CHAPTER XI

GEOTHERMAL
POWER PLANT
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1. A liquid dominated geothermal plant with a single flash separator receives water at 204 C. The separator
pressure is 1.04 MPa. A direct contact condenser operates at 0.034 MPa. The turbine has a polytropic efficiency
of 0.75. For a cycle output of 50 MW, what is the mass flow rate of the well-water in kg/s?

a. 2100 c. 1867
b. 2871 d. 2444
Solution:

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2. A geothermal power plant draws pressurized water from the well at 20 MPa and 300 C. To produce a steam-
water mixture in the separator, where the unlashed water is removed, this water is throttled to a pressure of 1.5
MPa. The flashed steam which is dry and saturated passes through the steam collector and enters the turbine at
1.5 MPa and expands to 1 atm. The turbine efficiency is 85% at a rated output of 10 MW. Calculate the over-all
plant efficiency.

a. 7.26% c. 10.7%
b. 5.28% d. 12.7%
Solution:

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3. A flashed steam geothermal power plant is located where underground hotwater is available as saturated liquid
at 700 kPa. The well head pressure is 600 kPa. The flashed steam enters a turbine at 500 kPa and expands to 15
kPa, when it is condensed. The flow rate from the well is 29.6 kg/s. Determine the power produced in kW.

a. 453.16 kW c. 254.25 kW
b. 540.36 kW d. 430.16 kW
Solution:

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4. In a certain geothermal area, studies show that 1,500,500 kg/hr of pressurized ground water is available at
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2500 psia and 620 F. The water will be throttled to 250 psia to produce ert steam and this mixture will be passed
through a water separator to remove the water droplets so that saturated steam at 250 psia is available at the
entrance of steam turbine for the proposed power plant. Other data are as follows:

Discharge pressure of turbine 25 in. Hg. Vaccum

Turbine Engine efficiency 75%
Mechanical Loss 1.5% of shaft power
Generator efficiency 97%
Assume atmospheric pressure to be 30 in. Hg. Determine the maximum amount of power in kW that the plant can
generate.

a. 53.16 MW c. 68.06 MW
b. 80.36 MW d. 43.16 MW
Solution:

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5. A flashed steam geothermal plant has pressurized underground water available at 102 kg/cm and 240 C. In
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order to produce steam-water mixture, the groun water is passed and throttled to 5.4 kg/cm in a steam separator.
The dry steam produced in the separator is fed to double flow impulse and reaction turbine with guaranteed
engine efficiency of 85%. The turbine is directly coupled to a 3 phase, 60 Hz, 80% power factor, 13800-V air
cooled generator. Exhaust is to be direct-contact spray type main condenser designed to operate a vacuum of
647.5 mm of Hg. Generator efficiency is 95%, ground water is 459 kg/s. What is the enthalpy of steam-water
mixture in the steam separator?

a. 1038.10 kJ/kg c. 1543.25 kJ/kg

b. 1245.78 kJ/kg d. 1052.35 kJ/kg
Solution:

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6. Based on the date in problem No. 5, what is the enthalpy of steam entering the turbine.

a. 2876.68 kJ/kg c. 2751.3 kJ/kg

b. 1874.67 kJ/kg d. 3574.4 kJ/kg
Solution:

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7. Based on the data in problem No. 5 what is the enthalpy of the exhaust steam.

a. 2876.68 kJ/kg c. 2751.37 kJ/kg

b. 1874.67 kJ/kg d. 2204.15 kJ/kg
Solution:
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8. Based on the data in problem No. 5, what is the mass flow rate of steam entering the turbine?

a. 84.88 kg/s c. 94.88 kg/s

b. 74.88 kg/s d. 104.88 kg/s
Solution:

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9. Based on the data in problem No. 5, what is the actual power generated by the plant in MW?

a. 37.50 MW c. 35.40 MW
b. 27.50 MW d. 25.40 MW
Solution:

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9. Based on the data in problem No. 5, what is the apparent power developed by the generator in KVA?

a. 43,576.687 kVA c. 45,275.375 kVA

b. 51,874.678 kVA d. 46,877.475 kVA
Solution:

11. Based on the data in problem No. 5, how many cubic meter per hour of fresh water that must be supplied to
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the main condenser if water from cooling tower enters the condenser at 35 C and leaves at 48 C?
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a. 11,105.393 m /hr c. 22,751.377 m /hr
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b. 12,874.677 m /hr d. 21,204.158 m /hr
Solution:

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12. Based on the data in problem No. 5, how many production wells are needed to supply the plant with
pressurized water if each well has a capacity of 127,200 kg/hr?

a. 13 wells c. 12 wells
b. 14 wells d. 10 wells
Solution:

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13. Based on the data in problem No. 5, determine the thermal efficiency of the geothermal plant?
 a. 9.88% c. 8.69 %
b. 9.57% d. 7.86%
Solution:

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14. In a geothermal power plant, the mass flow rate of ground water is 400 kg/s and the quality after throttling is
20%. If the turbine power is 80 MW, what is the change in enthalpy of steam at the inlet and outlet of the turbine?

a. 1000 kJ/kg c. 2000 kJ/kg

b. 1500 kJ/kg d. 2500 kJ/kg
Solution:

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15. The mass flow rate of ground water in a 20 MW geothermal power plant is 150 kg/s and its enthalpy is 1000
kJ/kg. If the quality after throttling is 28% and the over-all plant efficiency is 20%. What is the mass flow rate of
steam entering the turbine?

a. 28 kg/s c. 18 kg/s
b. 76 kg/s d. 24 kg/s
Solution:

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16. The turbine power of a geothermal power plant is 2MW and the enthalpy at the inlet of the turbine is 2500
kJ/kg. Steam flows at the rate of 2.5 kg/s. If the enthalpy at the outlet of the condenser is 300 kJ/kg and the
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temperature rises of the cooling water is 10 C, what is the volume flow rate of the cooling water?
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a. 109.37 m /hr c. 120.37 m /hr
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b. 237.68 m /hr d. 320.47 m /hr
Solution:

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17. In a geothermal power plant, the enthalpies of the ground water and the turbine inlet are 1500 kJ/kg and 3500
kJ/kg respectively. If the enthalpy of the hot water in the flash tank is 700 kJ/kg and the mass flow rate of steam is
15 kg/s, what is the mass flow rate of ground water?

a. 52.50 kg/s c. 55.49 kg/s

b. 48.69 kg/s d. 345.48 kg/s
Solution:

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