Geothermal Energy

Submitted by :Shivani kashyap Divya saraswat Arpit singh

Introduction
What is geothermal energy? Geothermal energy-energy that comes from the ground; power extracted from heat stored in the earth Geo : earth Thermal: heat

History
Used for bathing in Paleolithic times. Ancient Romans used it as a central heating system for bathing and heating homes and floors. 1892: Americas first district heating system was put into place. 1926: a deep geothermal well was usedto heat greenhouses.

Sources of Earths Internal Energy

70% comes from the decay of radioactive nuclei with long half lives that are embedded within the Earth Some energy is from residual heat left over from Earths formation. The rest of the energy comes from meteorite impacts.

Different Geothermal Energy Sources

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. 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.

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Natural Stem Reservoirs: In this case a hole dug into the ground can cause steam to come to the surface. This type of resource is rare in the US. Normal Geothermal Gradient: At any place on the planet, there is a normal temperature gradient of +300C per km dug into the earth. Therefore, if one digs 20,000 feet the temperature will be about 1900C above the surface temperature. This difference will be enough to produce electricity. However, no useful and economical technology has been developed to extracted this large source of energy.

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Hot Dry Rock: This type of condition exists in 5% of the US. It is similar to Normal Geothermal Gradient, but the gradient is 400C/km dug underground. Molten Magma: No technology exists to tap into the heat reserves stored in magma. The best sources for this in the US are in Alaska and Hawaii

Generations

Direct Small scale uses Heating homes Hot springs Greenhouse heating Food dehydration plants Agriculture Crop drying Milk pasteurization Electrical Dry stream Flash stream Binary cycle

How Geothermal works

Earths core heat

Water steam drive electrical generators Turbines Area specific ->Geothermal energy is localized

Dry steam/Flash steam/Binary cycles

Each uses the heat from underground in some manner to generate energy. Different combinations of water temperatures create different effect

Getting it out of the ground

To get the steam and water out of the earth, a hole is drilled using a drilling rig. We call this hole a well and it is about 27cm wide and can go down over 2.5km into the earth. It is very expensive to drill a well and it can cost up to $8 million dollars. When the well is being drilled, a special drilling mud is used to stop the well collapsing. A metal pipe is then put in to stop it collapsing when the well is in use. Inside this pipe is another pipe called the liner. The steam and water travel up this liner.

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At the top of this well is a master valve used to control the flow and then a pipeline carries the water and the steam to the power station. At the Mighty River Kawerau Power Station there is about 8km of pipeline. The pipe has to be thick and welded together so it can stand the pressure from the hot steam and water. Bolted on to the pipelines are valves. These are like very big versions of taps .They are used to turn off the steam and water or to slow it down. The pipelines are also covered with insulation to stop the heat escaping and also to stop people from burning themselves . The pipes heat up to about 180oC.

Details how it works

Water is not used so it has to be separated from the steam. This is done by the separator which sends the water to a re-injection well that puts the water back deep into the ground This means the water can be reheated and used again. The steam is sent to the power station. The steam is sent to the turbine and as it passes through the turbine blades, it makes the turbine spin. The turbine causes the generator to spin and this is what produces the electricity.

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What happens to the steam? Once it comes out of the turbine, it goes to the condenser. The condensers job is to turn the steam back into water so it can be re-injected back into the ground. Because the condenser needs to cool the steam to turn it back to water, water is used for cooling. The condensed water is then sent to the cooling tower to cool even more. The water needed for cooling is then used again -recycled and the rest is put back into the ground.

Why use Geothermal energy

It is renewable It doesnt cause pollution. Owners of buildings using geothermal have cut 25 to 50 percent off their utility bills. No cooling towers, rooftop units, or individual room air conditioning units are needed, so buildings and schools using geothermal systems look better. Theres no fire hazard and no outside equipment that could potentially hurt kids.

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Geothermal systems are quieter, more reliable, more efficient, and more compact compared to regular heating and cooling systems. Daniel Boone high school saved $33,000 by using geothermal energy. Geothermal energy costs dropped from $.10 -.16 per kilowatt hour to$.5 -.8 per kilowatt hour.

Conti
The earth under our feet stays the same temperature year round, whether its blazing hot in summer or freezing cold in winter. In summer the earth is cooler than the air, and in winter its warmer. Geothermal heat pumps cleverly put that fact to good use. They use the earth to warm buildings in the winter and keep them cool in the summer. They work so well TVA helps Valley businesses and school systems install them in their buildings

Advantages
Geothermal energy does not produce any pollution, and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. The power stations do not take up much room, so there is not much impact on the environment. No fuel is needed. Once you've built a geothermal power station, the energy is almost free. It may need a little energy to run a pump, but this can be taken from the energy being generated.

Disadvantages
The big problem is that there are not many places where you can build a geothermal power station. You need hot rocks of a suitable type, at a depth where we can drill down to them. The type of rock above is also important, it must be of a type that we can easily drill through. Sometimes a geothermal site may "run out of steam", perhaps for decades. Hazardous gases and minerals may come up from underground, and can be difficult to safely dispose of

Opposition to geothermal energy

Not everyone agrees that geothermal energy is a solution to our energy crisis Too costly Noise Use of fresh water Land surveying The technology is not quite there Some people just believe that our fossil fuels will never run out Dont believe that fossil fuels are finite

Present status
Between 1980 and 1990, about 900 M/We of geothermal electric capacity installed in the United States, under power purchase agreements that guaranteed prices of more than 10 cents per kWh. Today, most of these price guarantees have expired, and plants must sell their power at competitive rates.. Geothermal electricity costs, in the range of 5 to 8 cents per kWh, while very attractive compared to many other clean energy technologies, cannot compete against 3 cents per kWh electricity from natural gas power plants.

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As result of Unfavorable economic conditions for geothermal energy in the United States, the industry has looked for opportunities abroad. Good opportunities for geothermal power plants exist in many developing countries, where the Geothermal Energy Association has estimated there is the potential for approximately 75,000 MW of capacity for 30 years. Especially attractive are Central America (22,000 MW), Indonesia (16,000 MW), East Africa (10,000 MW), and the Philippines (8,000 MW). Considerable new activity was underway in the Philippines and Indonesia until the Asian economic crisis put many planned geothermal power plant construction projects on hold

Current research activities

The Department of Energy research program is aimed at reducing the cost of geothermal electricity. This involves research in the following areas:-

Exploration and Reservoirs :- Exploration

research focuses on developing more accurate and lower cost means for finding and mapping geothermal resources. In this way the financial risk of developing a project can be minimized. Reservoir research is aimed at maximizing the production rate and lifetime of the geothermal resource. Both areas involve the development of improved computer models and better instrumentation.

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Drilling :- The cost of drilling a well can be a
significant portion of the overall plant cost. Recent accomplishments include the development of slim hole drilling that reduces costs by up to 50% and improved drilling control and tools.
Energy Conversion :- Energy conversion research is aimed at reducing the delivered electricity cost by improving performance, lowering equipment cost, and reducing O&M costs of geothermal power plants

FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

Operators of existing plants are working hard to lower costs in order to improve their profit margins Plant owners are also actively looking at ways to improve plant efficiency. There are a number of reasons to believe that the economic climate may improve Portfolio standards aimed at requiring that a certain percentage of electric power generation must come from clean green marketing will also help make geothermal more attractive

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Combining geothermal power production with other processes may provide sufficient financial incentives to make plants economic. Geothermal electricity has already proven itself to be a clean, reliable, and comparatively inexpensive alternative to fossil fuels. Continued government-funded research in exploration and reservoirs, drilling, and energy conversion, performed in close collaboration with industry, offers considerable promise for significantly lowering the cost of geothermal power production.

Conclusion
Overall, geothermal appears to be a sound solution to energy needs Geothermal energy has the ability to expand Few environmental effects Very cost efficient Geothermal is RENEWABLE