Summary project module 2: Sustainable Ambon
Albert de Vries, s1836854, projectgroup 15
Introduction
Currently Ambon, part of the Maluku islands
located in Indonesia, is using diesel generators
to generate power for the 441.000 inhabitants.
Since Indonesia is located on top of enormous
geothermal reservoirs, there is interest in
replacing the diesel generators with a
geothermal solution. This will result in less CO2
emissions and this should ensure less power
outages. This is currently a big problem since
there is on average only electricity available for
10 hours a day.
In order to find out if there is a sustainable
option to supply Ambon in electricity, a
geothermal powerplant operating in
Hellisheidi, Iceland, is to be analysed. This
powerplant uses the wells located beneath the
ground that are heated by the earth’s natural
processes to produce energy using Rankine
principles. In Iceland’s conditions it manages to
produce over 300MWe and supply warm water
to Reykjavik. The average power consumption
calculated for Ambon, using linear
extrapolation, in 2045 is 135MWe.
Thermodynamic analysis
The geothermal powerplant in Hellisheidi is not
very complicated (the version we got), though
it is well thought out. It uses Rankine principles,
but is arguably is not a cycle since the begin-
and endpoint are not connected. A mixture
under relatively high pressure of 10 bar and a
temperature of 180 oC enters the system
coming from the production wells.
After a steam separator (fig 1: 1)
the flow is divided in three
separate flows which will come
together later on. Two saturated
steam flows (fig 1: red and orange)
are used to produce work in two
high pressure steam turbines (fig
1: 2 and 5). After this process they
are condensed into saturated
liquid (fig 1: 3 and 6) so they can
be pumped back into re-injection
wells (fig 1: 13). Interesting is, that
one of these flows (fig 1: red)
enters a heat exchanger before being
condensed, so co-generation is applied here.
The third flow (fig 1: blue) leaves the first steam
separator (fig 1: 1) as a saturated liquid. To
make use of this flow, it goes through a throttle
valve (fig 1: 8) to transform it into a mixture of
which we can use the steam for a low pressure
turbine (fig 1: 10) and the liquid for more co-
generation in another heat exchanger (fig 1:
between 9 and 13). After being condensed to
saturated liquid (fig 1: 11) the third flow joins
the first two and is pumped back into the re-
injection wells (fig 1: 13).
Looking at a Sankey-diagram of this process,
we can see there is a significant heat loss in the
condensers. But because of the low
temperature this heat is not useful. Heat
exchangers are placed strategically so co-
generation can be applied. As far as I now,
there is no need for the production of hot
water on Ambon, so this is something to
consider. Removing co-generation will lower
the utilization factor (for this plant: 32.0%), but
might give possibilities for increasing the net
electrical output of this power plant. Using
numbers calculated in MATLAB using the
numbers given on the flowchart, we calculated
a thermal efficiency of 18.5%. This seems
rather low compared to other types of
powerplants. But since the energy source
practically does not cost us anything and is
sustainable, the thermal efficiency doesn’t
Figure 1: Ts-diagram Hellisheidi
matter that much. Also, the Carnot
efficiency is 26.4%, resulting in a
2nd Law efficiency of 70.2%, which
is really good.

Materials Science analysis

The material choice for all the
components in the powerplant is
done by analysing the occurring
failure modes and the component
specific requirements. Failure
modes and the selected material
classes for each component can be
found in figure 2. The three main
failure modes are corrosion, creep
and fatigue. It should be apparent
that in all components corrosion
can occur since we are dealing
with a steam powerplant. An
argument can be made about the
hot water storage however, since there is a de-
aerator placed in front of it, there should be
little to no corrosion. Creep can occur when
selecting a material class with a low melting
temperature. Creep occurs at 0.4Tmelting, and
since the highest temperature in the
powerplant is 180 oC (453 oK), the melting
temperature should be at least 860 oC (1133
o are worse although not significantly (predicted
K). This shouldn’t be a problem since most
metals have a higher melting temperature.
Fatigue happens in all components containing
moving parts, mainly the turbines and the
pumps.
Each component has its own material
requirements, but there are some general
requirements applicable to almost all
components. All components must be able to
handle the at the component present mass,
flow, temperature and pressure. Since the
mass flows are relatively high, the components
will have big dimensions. Ductile materials are
preferred over brittle materials, because that is
saver when failure occurs. The cost of the
materials should be low, as it is a design
requirement set by the customer. Since we are
dealing with temperatures below 200 oC, there
is no need for exotic materials. The use of
consumer grade plumbing materials should not
create any problems.
Figure 2: failure mode and material class table
Conclusions
After looking at the Hellisheidi geothermal
powerplant, analysing the thermodynamic and
material aspects, we can conclude that it would
be a suitable solution to implement on Ambon.
It manages to produce over 300MWe in
Iceland. Assuming the conditions on Ambon
available geothermal energy is 150MWe), a
geothermal solution based on the plant in
Hellisheidi should be able to fulfil the electricity
demand for Ambon until at least 2045. The
diesel generators should not be needed
anymore, although they could be used for
backup power if there is a (catastrophic) failure
in the geothermal power plant.
There is not a whole lot to improve about the
Hellisheidi powerplant. It already uses co-
generation principles, and I can’t think of any
use for the heat lost at the condensers. Feed
water heating can’t be applied since there is no
feed water. Standard super heating can’t be
applied since we can’t extract any more heat
from the wells. However, there might be a
solution where multiple sustainable sources
are used to improve the overall cycle. For
example, combing a geothermal powerplant
with concentrated solar energy to super heat
the flows could work.