ENERGY FROM THE EARTH

GEOTHERMAL
TECHNOLOGIES
EDUCATION MODULE
(GTH01PP)

CACTUS MOON
EDUCATION, LLC
www.cactusmooneducation.com

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© Cactus Moon Education, LLC. Education, LLC.
 INDEX
• Slide 1 Title Slide
• Slide 2 Index
• Slide 3 – 4 Geothermal Technologies
• Slide 5 – 7 Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plant
• Slide 8 – 9 Flash-Steam Geothermal Power Plant
• Slide 10 – 11 Dry-Steam Geothermal Power Plant
• Slide 12 – 13 Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Power Plant
• Slide 14 – 15 Direct use
• Slide 16 – 17 Geo-Exchange

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 Geothermal Technologies - 1
• Geothermal Energy is the energy contained in the heat
inside the earth.

• Where the earth’s tectonic plates meet and slide

under/over each other there are opportunities for the
heat contained at the center of the earth to rise and
approach the earth’s surface.

• This can take place in the form of:

• Spectacular and devastating volcanoes
• Spectacular but relatively harmless geysers.
(For example – Old Faithful)
or
• Hardly noticeable warm or hot springs

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 Geothermal Technologies - 2

• The presence of any of the above is a good indication of

the proximity of a geothermal energy source.

• Drilling a hole into the earth in these locations – a

geothermal production well - can very often allow us to
tap into the geothermal reservoir and use the heat to
produce electricity or for some other process.

• There are different technologies used to produce

electricity depending on the temperature of the
geothermal resource.

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 Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plant - 1

• A binary geothermal power plant uses the relatively low

temperature - 300° F – brine found in shallow
geothermal reservoirs.

• The hot brine is pumped out of the “production well” and

into the vaporizer where heat from the brine is
transferred to a fluid with a low boiling point such as
pentane (Pentane boils at 85° F).

• The pentane vapor powers the turbine/generator which

produces electricity.

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 Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plant - 2

• The vapor is then condensed back into a liquid to be re-

vaporized in the vaporizer.

• The geothermal brine that was used to vaporize the

pentane is re-injected into the earth in an “injection” well.

• Re-inserting the heat depleted liquid into the geothermal

reservoir extends the life of the geothermal resource.

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 Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plant

Geothermally heated The vaporized

1 3 3
brine is pumped out of pentane powers a
the production well and turbine/generator
into the vaporizer. which produces
electricity.

2 4
Heat from the brine is The pentane vapor is
2 transferred to a liquid 4 then condensed back
that has a low boiling into a liquid – ready to
point such as be returned to the
pentane. vaporizer.
5
1

The geothermal brine that gave its

5 heat in the vaporizer is re-injected
into the earth to help extend the life of
__________________________
the geothermal resource.
Cactus Moon
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 Flash-Steam Geothermal Power Plant
• Sometimes the temperature of the geothermal water is
higher than the boiling point of water but the high
pressure that the water is subjected to under the earth
prevents the water from actually boiling

• As the water is allowed to reach the earth’s surface, the

pressure is reduced and the water can “flash” into steam.

• The steam can be used to power a turbine/generator and

produce electricity.

• The used steam is condensed back into water which can

be re-injected into the geothermal reservoir to help
extend the life of the geothermal resource.
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 Flash Steam Geothermal Power Plant

1 High temperature geothermal 2

water is allowed to flash into
steam in the “flash drum”.

The steam is used to power a

2 turbine/generator which
produces electricity. 3

3 The steam exiting the 1

turbine is condensed back
into water.

The water is re-injected

4 back into the geothermal 4
reservoir to help extend
the life of the geothermal
resource.

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 Dry-Steam Geothermal Power Plant
• An even hotter geothermal resource can actually
produce steam.

• With this type of geothermal source the steam is

channeled through a “rock catcher” to remove solid
debris before being used to power a turbine/generator.

• The steam exiting the turbine is condensed back into a

liquid which is re-injected into the earth to help extend
the life of the geothermal resource.

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 Dry Steam Geothermal Power Plant

The production well

1 channels geothermally
produced steam through a
rock catcher.

The steam is then used to

2 3
power a turbine/generator
which produces electricity.

1
The steam exiting the
3
turbine is condensed
back into water.

4 The water is re-injected 4

back into the geothermal
reservoir to help extend
the life of the geothermal
resource.

__________________________ Cactus Moon

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Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Power Plant
• Not all geothermal sources have “mobile” water to
indicate their presence.

• A vast majority of the world’s accessible geothermal

energy is found in rock that is hot but, essentially, dry.

• Water can be injected into the hot-dry-rock to be heated

by the geothermal heat energy and pumped back out of
the earth to be used in binary cycle geothermal power
plants.

• The water used to power the plant is re-injected into the

earth to be heated and used again.
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 Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Power Plant

Water is pumped at high pressure 5

1
(typically greater than 5,000 psi) into 4
the earth in an “injection well”.

The high pressure water creates a

2
“fracture zone” of fractures and
channels in the hot rock.
6
3
The water flows through the fracture
3 zone, is heated by the hot rocks
and is collected in a production well. 1 2
The geothermally heated water is
4 passed through a heat exchanger
where the heat energy is transferred
to a secondary liquid.
The heat in the secondary liquid can be used
5 to power a Binary Cycle Geothermal Power
Plant (see slides 5 – 7).
The heat depleted water is re-injected into the
6 earth to be heated and used again.

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 Geothermal Direct Use
• Not all geothermal sources are hot enough to be used to generate
electricity.

• In many cases hot, or warm, geothermally heated water can be

accessed by a relatively shallow well and the warm water used for
“direct use”.

• Direct use includes using the warm water for residential space
heating or for commercial aquaculture applications.

• Any application where warmth is desirable, such as shrimp farming

or tomato growing can use the heat from a low temperature
geothermal resource as a source of warm energy.

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 Geothermal Direct Use

A relatively shallow well can

1 be drilled to access the
warm water from a
geothermal resource.
1
The water can be used to provide
2
warmth for commercial enterprises
such as shrimp farming or growing
tomatoes or other “heat” needing
crops.

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 Geo-Exchange Ground Source Heat Pump

• Geoexchange is a different use of geo-energy that takes advantage

of the relatively constant temperature of the earth rather than the
extreme temperatures associated with release of geothermal energy
from tectonic plate activity.
• A conventional heat pump uses the ambient outside air temperature
to help cool buildings in the Summer and help heat buildings in the
Winter.
• In the Summer it becomes more difficult to “dump” the building
extracted heat into the ever increasingly hot outside air.
• In the Winter it becomes more difficult to “extract” heat for the
building from the ever decreasingly cold outside air.
• A ground source heat pump (geoexchange) system makes dumping
heat into, and extracting heat from, the relatively constant
temperature earth a much easier option.

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Geo-Exchange Ground Source Heat Pump

A ground source heat pump

1 consists of heat transfer coils that
are buried in horizontal troughs or
vertically drilled holes.

In the summer, the “cool” temperature 1

2
of the earth can be used as a “heat
dump” for the building heat pump in 2
3
its cooling mode.

3 In the winter, the “warm”

temperature of the earth can be
used as a “heat source” for the
building heat pump in its heating
mode.

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