is on thermodynamic analysis of the system for
different working conditions and parameters (i.e. working fluid pressure and temperature,
organic fluids, condenser pressure and insulations), by creating different simulation scenarios
with different boundary conditions. The first objective is to design simulation layout and
parameter fixing the factory design outcome as initial boundary condition. The second objective
is to design alternative optimized parameters and technical renovations for reactivating Aluto -
Langano geothermal power plant with feasibly acceptable and possible maximized output.
2. Methodology
2.1. Description of the plant
A schematic layout of the Aluto-Langano geothermal power plant which has been considered in
the present study is demonstrated in Fig. 1. The production wells are LA-3, LA-4, LA-6 and
LA-8 and there is one reinjection well, LA-7. The steam field includes two high temperature
wells (LA-3 and LA-6) and two medium temperature wells (LA-4 and LA-8). Well LA-3 and
LA-6 are high enthalpy wells supplying steam to the GCCU and brine to a flash tank, used as a
heat source for heating the Isopentane in the OEC unit. Wells LA-4 and LA-8 are low-pressure
wells supplying steam to the vaporizer of the OEC unit and brine to the flash tank. Each well has
its own steam separator near the wellhead. The working fluid circulating in the existing system
of both units is Isopentane and it is condensed in the dry type cooling towers. An air-cooled
condenser is a fin-fan type heat exchanger in which low-temperature vapor coming from the
turbine outlet passing through a regenerator is condensed by transferring heat to the surrounding
air, blown by the fans to the condenser. In the air-cooled condenser, the air temperature
difference in the cooling tower is between 12 and 14°C, and the resulting working fluid
temperature is about 40°C. A dry cooling tower is one in which the circulating fluid passes
through finned tubes over which fan-forced cooling air passes. All heat rejected from circulating
Isopentane is in the form of sensible heat to the cooling air. The exhaust Isopentane from the
organic turbines enters the condenser in a superheated state (3) and is condensed to saturated
liquid (4) as shown in Fig.1. The condensed Isopentane is collected in the Isopentane
accumulation tank for further recirculation. In the case of the OEC unit, the exhaust Isopentane
from the turbine enters the recuperator where it is cooled before it enters the condenser, still in a
superheated state. A circulation pump raises the pressure from the condenser pressure up to the
high pressure level. There the fluid enters the regenerator for pre-heat before vaporizer entry.
Point no. is the turbine exit vapor, Point no. is the regenerator outlet towards the condenser,
Point no. is the inlet of the condensate from the condenser, and Point no. is the pre-heated feed
to the vaporizer.

Fig.1. Schematic diagram of the Aluto-Langano Geothermal power plant

2.2. Mathematical model
Based on the Energy analysis, a thermodynamic model of the Aluto-Langano plant is presented
in this section.
2.2.1. Heat exchangers
It is assumed that the heat exchangers are well-insulated so that all the heat transfer is between
the brine and the working fluid. In keeping with overall assumptions, it is also assumed that the
flow is steady, and that the differences in entering and leaving potential energy and kinetic
energy are negligible. Considering the entire package as the thermodynamic system, the
governing equation would be [Ref]:
 ∆T hot −∆ T cold ∆ T hot −∆ T cold
∆ T hot ∆ T hot
ln ⁡( ) ln ⁡( )
LMTD ∆ T cold ∆ T cold
Q̇=U × A × LMTD= = =
1 Rt 1
¿
U×A DOut
ln ⁡( )
R D¿ R 1
h¿ + fou ,∈¿ + + fou ,out + ¿
A¿ A out Aout hcon , out × A out
(1)

Where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient, A is the heat transfer area that is constant, it is
determined during on-design conditions and LMTD is the log mean temperature difference
between hot and cold stream.
The pressure drop (Δp) in the heat exchangers is proportional to the square of the mass flow rate.
It can be expressed in terms of mass flow rate by assuming a constant pressure drop coefficient
ki where ki is calculated during at design conditions, according to Darcy equation for turbulent
flows and by assuming negligible variations of friction factor [Ref].
2
∆ P=k i × ṁ (2)

2.2.2. Steam turbine

The steam turbine has been modeled on the basis of stage groups. The basic relationship between
steam mass flow rate, pressure and flow cross-sectional area at the inlet of each stage group is
given as follows [Ref]

√
( v ¿ ¿i ¿ ¿ Pi )
A=Cm ¿¿
√ 1−(P ¿ ¿ e ¿ ¿ P ) ¿ ¿
i
2

(3) Where A is the nozzle

flow area at the inlet of the stage group, C is a dimensional constant, m is the steam mass flow
rate at the inlet of the group, ʋi is the specific volume at the inlet of the group, Pi is the pressure
at the inlet of the stage group, Pe is the pressure at exit from the stage group.

2.2.3. Feed pump

The water pump power consumption (ẇ pump) is obtained from ref [] :
ṁw × ∆ P
ẇ pump = (4)
ρ w × η pump
Where ṁw , ∆ P , ρw , η pump are water mass flow rate, pressure drop and pump isentropic efficiency
respectively.
2.3. Modeling and Simulation
In order to assess the energy performance of Aluto-Langano Geothermal power, a detailed model
of the plant has been performed by using a Matlab code. The mass flow, chemical compositions,
temperature and pressure at the inlet and exit of each component or subsystem have been
calculated. Thus, the code allows in calculating the power output of the whole plant and each
component that comprises the system. It is important to note that while writing the Matlab code,
all the factors that affects the energy performance of Geothermal plants, such as heat transfer,
phase changes, heat losses , pressure drop in each component, notably the effects of scale on the
efficiency of turbo-machinery and auxiliary power consumptions, etc has been considered.
The model has been calibrated to account the entire physical processes that take place in the real
geothermal power plant by collecting data from literatures and from the plant operators. Even
though the data that are available are usually not complete or scarce, the developed Matlab code
reasonably predicts the performances of each components and the overall system by using few
input parameters. However, a lot of sensitivity analysis has been performed on the main
operating parameters to understand their effects on performance of the whole plant. Thus, based
on these few parameters the model is calibrated to reproduce the energy performance of the real
plant performance of the plant. It is important to note that before modifying the system, the
model must be checked and validated with data coming from plant operators and the capability
of the software has been thoroughly validated. Thus, combining the mass/energy balance results
the performance of the plant has been studied thoroughly.

Scenario 1: The first task of working is modeling the power plant as per the manufacturer
specification, parameters and expected design power output for the initial hydrothermal
properties of the production wells. Then the model has been set up for obtaining nearly the same
gross and net power output of each turbine, the power plant as a sum total. Number of sensitivity
analysis has been made to get the desired output by taking the initial design state parameters and
specifications for the power plant and the hydrothermal properties of the geothermal field as an
input. These input variables are listed below on Table 2.1.
Table 2.1: Initial design state parameters and specifications
No Parameters Value
 1 Steam Turbine Inlet Pressure 12 bar
2 Steam Turbine outlet Pressure 1.7 bar
3 Air Cooled Condenser Pressure 1.12 bar
4 Organic Turbine Working Fluid Iso-pentene
5 Steam Turbine Inlet Temperature 188 CO

6 Gross Output Power 8.52 MWel

7 Net Output Power 7.28 MWel

Assuming the decline of pressure and its consequences of temperature of all production wells
happened within a year of time uniformly. The impact of this gradual decline of properties of all
production wells on the gross and net power output of the power plant has been tried to analyze
in the first scenario of the simulation.
Scenario 2 : The main objective of this project is to restart the power plant under the current
condition of production wells. As it is described on previous articles, the current hydrothermal
condition of the production wells in terms of pressure decline is listed on Table 2.4. The
expected outcome of the second scenario is then analyzing the power output of the power plant
under this current condition but varying condenser pressure. The benefit of this simulation
scenario is searching and finding the optimum and possible condenser pressure for better and
maximized output of the units. The condenser pressure in many ORC is higher than the
atmospheric pressure. This is a desirable property because a condensing pressure which is lower
than the atmospheric pressure involves air infiltration problems in the cycle and reduces the
cycle efficiency [57,58]. Therefore setting the condenser pressure to the minimum possible value
(0.9 bar) lower than the atmospheric pressure of the location of the power plant, keeping in mind
that the altitude of the location (2000m), the result obtained by simulating the model by fixing
the other parameters to the current condition of the plant is shown on the following figures.

Table 4.2: Simulation parameters for varying condenser pressure

No Parameters Value
1 Steam Turbine Inlet Pressure 5.4 bar
2 Steam Turbine outlet Pressure 1.7 bar
3 Air Cooled Condenser Pressure Variable
 4 Organic Turbine Working Fluid Iso-pentene
5 Steam Turbine Inlet Temperature 154.9 C O

6 OEC Vaporizer Inlet Pressure of Brine 2.27 bar

7 OEC Vaporizer Inlet Temperature 124.5 C O

Scenario 3 : Fortuitously the drilling of new production wells, LA-9 and LA-10, has been
completed and ready for energy production. Even if it needs more economical and other
technical analysis, joining the output of these new wells to the existing power plant and
analyzing the impact on power increment has been tried to do in this scenario. The hydrothermal
properties of one of the new well, LA-9, is taken as reference for simulation with the following
characteristics and properties of the well (see table 4.3)

No Parameters Value
1 Steam Flow rate 2.27 kg/s
2 Brine flow rate 11.5 kg/s
3 Pressure 12 bar
4 Organic Turbine working fluid Isopentane
5 Steam turbine inlet temperature 186 C
O

6 Well Temperature 315 C

O

Scenario 4: The thermo-physical properties of working fluids are highly related to the thermal
efficiency, second law efficiency, Net Work Out, etc. The choice of the optimal working fluid
depends basically on the heat source and the heat sink temperature. For any heat temperature
level there are a number of candidates which show a good match between heat source and heat
sink temperatures and cycles boundary conditions. The choice of the right working fluid is not an
easy process. The fluid selection process is a trade-off between thermodynamic specifications,
safety, environmental and economy aspects. The following criteria should be taken in
consideration in order to figure out the best candidates [59].
3. Results and discussion
 3.1. Scenario 1
3.2. Scenario 2
3.3. Scenario 3
The following figure shows (Figure 4.21) the result obtained on the third scenario comparing the
existing power output referring the current status of pressure and temperature of the production
wells.

Figure 4.1: Output Power comparison (Iso-pentane)

3.4. Scenario 4
 Figure 4.3: Steam Turbine Inlet Pressure Vs GCCU Power Output graph

Fig.4.4. OEC Vaporizer Pressure Vs OEC Power Output graph

Conclusions
Context of the study: In this study a detailed alternative solution to reactivate and maximize the
energy potential of the Aluto-Langano power plant was suggested by performing thermodynamic
analysis of the system for different working conditions and parameters.
Stating the main findings: Based on the result, changing working fluid, Isobutane instead of
Isopentane gives the system better efficiency and net electric power. Besides, decreasing
condenser pressure up to some acceptable (below the atmospheric pressure of the location) also
improves the efficiency of the power plan to some measurable units.
Compare your result/Validate: The model has been validated by using data coming from the
plant operators. The results show that approximately 0.1 % variations exist between the model
and the real plant net electric power output.
State importance of your findings: The method presented in this article can be applied
for modeling of geothermal power plants, to understand the real cause of the geothermal power
plants, to know how the plant behaves at different operating conditions and to find possibilities
that maximize the energy performance of the plant.
Limitation: It is highly recommended to do economic and environmental analysis to know cost
of electricity and avoided CO2 emissions while maximizing the energy perfume of geothermal
power plant.
Future work: Future works can be performed to solve the mechanical problems of the plant, part
load performance analysis and a detailed assessment of temperature and pressure drop locations
on the pipe network of the power plant.

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