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Various cycle configurations for geothermal power plants

Abstract:

Geothermal energy is a native-based benign source of heat stored in the Earth’s crust. This renewable energy is stored primarily as heat in porous hot rocks and hydrothermal reservoirs in the Earth. Geothermal fluids transport heat from the Earth’s crust to the surface and facilitate power generation and/or direct use. Geothermal energy has proven to mitigate environmental effects and the emissions from electricity generation in spite of its circumstantial constraints. This chapter captures five different power plant configurations that are currently developed for geothermal power development: single-flash, double-flash, dry-steam, binary, and advanced. In addition, the thermodynamic aspects of these power plant configurations are also investigated. Finally, hybrid geothermal-solar-biomass configurations for poly-generation are also considered as a potential alternative for renewable energy generation. The increases in energy output, thermal efficiency, and geothermal reservoir life have been linked to these configurations.