THERMODYNAMIC PERFORMANCES OF AN ORGANIC RANKINE

CYCLE (ORC) USING LOW ENTHALPY GEOTHERMAL

RESOURCES.

1.Introduction.
Romania is one of the countries that has important geothermal resources. The
existence of hot springs has been known since ancient times, but systematic research for the
inventory of these resources and their exploitation began to be done since the 1960s. Starting
with this moment, in close connection with an extensive program of inventory of Romania's
oil resources, more than 250 wells were drilled which highlighted the existence of geothermal
aquifers located at depths up to 3500 m and with water temperature at mouth of wells in the
range of 40…120 oC [1]. The current or experimental exploitation of these drillings allowed
the evaluation of the geothermal potential of Romania about of 5,6·10 4 GWh (4,8·106 toe), for
20 years, which corresponds to a thermal power of existing wells about of 480 MW [2]. The
main geothermal resources of Romania are in the Western Plain in the perimeter of Timişoara
– Oradea - Satu Mare, on the Olt Valley in the perimeter of Călimăneşti - Cozia and in the
North of Bucharest in the perimeter Otopeni – Balotești - Snagov. The Table 1 shows the
main parameters of the geothermal systems in operation from Romania.

Table 1
The main parameters of the geothermal systems in operation from Romania
Geothermal System
Parameter UM Western North of
Oradea Borș Olt Valley
Plain Bucharest
Type Limestone Limestone Sandstone Conglomerate Limestone
Surface km2 75 12 2500 18 300
Depth km 2.2-3.2 2.4-2.8 0.8-2.1 2.1-2.4 1.9-2.6
Number of
14 6 88 3 11
wells
Active wells 12 5 37 2 5
Water o
C 80-110 120 60-90 90-95 60-80
temperature
Temperature o
C/km 35-43 45-50 38-50 45-48 28-34
gradient
Dissolved salts g/l 0.8-1.4 12-14 2-7 13 2.2
Annual saving toe 9700 3200 18500 2600 1900
Installed
power (active MW 58 25 210 18 32
wells)
Exploitable
MW/d 570 110 4700 190 310
reserve

In Romania, the use of geothermal energy is done only directly, using the heat
extracted by cooling geothermal water in heat exchangers, for space heating, greenhouse
heating, fish and animal farms, draying processes, spa treatments and swimming pools.
Unfortunately, investments in this area have steadily declined and despite several new
objectives achieved in recent years, the utilization factor of existing capacities is very small,
around 23%. The Table 2 shows the main areas of use of geothermal energy and their share in
total consumption.
 Table 2
The main areas of use of geothermal energy in Romania
Installed Annual
Share Utilization
Use Power Energy Use
[%] Factor
[MW] [MWh/year]
Space heating 107.9 2.35·105 57.8 0.25
Spa treatments and swimming 66.7 1.40·105 34.5 0.24
Greenhouse heating 15.7 2.30·104 5.6 0.17
Grain dryers 6.3 3.60·103 0.9 0.06
Fish and animal farming 4.8 2.70·103 0.7 0.06
Industrial processes 3.7 1.95·103 0.5 0.06
Total 205.1 4.06·105 100.0 0.23

In practice, the use of geothermal energy is limited to space heating (57.8%), spa
treatments and swimming pools (34.5%) and greenhouse heating (5.6%). The low
temperatures of the geothermal resources (60 ... 95 oC and only isolated 110 ... 120 oC) make
the applications regarding the obtaining of electricity, uneconomical. Although several studies
and even experimental installations have been carried out, at present in Romania no electricity
is produced based on geothermal energy.
However, given on the one hand the EU's energy strategy on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, the use of renewable energies and increasing global energy efficiency, and on the
other hand the fact that Romania has a large amount of yet unused low enthalpy geothermal
resources, it is interesting to be reconsidered electricity production even if the energy
efficiency of the installations does not exceed 7...8% [5].
This paper presents a case study on the possibility of producing electricity using the
low enthalpy geothermal water resource in the north of Bucharest. It is expected that the
electricity will be produced in a binary cycle with organic fluids (ORC) and the cooling of the
installation should be done with air in the cold season and with water, taken from the local
water accumulations, in the hot season.

2. Operation of the installation

The Bucharest North geothermal reservoir develops in the carbonate collector
(limestone and dolomite fractured/cracked at depths of 2000…3200 m) of the Moesic
Platform, being delimited on an area of about 300 km 2. In this area, at the end of 2014, were
inventoried for geothermal resources research 23 drillings, of which only 17 were considered
to have extraction or injection potential [6]. The drillings were tested at flow rates of 22-28
l/s, the geothermal water having surface temperatures of 40-83 °C and a quantity of dissolved
salts of 1.5-2.2 g/l, noting an important presence of hydrogen sulfide of 30 mg/l.
One of these boreholes located in the perimeter Balotești - Moara Vlăsiei could be
used for electricity production using a binary cycle with organic fluids, with a geothermal
water temperature at the wellhead of 75 oC and a constant flow of 35 l / s. The climate of the
area is temperate - continental, with a few days a year below the frost limit, allowing the
installation to cool almost all year round with water taken from the nearby lake, which is part
of the hydrographic system of Cociovalistea valley. Figure 1 shows the variation of the
atmospheric temperature in the drilling area during 2020. If the air temperature remains low,
the installation can use an atmospheric condenser. In the hot season, the increase of the air
temperature reduces the temperature difference between which the installation works,
reducing the electrical power obtained. In this situation water cooling can be used.
 Fig. 1 Variation of atmospheric temperature during 2020 in the selected area.
(Source: Meteoblue)

Figure 2 shows the operation diagram of the installation, and figure 3 shows the
thermodynamic cycle performed by the organic fluid used as working agent. In order to
increase the energy efficiency of the installation, by reducing the heat flow given to the
condenser, a heat recuperator was introduced in the installation diagram through which the
cooling heat of the vapors discharged from the turbine, with state 2, is used to preheat the
saturated liquid pumped from the condenser to state 5'.

Fig. 2 Operation scheme of the installation.

 The steam generator of the installation comprises two sections. The hot geothermal
water, coming from the drilled well, first enters in evaporator where the saturated liquid with
state 6 is vaporized, obtaining dry saturated or superheated vapors with state 1. In the second
part of the steam generator, the working agent is preheated to saturation temperature. The
temperature up to which geothermal water can be cooled depends on the one hand on the
temperature at which the working agent leaves the heat recuperator, and on the other hand on
the need for a pinch-point of at least 2…3 degrees to be made in state 6. These requirements
obviously determine the vaporization temperature. The condensing temperature is determined
by the temperature variation allowed for the cooling medium and the minimum temperature
difference allowed at the condenser.

Fig. 3 The thermodynamic cycle in the T-s diagram.

3. The mathematical model.

Table 3 shows the algorithm for determining the state parameters at the points of the
thermodynamic cycle in figure 3.
Table 3
Algorithm for determining the state parameters.
State Description Pressure Status parameters
t 1=t v + ∆ t sh
1 Superheated vapors at the turbine inlet pv h1=h ( p v ,t 1 )
s1=s ( p v , t 1)
s2 s =s 1
Superheated vapors at the end of the pc t 2 s=t ( p c , s 2 s )
2s
isentropic expansion
h2 s=h ( pc , s2 s )
h2 =h1−ηt ( h1−h 2 s )
Superheated vapors at the end of the real, pc t 2=t ( p c , h2 )
2
irreversible, expansion
s2=s ( p c , h2 )
t 3=t c ; x 3=1
2'≡3 Saturated vapors at the condenser inlet pc h3 =h ( pc , x 3 )
s3=s ( p c , x 3)
4 Saturated liquid at the condenser exit pc t 4=t c ; x 4=0
 h 4=h ( p c , t 4 )
s4 =s ( pc , x 4 )
s5 s =s 4
5s Liquid after pumping isentropic process pv t 5 s=t ( p c , s 5 s )
h5 s=h ( pc , s 5 s )
h5 =h4 + ( h5 s−h4 ) /η p
Liquid after pumping real, irreversible pv t 5=t ( p v , h5 )
5
process
s5=s ( p v , h5 )
h5 ' =h5+ ( h2−h 2' )
5' Liquid at the recuperator exit pv t 5 ' =t ( pv , h5 ' )
s5 ' =s ( pv , h5 ' )
t 6=t v ; x 6 =0
6 Saturated liquid at the evaporator inlet pv h6 =h ( pv , x6 )
s6 =s ( p v , x 6 )
t 6 ' =t v ; x 6 ' =1
6' Saturated vapors in evaporator pv h6 ' =h ( p v , x 6 ' )
s6 ' =s ( p v , x 6 ' )

The vaporization temperature t v is an independent variable. The temperature t 3 gw up to

which geothermal water can be cooled results from the energy balance of the evaporator and
the preheater, respectively:
' h6−h5
t gw 3=t gw 2−c gw ( t gw1−t gw2 ) [℃] (1)
h 1−h6
where the temperature of the geothermal water at the outlet of the evaporator is determined by
the need to realize a pinch-point ∆ t pp=3 … 5 ℃:
t gw 2=t v + ∆ t pp [ ℃ ] (2)
The temperature of the working agent at the outlet of the evaporator is determined by
the degree of superheating ∆ t sh, chosen so that at the end of the expansion of the turbine it
does not reach a state of wet vapor.
The condensation temperature depends on the initial temperature t ca 1 of the available
coolant, the variation ∆ t ca of the coolant temperature and the pinch point made at the outlet of
the heat exchanger:
t c =t ca1+ ∆ t ca +∆ t pp [ ℃ ] (3)
The characteristic sizes of the installation are:
- specific thermal load of the condenser:
|q c|=h3−h 4 [kJ/kg] (4)
- specific thermal load of the vapor generator (including preheater)
q v =h 1−h5 ' [kJ/kg] (5)
- specific expansion mechanical work
l t =h1−h 2 [kJ/kg] (6)
The working agent flow results from the energy balance of the evaporator:
c gw ( t gw 1−t gw 2 )
ṁ= ṁgw [kJ /kg ] (7)
h1−h 6
 The heat flow received in the vapor generator and the power to the turbine shaft are
given by the relations:
Q̇v = ṁq v [kW ] (8)
Pt =ṁl t [kW ] (9)
resulting the value of the cycle efficiency:
Q̇ v
η c= (10)
Pt
4. Results.
Working agents used in binary cycle power plants must have an environmental impact
in accordance with the provisions of the EU Regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases and
have thermodynamic properties that allow the plant to be highly efficient.
Table 4 shows a selection of some agents that meet these requirements and are
currently used, being sorted by their GWP potential. The impact on the ozone layer is zero for
all these agents.
Table 4
Usual working agents [8]
tcr GWP/ Safety
Agent Group ODP
[oC] CO2 group
RE170 (DME) HC 127.2 0 1 A3
R1233zd(E) HFO 165.5 0 1 A1
R600a HC 134.9 0 3 A3
R600 HC 154.2 0 4 A3
R1234ze(E) HFO 109.4 0 6 A2L
R245fa HFC 154.0 0 858 B1
R134a HFC 101.0 0 1300 A1
R123 HCFC 183.7 0.02 9100 B1

To study the performance of the installation, the case of a geothermal water drilling in
the northern part of Bucharest, located in the perimeter of Balotești - Moara Vlăsiei - Snagov,
was considered. The drilling is exploited in artesian regime, but the geological characteristics
require the reintroduction of the used water in the aquifer. The study was performed in the
hypothesis of cooling the installation with water taken from the lake located in the vicinity.
The parameters of the arrangement are the following:
- water temperature at the drilling head: 75 oC
- available flow of geothermal water: 35 l/s
- cooling water temperature: 17 oC
- condensation temperature: 30 oC
- evaporation temperature range: 40…65 oC
- degree of overheating: 10 degrees
- pinch-point in heat exchangers: 3 degrees
Under these conditions, the operation of the installation was simulated, considering as
a variable the vaporization temperature. The simulation was performed according to the
mathematical model presented above, using the EES software. The results are shown in
Figure 4 and Table 5.
Table 5
Characteristic parameters of the installation for maximum power
Agent
qv |q c| lt ṁ Q̇v Pt ,max ηc t gw 3 t v ,opt
[kJ/kg] [kJ/kg] [kJ/kg] [kg/s] [kW] [kW] [%] [℃] [℃]
R134a 189.6 177.8 12.54 19.26 3651 241.5 6.615 49.53 50
R1234ze(E) 177.8 166.5 11.79 20.10 3573 237.1 6.635 20.07 50
DME 425.5 400.7 25.84 9.007 3832 232.7 6.073 48.26 48
R600a 350.0 329.1 21.62 10.70 3747 231.4 6.177 48.86 48
R600 383.8 360.8 23.60 9.672 3712 228.2 6.148 49.10 48
R245fa 202.5 190.3 12.33 18.46 3738 227.6 60.88 48.92 48
R1233zd(E
204.0 191.8 12.36 18.33 3739 226.6 6.060 48.91 48
)
R123 182.8 171.8 11.11 20.33 3716 225.9 6.081 49.08 48

Fig.4 The variation of the power of the electric generator and of the thermal efficiency in
relation to the vaporization temperature, for different agents.

The study was performed for agents listed in Table 4, which do not affect the
environment, having zero ODP potential. The efficiency of the installation increases with the
increase of the vaporization temperature, but there are very small differences between the
different agents that can be used. However, the power produced by the electrical generator of
the installation has a maximum in relation to the change of the vaporization temperature. The
optimum vaporization temperature, for which the maximum power is obtained, is within the
range of 48 ... 50 C, for all the agents examined, having different values for each agent.

References
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