EXAMPLES OF INDUSTRIAL USES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN THE USA

John W. Lund Director, Geo-Heat Center GeoOregon Institute of Technology Klamath Falls, OR, USA

INTRODUCTION
Industrial applications & agricultural drying  Few in number in the U.S.  Large scale operations dominate


Gold ore heap leaching Onion dehydration Zinc ore extraction



Selected uses will be presented

ENERGY USE
   

Installed capacity = 38 MWt Annual energy use = 518 TJ (144 GWh) Mainly due to agricultural drying Enhanced petroleum recovery using injected geothermal water NE Wyoming and adjacent states estimated at 8,600 TJ/yr (2,390 GWh) and approx. 250 MWt
However, no reliable data available Reference: Lund, et al., GRC Trans. 1990

ZINC EXTRACTION 1


CalEnergy Operating Corp. $200 million Mineral Recovery Project Located on the shore of the Salton Sea in southern California Imperial Valley CalEnergy operates 10 geothermal power plants = 347 MWe Unit 5 49 MWe uses waste brine from 4 existing plants Constructed to fuel zinc project + electricity

CalEnergys Zinc Plant Imperial Valley, CA

ZINC EXTRACTION 2
    

Prior to plants construction spent brine from 8 plants was injected at 182oC (360oF) Unit 5 (49 MWe triple flash) 20 MWe used for zinc recovery operation Which = 30 MW of heat energy This reduces the brine temperature to 116oC (240oF) 1,200 TJ/yr (333 GWh) used in the process (electrical energy thermal equivalent + process steam)

ZINC EXTRACTION 3


 

The mineral recovery project will produce 30,000 tonnes (33,000 tons) of 99.99% pure zinc annually for Cominco Ltd. This comes from 9,000 tonnes/hr (9,900 tons/hr) of brine that contains 550 to 600 mg/L (ppm) of zinc Zinc sells for around US$0.50/lb ($1.10/kg) = about US$33 million/yr Also, looked at extracting high grade silica & manganese in the future

ZINC EXTRACTION 4
Process uses existing technology of ion exchange  But, also employs solvent extraction and electrowinning to extract the zinc from the brine  The zinc builds up on cathodes and removed in 24 hours  Melted into one ton ingots  Only operated at 40% capacity


Overview of CalEnergys Zinc Plant

HEAP LEACHING 1
 

Used in gold recovery from Nevada mines Process consists of dripping a dilute sodium cyanide solution over a crushed ore pile or heap The gold, in solution, drains from the heap and extracted by a charcoal process producing a bar of impure gold (dor). (dor The cyanide solution is then recycled

HEAP LEACHING 2
  

Operation can recover up to 95% of gold Also, used for silver extraction Under normal circumstances in Nevada operation takes place mid-March to latemidlateOctober (min. production temp. = 4oC - 40oF) Using geothermal energy
Recovered enhanced by 5 to 17% by accelerating the chemical reaction Year-around operation possible Year-

Geothermal fluids Drip irrigation of cyanide solution Heat exchanger Pumps Gold recovery

Carbon-filled columns Ore Pregnant pond Barren pond

Heap leaching flow diagram with geothermal

Mine ore Crushing Heap leaching Pregnant solution Pregnant pond Pregnant solution Process plant Heat exchanger Geo-fluid out Barren solution Barren pond Geo-fluid in

Agglomeration cyanide, lime & cement

Refinery

Gold

HEAP LEACHING 3
 

Two mines in Nevada have used geothermal Round Mountain

86,000 tonnes (95,000 tons) of ore/day 1g/tonne (0.035 oz/ton) = 21,000 kg (46,000 lbs) of gold in 2001 Geothermal @ 82oC and 69 L/s (180oF and 1,100 gpm) 14.1 MWt and 208 TJ/yr (57 GWh)

HEAP LEACHING 4


Florida Canyon 12,000 tonnes (13,000 tons) of ore/day 0.7 g/tonne (0.025 oz/ton) = 3,600 kg (8,000 lbs) of gold/yr Geothermal @ 99oC and 23 L/s (210oF and 365 gpm) 1.4 MWt and 42 TJ/yr (12 GWh) These two mines are presently shut down, due to: Low prices for gold and silver High operating costs Royalty charges for use of energy from federal lands Now being considered for reopening due to changes in gold price and BLM royality payment

Round Mountain, Nevada

MILK PASTEURIZATION 1


MedoMedo-Bel Creamery in Klamath Falls, Oregon used geothermal heat in milk pasteurization for about 50 years  233-m (765 ft.) deep well @ 87oC @ 6.3 233L/s (189oF and 100 gpm)  Used a 3-section plate heat exchanger 3 Minimum temperature needed: 78oC (172oF) for 15 seconds in short term pasteurizer

Medo-Bel Creamery with plate heat exchanger

MILK PASTEURIZATION 2
 

Plate heat exchangers 3 sections: 1. Preheats incoming milk at 3oC (37oF) by outgoing (pasteurized) milk to 71oC (160oF) 2. Pasteurizes milk with geothermal water (in at 87oC and out at 77oC)(189 and 171oF) 3. Finally, cools hot milk by preheating incoming cold milk and then further cooled with chilled water back to 3oC (37oF)

0.8 L/s Cold milk

3oC

12oC

B
71oC

Chilled water A B C

77oC* 6 L/s max. 87oC* 78oC

No Yes

3oC

Plate heat exchangers (Cherry Burrell) A: chilled water and hot milk B: cold and hot milk C: geothermal water and cold milk (short term pasteurizer)

74oC min. *= geothermal water

Cold milk (to packaging)

Float tank

Medo-Bel pasteurization flow diagram

MILK PASTEURIZATION 3
    

Milk processed at rate of 0.84 L/s (13 gpm) Total of 225,000 kg (500,000 lbs) processed/month Also used to batch pasteurize ice cream And, to heat 2,800 m3 (30,000 ft2) building Cost:
5 kW pump at $210/month Pipe corrosion (800 mg/L sodium sulfate H2O)

  

Savings: $1,000/month 0.3 MWt and 1.0 TJ/yr (0.3 GWh) No longer operating

SLUDGE DIGESTION 1


  

City of San Bernardino has a geothermal district heating system serving 14 major buildings = 13 MWt The city installed a primary anaerobic sewerage digester in 1983 Process uses 58oC (136oF) geothermal fluid which replaced methane fuel The digester, which uses living anaerobic micromicro-organisms to feed on the organics, uses geothermal to assist the process

SLUDGE DIGESTION 2


 

The geothermal design uses an 18.5 m2 (200 ft2) spiral plate heat exchanger to transfer 1.6 GJ/hr (1.5 million Btu/hr) of heat to the 7,600 m3 (268,000 ft3) digester tank The geothermal water, at 290 mg/L (ppm), flows at 25 L/s (400 gpm) in at 58oC (136oF) gpm) and out at 53oC (127oF) The savings is approx. $30,000/yr Expanded to 4 digesters 1.8 MWt 53 TJ/yr (6.4 GWh)

To / From Existing Boiler / Heat Exchanger System

CH4 25 L/s 58 oC

Instrument Control Panel

38 oC Spiral Plate Heat Exchanger (1.6 GJ/hr) 32 oC Existing Anaerobic Digester 7600 m 3

20 cm AC Pressure Pipe 18.5 kW Pump

53 C 15 cm PVC

Existing Tertiary Reservoir Plant Process Water 114 m3

Production Well

Sludge digestion diagram San Bernardino, CA

AGRICULTURAL DRYING 1
 

Two large geothermal onion and garlic dehydrators are located in NW Nevada These units can each process 4.5 to 6.8 tonnes (10,000 to 15,000 lbs) of wet onions/hr drying them from 80% to 5% moisture (output = 0.9 to 1.4 tonnes/hr 2,000 to 3,000 lbs/hr) 35 MJ/kg used (15,000 Btu/dry lb) = 208 TJ/yr (58 GWh) (100 billion Btu/yr) over 150 days period Product used in soups, baked goods, salt, & seasoning as powders to slices

40C 0.5 x 106 990C 1100 C 57 L/s 1100 C 32 L/s A-1 5.3 x 106 990C 1100C 25 L/s Production wells (2) 32 L/s A-2 6.2 x 106
kJ hr kJ hr.

880C 990C A-3 3.8 x 106

kJ hr

900C 32 L/s

900C 25 L/s

Preheat bryair

890 C

820C 930 C 800 C 25 L/s

7 L/s Gas heater 25 L/s

A-4 5.2 x 106

0.5 x 106 -1500 C - 82 C

0

Space heater greenhouses

710C 820 C 32 L/s B-1 3.8 x 106 740 C

630C 720C B-2 1.0 x 106

kJ hr

540 C 700C C 0.4 x 106

490 C 69C F D 0.6 x 106

380C 680 C 32 L/s

Curing docks 770 C 57 L/s

(assumed outside temperature is 40C) Reinjection well (1)

AGRICULTURAL DRYING 2


SingleSingle-line, continuous-belt dryer use continuous 3.8 m (12.5 ft.) wide 58 to 65 m (190 to 215 ft.) long 3 to 4 sections (A to D) 96 to 74oC (205 to 165oF) Processing 4.5 to 6.8 tonnes/hr (10,000 to 15,000 lbs/hr) of wet onions Using 2,450 m3/hr (86,500 ft3) of air 42 GJ/hr (4.3 million Btu/hr) Onions 5 cm to 2 m (2 in. to 6 ft.) deep Bryair desiccation unit required in final stage

Outlet Intakes D

C Exhausts B-2 B-1 65 m

A-4 A-3 A-2 A-1 Inlet

AGRICULTURAL DRYING 3


Bradys Hot Spring plant first in U.S. 132oC (270oF) geothermal fluid Only has 3 stages (A thru c) 6-months operation season 23 tonnes (25 tons) of wet onions are processed during season 58-m (190-ft) long dryer by 3.8 m (12.5 ft.) wide 58- (190 Uses 88 to 49oC (190 to 120oF) air in various stages Has also processed celery and carrots to extend season Product trucked from S. California to S. Oregon (500 to 1000 km (300 to 600 miles)

AGRICULTURAL DRYING 4
 

   

Empire Foods plant constructed 1994 Capacity 34 tonnes/day (37 tons/day) onions; 38.6 tonnes/day (42 tons/day) garlic 50 to 75 L/s (800 to 1200 gpm) of geothermal fluid @ 141oC (286oF) Cold storage warehouse allows year-round operation year 2nd line being considered Geothermal energy also used for four ORMAT 1.51.5MWe binary units net output 3.6 MWe 16oC (29oF) T across heat exchanger spent fluid being considered for 1 MWe power plant for facility use Plant now closed due to competition of garlic imports from China

Empire Energy 5 MWe 4 binary units

SUMMARY
 

  

Industrial use dominated by large facilities (onion dehydration, heap leaching, zinc processing) Small industrial uses include: laundries, mushroom growing, mineral water processing, and an industrial park in Hawaii (experimental work) Enhanced petroleum recovery in NE Wyoming using injected geothermal water no reliable data Total as high as 100 MWt and 2,000 TJ/yr (555 GWh) + 250 MWt and 8,600 TJ/yr (2,390 GWh) Today 38 MWt and 518 TJ/yr (144 GWh)

CONCLUSIONS 1


  

A survey in the U.S. found that of 108 industrial processes surveyed (representing 80% of U.S. industrial energy usage), 97% of all processes required heat input in the form of steam at 120oC (250oF) or higher. An examination of geothermal wells in 8 western U.S. states reveals that 99% are 120oC (250oF) or less. High load factor important (most: 0.44 to 0.68) Wells above 120oC (250oF) would normally be used for electric power generation, however ---K. Rafferty, GHC Bulletin Vol. 24, No. 3 (Sept., 2003)

* source:

Geothermal Well Temper

OR, ID, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM,
2000 1500 Nb o e a ra v u e fw to be m r ls l o 1000 500 0

110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 250

Well Temperature in F

Ref: K. Rafferty, 2003

Cost of Energy
Cost of Energy $/MM Btu
10 8 6 4 2 0 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.4

System Load Factor

Ref: K. Rafferty, 2003

CONCLUSION 2
 

Consider: Power plant vs dehydration plant Assumptions

150oC (300oF) resource 20 MW net binary power plant US$0.07 per kWh power sales price 10-month dehydration operation 1013,600 tonnes (15,000 tons) annual production (2 lines) US$2.20/kg ($1.00/lb) dried product wholesale price

CONCLUSIONS 3
Power plant vs dehydration plant Power plant Capital Expenditure $50 mill. Gross Revenue $11 mill. Resource require. 760 L/s (12,000 gpm) Employees 15


Dehydration plant $15 mill. $18 mill. 76 L/s (1,200 gpm) 75

*source: D. Mendive, Geothermal Development Assoc., Reno, NV

CONCLUSIONS 4


The industries with favorable geothermal heat use Plastics (Rayon, Acetate, polypropylene, acrylics) Rubber (latex) Chemical and paper manufacturing Dehydration Two alternatives to improve the situation Use high temperature effluent from geothermal power plants Use vapor recompression technology (low pressure steam compressed to high pressure/temperature)
*Source: K. Rafferty, GHC Bulletin Vol. 24, No.3 (Sept. 2003)

Food Processing

1000C

Apartment Building

Refrigeration Plant

Greenhouse

Fish Farm Power Plant 2000C

THANK YOU

GHC