Environment

ESE Prelims
GenerneerailngStuApdie:
Engi
Basics of Eneray and source MADE ERS
18 underground heat over time

"geothermal power plant. waterto be

seepinginto
This
the
water is heatedandthen
sent
generator.
which irge:
througna stean (1)
geothermalreservoirs.
into electricity
through a The next
eat energy
from
wnerethe thermal
the
eneray (heat)is
converted
back to the heat
sOurce. stepin (
send it returned to the
the fluid and up IS to be geothermal
Gycie iS to cool
wells ensure that the waterthat is drawn
continues. rese
einjection and this cycle
thermal energy
where ittregains the the earth at a
increases proportionally todepth in rate of about3 (
Do You Know? Radial temperature gradient
per km.
(iü)
Structure of the Earth's Interior be divided
concentric shells. lts internal structure c¡n into three pens
The Earth consists of a series of
namely Crust, Mantle and Core. Crust
Zone separating
crust and mante (ii)
() Crust: The crust of the Earth is 7-100
Upper mante
km thick and can be divided into
Lower mantle
Continental crust (20-65 km under the (iv
Continents) and ocean crust (7 km under Outer Core
the ocean basins). The study of seismiC (Liquid)
waves has indicated that the Earth's crust
underneath the continents is thicker than Inner Core
Do you k
(Solid) 190|
that underneath the oceans as seismic
6370 5200 2900 900 0k Ge
waves travel faster in oceanic crust than in
Continental crust. The oceanic crust Fig: 1.15 Half-cross section of the Earth C

consists of low-density rocks (basalt)

whereas the continental crust largely
contains the granite.
(ii) Mantle:The upper rigid part of the mantle extends up to 100kmn below the crust and contains man
iron and magnesium. The crust and upper mantle form the Lithosphere. The lower
up to 2900 km below the Earth's surface is less rigid and
mantle extenan
hotter. This is known as the Asthenospn
and is capable of being deformed. The phenomena of
plate tectonics, i.e. the movement ofu
Earth's crust is caused by the movement of the
(i) Core: It forms 33% of the Earth's Lithosphere over the Asthenosphere.
mass and has a radius of about 3500 km,
molten or liquid state while the inner core is The outer cOie
believed to contain nickel-iron alloy. The
responsible for all the earthquakes and volcanic activities. ouer
Geothermal Resources
Geothermal resources are of five types:
() Hydrothermal
(a) Hot water
(h) Wet steam
(iü) Vapour dominated (superheated
water from highly
pressurized
resource
(iii) Hot dry rock resource
underground reservoirs)
(iv) Geopressured resource
(v) Magma resource
MADE ERS Energy Resources : Conservation &Utilisation 19

() Hydrothermal Resource: Hydrothermal resources are hot water or steam reservoirs that can be
tapped bydrilling to deliver heat to the surface for thermal use or generation of electriCIy.
(a) Hot Water Fields: At these locations, hot water below 100°C gushes out as hot spring. Ine
geothermal aquifers being covered by confining layers keep the hot water under pressure. Generaly.
the geothermal water contains sulphur in colloidal form which is widely used as rnedicated curatve
water for skin diseases.
(b) Wet Steam Fields: At these locations, the pressurized water is at more than 100°C and contains
smallquantities of steam and vapour in the geothermal reservoir. In this formation, stearn OCCurs
in the form of bubbles surrounded by liquid wate.
(i) Vapour-dominated Resource: Vapour dominated reservoirs produce dry saturated stearrm above
the atmospheriC pressure and at high temperature about 350°C. Water and steam co-exist, but stearn
is in dominant phase and regulates pressure in the reservoir.
(ii) Geopressured Resource: Geopressured resources contain moderate temperature brines (160°C)
containing dissolved methane. These are trapped under high pressure (nearly 1000 bar) in a deep
sedimentary formation sealed between impermeable layers of shale and clay at depthsof 2-10 km.
(iV) Magma: Magma is a molten rock at temperature ranging from 700°C to 1600°C. This hot viscous
liquid ocomes out at active volcanic vents and solidifies. It may form reservoirs at some depth from
the earth's surface.

Do you know? Sites where the steam escapes through cracks in the surface are called 'fumaroles'.

GeothermalSites in the World

Most of the world's volcanic activities and geothermal sites are located in the circum-pacific belt known
asRing of Fire. It starts from New Zealand, encompasses Philippines, Japan, West coasts of North
America and Mexico. Another belt runs from lceland touching the British Isles, through Azores
(autonomous region of Portugal)across the Atlanticto the West Indies, with a branch running through
the Mediterranean Sea.

lceland

Atlantic
Pacific Ocean Ocean

Indian Ocean

volcanic activity
Fig: 1.16 Regions of geothermal sites, earthquakes and
north-west area of
Geothermal sites are also found where collision of continental plates occurs like
Indian-Australian and Eurasian Plates.
Geothermal Resources in India
potential for geothermal
Due to most of its land is covered with mourntains and plateauS, India has huge
has estimated the capacity to nrode
energy. The Ministryof New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)
MW.
geothermal power in India is 10,600