Hybrid and Geothermal Systems
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Introduction
Many technologies have been developed to take advantage of
geothermal energy—the heat from the earth.
This heat can be drawn from several sources:
o Hot water or steam reservoirs deep in the earth that are accessed by
drilling
o Geothermal reservoirs located near the earth's surface
o Shallow ground near the Earth's surface that maintains a relatively
constant temperature of 50°–60°F.
This variety of geothermal resources allows them to be used
on both large and small scales.
A utility can use the hot water and steam from reservoirs to
drive generators and produce electricity for its customers.
Other applications apply the heat produced from geothermal
directly to various uses in buildings, roads, agriculture, and
industrial plants.
Still others use the heat directly from the ground to provide
heating and cooling in homes and other buildings.
Introduction
Hot Water Reservoirs: As the name implies these are
reservoirs of hot underground water. There is a large amount
of them in the US, but they are more suited for space heating
than for electricity production.
Natural Steam Reservoirs: In this case a hole dug into the
ground can cause steam to come to the surface.
Geo-pressured Reservoirs: In this type of reserve, brine
completely saturated with natural gas in stored under pressure
from the weight of overlying rock. This type of resource can
be used for both heat and for natural gas.
Dry Steam Power Plant
Dry Steam Power Plant
Dry steam power plants draw from underground resources of
steam.
The steam is piped directly from underground wells to the
power plant where it is directed into a turbine/generator unit.
There are only two known underground resources of steam in
the United States: The Geysers in northern California and
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming,
Wyoming where there's a well-
known geyser called Old Faithful.
Since Yellowstone is protected from development, the only
dry steam plants in the country are at The Geysers.
Geysers
Flash Steam Power Plant
Flash Steam Power Plant
Flash steam power plants are the most common and use
geothermal reservoirs of water with temperatures greater than
360°F (182°C).
This very hot water flows up through wells in the ground
under its own pressure.
As it flows upward, the pressure decreases and some of the hot
water boils into steam.
steam
The steam is then separated from the water and used to power
a turbine/generator.
Any leftover water and condensed steam are injected back into
the reservoir, making this a sustainable resource.
Binary Steam Power Plant
Binary Steam Power Plant
Binary cycle power plants operate on water at lower
temperatures of about 225°–360°F (107°–182°C).
Binary cycle plants use the heat from the hot water to boil a
working fluid,
fluid usually an organic compound with a low boiling
point.
The working fluid is vaporized in a heat exchanger and used to
turn a turbine.
The water is then injected back into the ground to be reheated.
The water and the working fluid are kept separated during the
whole process, so there are little or no air emissions.
emissions
Currently, two types of geothermal resources can be used in
binary cycle power plants to generate electricity: enhanced
geothermal systems (EGS) and low-temperature or co-produced
resources.
A hot dry rock resource has a geothermal temperture gradient at 39oK
km-1. The minimum useful temperature is 120 K above the surface
temperature To. Water at a flow rae of 0.5 m3s-1km-3 is used for heat
extraction. The density and specific heat capacity for water may be
assumed as 1000 kg m-3 and 4200 Jkg-1k-1 respectivey. Calculate:
The heat content per square kilometer of hot dry rock to a dpth of 10
km, assuming ρr=2700 kgm-3 and Cr=820 J Kg-1 K-1.
Useful average temperature, initially and after 25 years
Useful heat extration rate per km2. Initially and after 25 years.
Layout of Hybrid system
Practical Hybrid system
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