GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY USING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Name:- Md. Shadab Martur USN:- 2KE08EE014

Seminar Guide:- Prof. Manjunath B. Ranadev

K.L.E.SOCIETYS

K.L.E.INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HUBLI-30 (Affiliated to VTU Belgaum) Department of Electrical and Electronics

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I take immense pleasure in thanking Vinoda madam, Head of the Department for having permitted me to to present this seminar.

I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my Guide, Prof. Manjunath B. Ranadev for his able guidance and useful suggestions, which helped me in presenting the seminar and completing the report, in time.

Finally, yet importantly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents for their blessings, my friends/classmates for their help and wishes for the successful presentation of this seminar.

Md. Shadab Martur

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

CONTENTS: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii)

Introduction Origin and Distribution of Geothermal energy Types of Geothermal resources Types of prime movers for geothermal energy conversions Advantages Disadvantages Conclusion References

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

INTRODUCTION
Geothermal energy originates from the earths interior in the form of heat, volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and boiling mud pots are visible evidence of the great reservoirs of heat that lie beneath the earth. Although the amount of thermal energy within the earth is very large, useful geothermal energy is limited to certain sites only, as it is not feasible to access and extract heat from a very deep location. Where it is available near the surface and is relatively more concentrated, its extraction and use may be considered feasible. These sites are known as geothermal fields. As the second-largest country of the world, undergoing explosive growth, India represents a unique and little-tapped source of expertise on multifarious issues of economic and social development. Among many other problems of concern, the development of alternative sources of energy is crucial to the future wellbeing of India indeed, of the globe. The increasing demand of the energy has forced the mankind to find a way out which will be efficiently and abundantly available source of energy. This made the human race to think of the beneficiaries of non-conventional energy development in India.

As per US geological survey, the entire heat content of the earths crust up to a deep of 10 km above 15 C is defined as geothermal resource. As such, geothermal resource of earth is estimated to be more than 2.11*10 J, which is equivalent to 10 MTOE (million tones of oil equivalent). This is huge amount of energy, enough to supply our energy needs at current rates for 3,50,000 years. Thus, it is considered as an inexhaustible and renewable source. However, it is a low grade thermal energy form and its economic recovery is not feasible everywhere on the surface of the earth.

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Among the various new and renewable energy sources, geothermal energy is known to be one of the clean energy without smoke and also without environmental hazards. Although its importance is realised long back in other countries, its exploitation is still far away in our country mainly due to lack of knowledge on the deep subsurface structure and deep drilling technology in high pressure, high temperature regions. Indian geothermal provinces have the capacity to produce 10,600 MW of power- a figure which is five time greater than the combined power being produced from non-conventional energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass. But yet geothermal power projects have not seen the sunlight due the availability of 192 billion tones of recoverable coal reserves. With escalating environmental problems with coal based projects, Indian has to depend on clean, cheap, rural based and eco-friendly geothermal power in future. Due to technical and logistic problems with other non-conventional energy sources, present industrialists mood is upbeat and IPPs are showing keen interest in developing geothermal based power projects. With the existing open economic policies of the Govt., and large incentives given to non-conventional energy sectors, the future of geothermal energy sector in India appears to be bright.

Concerted efforts are made in identifying these resources in different parts of our country for possible exploitation of the energy source. In the present paper, the details of geothermal energy, its importance and usage in other countries are discussed with estimated potential in our country.

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ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal energy is the heat that originates from the core of the earth, where temperatures are about 4000C. The heat occurs from a combination of two sources: (i) the original heat produced from the formation of the earth by gravitational collapse, and (ii) the heat produced by the radioactive decay of various isotopes. As the thermal conductivity of earth is very low, it is taking billions of years for the earth to cool down. The average geothermal heat dissipation from the land and ocean surface is about 0.06W/m2, which is negligible compared to other sources. A section through the earth is shown in figure. The core is surrounded by a region known as mantle. Mantle consists of a semi fluid material called the magma. The mantle is finally covered by the outermost layer known as crust, which has an average thickness of 30km. The temperature in the crust increases with depth at a rate of 30C/km. The temperature at the base of the crust is about 1000C and then increases slowly into the core of the earth. Most of the worlds geothermal sites today are located near the edges of pacific plate, the so called ring of fire. This belt rings the entire Pacific ocean, including New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Western North America, central America, Peru, Chile and Argentina. An extension also penetrates through Asia into the Mediterranean area. Hot crustal material also occurs at the mid ocean ridges and interior continental rifts. Geothermal energy is a domestic energy resource with cost, reliability and environmental advantages over conventional energy sources. It contributes both to energy supply, with electrical power generation and direct-heat uses. For generation of electricity, hot water is brought from the underground reservoir to the surface through production wells, and is flashed to steam in special vessels by release of pressure. The steam is separated from the liquid and fed to a turbine engine, which turns a generator. Spent geothermal fluid is injected back into peripheral parts of the reservoir to help maintain reservoir pressure. In the absence of steam, heat from hot water is extracted through a secondary fluid and the high pressure vapour from the secondary fluid is utilized to run the turbine.

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If the reservoir is to be used for direct-heat application, the geothermal water is usually fed to a heat exchanger and the heat thus extracted is used for home heating, greenhouse, vegetable drying and a wide variety of other small scale industries. Hot water at temperatures less than 120 o C can be used for this purpose. Further, the spent hot water, after generating electricity can also be used for direct application.

As a result of today's geothermal production, consumption of exhaustible fossil fuels is offset, along with the release of acid-rain and greenhouse gases that are caused by fossil-fuel use. Systems for use of geothermal energy have proven to be extremely reliable and flexible. Geothermal electric power plants are on line 97% of the time, whereas nuclear plants average only 65% and coal plants only 75% on-line time. Geothermal plants are modular, and can be installed in increments as needed. Because they are modular, then can be transported conveniently to any site. Both baseline and peaking power can be generated. Construction time can be as little as 6 months for plants in the range 0.5 to 10 MW and as little as 2 years for clusters of plants totalling 250 MW or more. The competing goals of increased energy production for worldwide social development and of mitigating release of atmosphere-polluting gases are not compatible using today's fuel mix, which relies heavily on coal and petroleum. Development of geothermal energy has a large net positive impact on the environment compared with development of conventional energy sources. Geothermal power plants have sulphur-emissions rates that average only a few percent of those from fossil-fuel alternatives. The newest generation of geothermal power plants emits only ~135 gm of carbon (as carbon dioxide) per megawatt-hour (MW-hr) of electricity generated. This figure compares with 128 kg /MW-hr of carbon for a plant
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operating on natural gas (methane) and 225 kg/MW-hr of carbon for a plant using bituminous coal. Nitrogen oxide emissions are much lower in geothermal power plants than in fossil power plants. Nitrogen-oxides combine with hydrocarbon vapours in the atmosphere to produce ground-level ozone, a gas that causes adverse health effects and crop losses as well as smog. There are other environmental advantages to geothermal energy. Geothermal power plants require very little land, taking up only a fraction of that needed by other energy sources. Thus emission of CO2 and SO2 by geothermal power plants is far less compared with conventional fossil fuel based power plants. The geothermal heat pump, also known as the ground source heat pump, is a highly efficient renewable energy technology that is gaining wide acceptance for both residential and commercial buildings. Geothermal heat pumps are used for space heating and cooling, as well as water heating. Its great advantage is that it works by concentrating naturally existing heat, rather than by producing heat through combustion of fossil fuels. The technology relies on the fact that the Earth (beneath the surface) remains at a relatively constant temperature throughout the year, warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler in the summer, very much like a cave. The geothermal heat pump takes advantage of this by transferring heat stored in the Earth or in ground water into a building during the winter, and transferring it out of the building and back into the ground during the summer. The ground, in other words, acts as a heat source in winter and a heat sink in summer. Geothermal energy is energy derived from the natural heat of the Earth. Geothermal resources are typically underground reservoirs of hot water or steam created by heat from the Earth, but also include subsurface areas of dry hot rock. Geothermal energy is considered a renewable resource because the heat emanating from the interior of the Earth is essentially limitless. Electricity generated from geothermal energy is sent to users through a transmission system consisting of electric transmission lines, towers, substations, and other components (see Energy Transmission section to learn more). The integration of geothermal energy into a transmission system requires careful planning to balance the mix of geothermal energy with other sources of energy generation

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TYPES OF GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES

There are four types of geothermal resources: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Hydrothermal Geopressured Hot dry rock(HDR) Magma At present, the technology for economic recovery of energy is available for hydrothermal resources only. Thus this is commercially used resource at present. Other resources are going through a development phase and have not become commercial so far.

HYDROTHERMAL RESOURCES
There is more than one type of geothermal energy, but only one kind is widely used to make electricity. It is called hydrothermal energy. Hydrothermal resources have two common ingredients: water (hydro) and heat (thermal). Depending on the temperature of the hydrothermal resource, the heat energy can either be used for making electricity or for heating. Low Temperature Resources: Heating Hydrothermal resources at low temperatures (50 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit) are located everywhere in the United States, just a few feet below the ground. This low temperature geothermal energy is used for heating homes and buildings, growing crops, and drying lumber, fruits, and vegetables. In the U.S., geothermal heat pumps are used to heat and cool homes and public buildings. In fact, approximately 750,000 geothermal exchange systems are installed in the U.S. Almost 90 percent of the homes and businesses in Iceland use geothermal energy for space heating. The hydrothermal resources are located at shallow to moderate depths(from approximately 100m to 4500m). Temperatures for hydrothermal reserves used for electricity generation range from 90C to 350C but roughly two-thirds are estimated to be in the moderate temperature range(150C to 200C).

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Hydrothermal resources occur when underground water has access to high temperature porous rocks, capped by a layer of solid impervious rock. Thus. Water is trapped in the underground reservoir and is heated by surrounding rocks. Heat is supplied by magma by upward conduction through solid rocks below the reservoir. Thus it forms a giant underground boiler. Under high pressure temperature can reach as high as 350C. The hot water often escapes through the fissures in the rock, thus forming hot springs or geysers. Sometimes steam escapes through the cracks in the surface. These are called fumaroles. In order to utilize the hydrothermal energy, wells are drilled either to intercept a fissure or more commonly into the hydrothermal reservoir. High Temperature Resources: Electricity Hydrothermal resources at high temperatures (300 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit) can be used to make electricity. These high-temperature resources may come from either dry steam wells or hot water wells. We can use these resources by drilling wells into the Earth and piping the steam or hot water to the surface. Geothermal wells are one to two miles deep. In a dry steam power plant, the steam from the geothermal reservoir is piped directly from a well to a turbine generator to make electricity. In a hot water plant, some of the hot water is turned into steam. The steam powers a turbine generator just like a dry steam plant. When the steam cools, it condenses to water and is injected back into the ground to be used over and over again. Geothermal energy produces only a small percentage of U.S. electricity. Today, it produces about 15 billion kilowatt-hours, or less than one percent of the electricity produced in this country. For practical purposes, hydrothermal resources are further subdivided into (i) (ii) (iii) Vapour dominated (dry steam fields) Liquid dominated (wet steam fields) Hot water resources

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(i)

Vapour-Dominated (Dry steam) system:

Dry steam fields occur when the pressure is not much above the atmospheric pressure and the temperature is high. Water boils underground and generates steam at temperatures of about 165C and a pressure of about 7atm.

Steam is extracted from the well, cleaned in a centrifugal separator to remove solid matter and then piped directly to a turbine. The exhaust steam of the turbine is condensed in a direct contact condenser, in which the steam is condensed by direct contact with cooling water. The resulting warm water is circulated and cooled in a cooling tower and returned to the condenser. The condensation of steam continuously increases the volume of the cooling water. Excess water is reinjected at some distance deep into the ground for disposal. The non condensable gases are removed from the condenser by steam jet ejection. Conventional steam-cycle plants are used to produce energy from vapor-dominated reservoirs. As is shown in Figure 6, steam is extracted from the wells, cleaned to remove entrained solids and piped directly to a steam turbine. This is a well-developed, commercially available technology, with typical unit sizes in the 35-120 MWe capacity range. Recently, in some places, a new trend of installing modular standard generating units of 20 MWe has been adopted. In Italy, smaller units in the 15 to 20 MWe range have been introduced.

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(ii)

Liquid-Dominated (wet steam) system: Steam plants offer the most cost effective technology when the resource temperature is above 175C. In high temperature liquid dominated reservoir, the water temperature is above 175C. However it is under high pressure and remains in liquid state. The most developed such system is found in New Zealand, where the reservoir temperature and pressure are 230C and 40 atm, and depths are 600m to 1400m.

When water is brought to the surface and pressure is reduced, rapid boiling occurs and it flashes into steam and hot water. The steam is separated and used to generate power in usual manner. The remaining saline hot water can be used for direct heat and then re-injected into the ground. In dual-flash systems, the steam is flashed a second time from the remaining hot fluid of the first stage, separated and fed into the dual inlet turbine or into two separate turbines. The efficiency of such a plant is around 8%. Hot-water or wet-steam hydrothermal resources are much more commonly found than dry-steam deposits. Hot-water systems are often associated with a hot spring that discharges at the surface. When wet steam deposits occur at considerable depths, the resource temperature is often well above the normal boiling point of water at atmospheric pressures. These temperatures are known to range from 100700F at pressures of 50-150 psig. When such resources penetrate to the surface, either through wells or through natural geologic anomalies, the water often flashes into steam.

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(iii)

Hot water system: Hydrothermal reservoirs of low to moderate temperatures can be used to provide direct heat for residential and industrial uses. The hot water is brought to the surface where a heat exchanger system transfers heat to another fluid although the resource can be used directly if the salt and solid content is low. The geothermal fluid is re-injected into the ground after the extraction of heat.

Flash steam plants pull deep, high-pressure hot water into lowerpressure tanks and use the resulting flashed steam to drive turbines. They require fluid temperatures of at least 180C, usually more. This is the most common type of plant in operation today. Most geothermal areas contain moderate-temperature water (below 400F). Energy is extracted from these fluids in binary-cycle power plants. Hot geothermal fluid and a secondary (hence, "binary") fluid with a much lower boiling point than water pass through a heat exchanger. Heat from the geothermal fluid causes the secondary fluid to flash to vapor, which then drives the turbines. Because this is a closed-loop system, virtually nothing is emitted to the atmosphere. Moderate-temperature water is by far the more common geothermal resource, and most geothermal power plants in the future will be binary-cycle plants.

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HOT DRY ROCK RESOURCES

In some areas of the western United States, geologic anomalies such as tectonic plate movement and volcanic activity have created pockets of impermeable rocks covering a magma chamber within six miles of the surface. The temperature in these pockets increases with depth and proximity to the magma chamber, but, because of their impermeable nature, they lack a water aquifer. They are often referred to as hot dry rock (HDR) deposits. Several schemes for useful energy production from HDR resources have been proposed, but all basically involve creation of an artificial aquifer will be used to bring heat to the surface. The concept is being tested by the U.S. Department of Energy at Fenton Hill near Los Alamos, New Mexico, and is also being studied in England. The research so far indicates that it is technologically feasible to fracture a hot impermeable system though hydraulic fracturing from a deep well. A typical two-well HDR system is shown in Fig. 50.2. Water is injected at high pressure through the first well to the reservoir and returns to the surface through the second well at approximately the temperature of the reservoir. The water (steam) is used to generate electric power and is then recirculated through the first well. The critical parameters affecting the ultimate commercial feasibility of HDR resources are the geothermal gradient and the achievable well flow rate.

GEOPRESSURED RESOURCES
Near the Gulf Coast of the United States are a number of deep sedimentary basins that are geologically very young, that is, less than 60 million years. In such regions, fluid located in subsurface rock formations carry a part of the overburden load, thereby increasing the pressure within the formation. Such formations are referred to as geopressured and are judged by some geologists to be promising sources of energy in the coming decades. Geopressured basins exist in several areas within the United States, but those of current interest are located in the TexasLouisiana coast. These are of particular interest because they are very large in terms of both areal extent and thickness, and the geopressured liquids appear to have a great deal of dissolved methane. In past investigations of the Gulf Coast, a number of "geopressured fairways" were identified; these are thick sandstone bodies expected to contain geopressured fluids of at least

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PRIME MOVERS FOR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION

The prime movers can be classified as: (i) (ii) Impulse reaction turbine Positive displacement machines

(i)

IMPULSE REACTION MACHINES

An impulse turbine has fixed nozzles that orient the steam flow into high speed jets. These jets contain significant kinetic energy, which the rotor blades, shaped like buckets, convert into shaft rotation as the steam jet changes direction. A pressure drop occurs across only the stationary blades, with a net increase in steam velocity across the stage.

As the steam flows through the nozzle its pressure falls from inlet pressure to the exit pressure (atmospheric pressure, or more usually, the condenser vacuum). Due to this higher ratio of expansion of steam in the nozzle the steam leaves the nozzle with a very high velocity. The steam leaving the moving blades has a large portion of the maximum velocity of the steam when

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leaving the nozzle. The loss of energy due to this higher exit velocity is commonly called the carry over velocity or leaving loss. In the reaction turbine, the rotor blades themselves are arranged to form convergent nozzles. This type of turbine makes use of the reaction force produced as the steam accelerates through the nozzles formed by the rotor. Steam is directed onto the rotor by the fixed vanes of the stator. It leaves the stator as a jet that fills the entire circumference of the rotor. The steam then changes direction and increases its speed relative to the speed of the blades. A pressure drop occurs across both the stator and the rotor, with steam accelerating through the stator and decelerating through the rotor, with no net change in steam velocity across the stage but with a decrease in both pressure and temperature, reflecting the work performed in the driving of the rotor.

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(ii)

POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT MACHINES

A positive displacement pump causes a fluid to move by trapping a fixed amount of it and then forcing (displacing) that trapped volume into the discharge pipe. Some positive displacement pumps work using an expanding cavity on the suction side and a decreasing cavity on the discharge side. Liquid flows into the pump as the cavity on the suction side expands and the liquid flows out of the discharge as the cavity collapses. The volume is constant given each cycle of operation.

Positive displacement pumps, unlike centrifugal or roto-dynamic pumps, will in theory produce the same flow at a given speed (RPM) no matter what the discharge pressure. Thus, positive displacement pumps are "constant flow machines". However due to a slight increase in internal leakage as the pressure increases, a truly constant flow rate cannot be achieved.
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A positive displacement pump must not be operated against a closed valve on the discharge side of the pump, because it has no shut-off head like centrifugal pumps. A positive displacement pump operating against a closed discharge valve will continue to produce flow and the pressure in the discharge line will increase, until the line bursts or the pump is severely damaged, or both. A relief or safety valve on the discharge side of the positive displacement pump is therefore necessary. The relief valve can be internal or external. The pump manufacturer normally has the option to supply internal relief or safety valves. The internal valve should in general only be used as a safety precaution, an external relief valve installed in the discharge line with a return line back to the suction line or supply tank is recommended.

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(iii)

IMPULSE MACHINES
In 1882 De Laval introduced his concept of an impulse steam turbine and in 1887 built a small steam turbine to demonstrate that such devices could be constructed on that scale. In 1890 Laval developed a nozzle to increase the steam jet to supersonic speed, working off the kinetic energy of the steam, rather than its pressure. The nozzle, now known as a de Laval nozzle, is used in modern rocket engine nozzles. De Laval turbines can run at up to 30,000 rpm. The turbine wheel was mounted on a long flexible shaft, its two bearings spaced far apart on either side. Since the wheel could not be perfectly balanced, this allowed it to spin slightly out of true, without breaking the bearings.

The higher speed of the turbine demanded that he also designed new approaches to reduction gearing, which are still in use today. Since the materials available at the time were not strong enough for the immense centrifugal forces, the output from the turbine was limited and large scale electric steam generators were dominated by designs using the alternative compound steam turbine approach of Charles Parsons. Using high pressure steam in a turbine that had oil-fed bearings meant that some of the steam contaminated the lube-oil, and as a result, perfecting commercial steamturbines required that he also develop an effective oil/water separator.
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After trying several methods, he concluded that a centrifugal separator was the most affordable and effective method. He developed several types, and their success established the centrifugal separator as a useful device in a variety of applications. De Laval also made important contributions to the dairy industry, including the first centrifugal milk-cream separator and early milking machines, the first of which he patented in 1894. It was not until after his death, however, that the company he founded marketed the first commercially practical milking machine, in 1918. Together with Oscar Lamm, de Laval founded the company Alfa Laval in 1883, which was known as AB Separator until 1963 when the present name was introduced. In 1991, Alfa Laval Agri, a company producing dairy and farming machinery was split from Alfa Laval when it was bought by the Tetra Pak Group. When Alfa Laval was sold, Alfa Laval Agri remained a part of the Tetra Pak group and was renamed DeLaval, after the company's founder.

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ADVANTAGES:
(i) Significant Cost Saving : Geothermal energy generally involves low running costs since it saves 80% costs over fossil fuels and no fuel is used to generate the power.

(ii) Reduce Reliance on Fossil Fuels : Dependence on fossil fuels decreases with the increase in the use of geothermal energy. With the sky-rocketing prices of oil, many countries are pushing companies to adopt these clean sources of energy.

(iii)Environmental Benefits : Being the renewable source of energy, geothermal energy has helped in reducing global warming and pollution. Moreover, Geothermal systems does not create any pollution as it releases some gases from deep within the earth which are not very harmful to the environment.

(iv) Direct Use : Since ancient times, people having been using this source of energy for taking bath, heating homes, preparing food and today this is also used for direct heating of homes and offices.

(v) Job Creation and Economic Benefits : Geothermal energy on the other hand has created many jobs for the local people.

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DISADVANTAGES:
(i) Not Widespread Source of Energy : Since, this type of energy is not widely used therefore the unavailability of equipment, staff, infrastructure, training pose hindrance to the installation of geothermal plants across the globe.

(ii) High Installation Costs : To get geothermal energy, requires installation of power plants, to get steam from deep within the earth and this require huge one time investment and require to hire a certified installer and skilled staff needs to be recruited and relocated to plant location. Moreover, electricity towers, stations need to set up to move the power from geothermal plant to consumer.

(iii)Can Run Out Of Steam : Geothermal sites can run out of steam over a period of time due to drop in temperature or if too much water is injected to cool the rocks and this may result huge loss for the companies which have invested heavily in these plants.

(iv) Suited To Particular Region : It is only suitable for regions where temperature below the earth are quite low and can produce steam over a long period of time. For this great research is required which is done by the companies before setting up the plant.

(v) May Release Harmful Gases : Geothermal sites may contain some poisonous gases and they can escape deep within the earth, through the holes drilled by the constructors.

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REFERENCES
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Non-Conventional energy resources by B H Khan Non conventional Energy sources by G.D.Rai en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy inlportal.inl.gov Renewable Energy Home Geothermal www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/ www.eai.in/ref/ae/geo/geo.html

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