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Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth, derived from its core and mantle, and is a renewable energy source used for various applications such as heating, agriculture, and electricity generation. It can be harnessed through different types of power plants, including Flash Steam, Binary Cycle, and Dry Steam plants, and has minimal environmental impact compared to fossil fuels. Despite its advantages, such as constant availability, the initial investment costs and resource proving risks are significant challenges.

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7 views

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth, derived from its core and mantle, and is a renewable energy source used for various applications such as heating, agriculture, and electricity generation. It can be harnessed through different types of power plants, including Flash Steam, Binary Cycle, and Dry Steam plants, and has minimal environmental impact compared to fossil fuels. Despite its advantages, such as constant availability, the initial investment costs and resource proving risks are significant challenges.

Uploaded by

florencia.spassardi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Geothermal Energy

What is Geothermal Energy?


Geothermal energy is heat within the earth. The word geothermal comes from
Geo (earth) and thermal (heat).
- Earth’s core lies about 4000 miles beneath the Earth's surface. The
double-layered core is made of magma
- Surrounding Earth's core is the mantle (partly rock and magma).
- The outer layer is called crust, broken into pieces called tectonic plat es.
These plates can be pushed against each other. It can allow magma to
rise up into the crust, reaching the surface by volcanoes.
The water can be heated and circulate back to the surface to create hot springs,
fumaroles, or trapped underground creating reservoirs.
When magma rises heats ground water running along fracturated rocks
(Hydrothermal)

Renewable or not renewable energy?


It's a renewable energy source because heat is continuously produced inside the
earth. Water is replenished by rainfall and heat is produced by the slow
radioactive decay of particles that naturally occur in all rocks.

Uses of Geothermal Energy


Roman, chineses and native americans used hot mineral springs for bathing,
cooking and heating. Nowadays it’s used in spas, for heating buildings and for
agricultural and industrial uses. Also, we drill wells into geothermal reservoirs
to use steam to drive turbines, and so generate electricity. The hot water is
used to increase the growth rate of fish in hatcheries and crops in greenhouses,
to pasteurize milk, etc.

Where is it found?
In: Volcanoes, fumaroles, hot springs and geysers
There are many ways to find a reservoir:
● Studying aerial pictures or geological maps.
● They analyze the chemistry of local water sources and concentration of
metals in the soil.
● They measure variations in gravity and magnetic fields
The hottest regions are found along major plate boundaries where earthquakes
and volcanoes are concentrated. Most geothermal activity happens in an area
called “The ring of fire” (rims the Pacific Ocean and is bounded with Indonesia,
Japan, the Philippines, America as a continent and other islands).
The most famous district is Reykjavik, Iceland, where 99% of the city received
geothermal eater for space starting in the 1930’s.
Producing electricity
● Flash Steam Plants (FSP): Most geothermal plants are FSP. Hot water
from production wells flashes into steam when it's released from the
underground pressure of the underground. The force of the steam drives
turbines and generates electricity. Steam is condensed and injected back
as water to preserve the reservoirs.
Geothermal Energy

● Binary Cycle Power Plants: They can generate electricity from reservoirs
w/lower temperature. These kinds of plants transfer the thermal energy
from geothermal hot water to other liquids to produce electricity. It’s
passed through a heat exchanger in a closed pipe system (closed system
that means there is almost no water loss and no emitions), and then
reinjected into the reservoir.
Heat exchanger transfers heat to a working fluid which boils at lower
temperatures than water. The vapor is used to turn the turbines and
generate electricity.
● Dry Steam Plants: The steam from the reservoir shoots directly through a
rock-catcher into the turbine generator. Rock-catcher function is to
protect the turbine from small rocks.
● Hybrid Power Plants: Combine Flash Steam and Binary Cycle Plants.
Low temperature - Direct use or Heating
● Hot Spring Bathing Spas: They were and still are used for bathing. They
are used in spas. They were used by Romans for bathing and cooking.
● Agriculture and Aquaculture: Water from Geothermal reservoirs is used
to warm greenhouses. Can increase growth rate of fish, shellfish, etc.
● Industry: It's used for dying cloth, drying fruits, manufacturing paper,
etc. It’s also used to prevent bridges and driveways from freezing
● Heating: They are used for heating buildings. It's clean and economical.
Geoexchange Systems: Heating and Cooling
Soil temperatures are warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in
summer. Geothermal exchange systems use the Earth's constant
temperatures to heat and cool buildings. Heat pumps transfer heat from the
ground into buildings in Winter and reverse the process in the Summer.
Most of the equipment is underground. A liquid mixture of water and antifreeze
circulates through a long loop of pipe buried in the ground. It absorbs heat from
the ground and carries it into the building. It also absorbs heat from the
building during warmer months, and carries it out reducing the load of an air
conditioner.
Geothermal exchange systems doesn’t have to manufacture heat. The heat is
free, renewable and available in the ground. The only energy needed is to pump
the liquid through the pipes and deliver the conditioned air to the building.
The pipes can be buried in several ways:
● Space limited → dug straight into the ground
● Land available → buried horizontally in shallow trenches four to six feet underground,
where the ground remains with a constant temperature.
● Lake nearby → can be buried in the water (6 feet deep).

Baseload power → Power that electricity utility companies must deliver all day long.
They can sell electricity any hour, day or night.

Geothermal Energy and Environment


Does little damage to the environment. GT steam and hot water contain
occurring traces of hydrogen sulfide and other gases that can be harmful.
Geothermal Energy

These plants use scrubbers to clean the air of hydrogen sulfide. GT produces
only about 1/6 of the carbon dioxide that a relatively clean natural-gas-fueled
power plant produces.

Facts About Geothermal Energy:


- In Larderello, Italy, was the site of the first geothermal electric power
generator.
- A reservoir must have a heat source, water recharge, adequate
permeability, impermeable caprock, and be economically accessible.
- The main advantage of geothermal energy is that its base load is
available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
- The main disadvantage is the high initial investment cost in constructing
the facilities and infrastructure. There's also the high risk of proving the
resources.

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