GEOTHERMAL

The term Geothermal originates from two Geek words 'GEO' and 'THERM'. The
Greek word geo meant the earth whilst their word for therm meant heat from the
earth. Geothermal energy is energy derived from the heat of the earth. The earths
centre is a distance of approximately 4000 miles and is so hot that it is molten.
Temperatures are understood to be at least 5000 degrees centigrade. Heat from the
centre of the earth conducts outwards and heats up the outer layers of rock called the
mantle. When this type of rock melts and becomes molten it is called magma. Magma
can reach just below the earths surface. Heat is continually produced in this layer,
mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive materials such as uranium and
potassium. The amount of heat within 10,000 meters (about 33,000 feet) of Earth's
surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in
the world.

Rain water sometimes seeps down through geological fault lines and cracks
becoming super heated by the hot rocks below. Some of this super heated water rises
back to the surface of the earth where it emerges as hot springs or even geysers.
Sometimes the hot water becomes trapped below the surface as a geothermal
reservoir.

The areas with the highest underground temperatures are in regions with active
or geologically young volcanoes. These "hot spots" occur at tectonic plate boundaries or
at places where the crust is thin enough to let the heat through. The Pacific Rim, often
called the Ring of Fire for its many volcanoes, has many hot spots, these regions are
seismically active. Earthquakes and magma movement break up the rock covering,
allowing water to circulate. As the water rises to the surface, natural hot springs and
geysers occur. The water in these systems can be more than 200C (430F).
Seismically active hotspots are not the only places where geothermal energy can
be found. There is a steady supply of milder heatuseful for direct heating purposes
at depths of anywhere from 10 to a few hundred feet below the surface virtually in any
location on Earth. Even the ground below your own backyard or local school has
enough heat to control the climate in your home or other buildings in the community. In
addition, there is a vast amount of heat energy available from dry rock formations very
deep below the surface (410 km). Using the emerging technology known as Enhanced
Geothermal Systems (EGS), we may be able to capture this heat for electricity
production on a much larger scale than conventional technologies currently allow. While
still primarily in the development phase, the first demonstration EGS projects provided
electricity to grids in the United States and Australia in 2013.

If the full economic potential of geothermal resources can be realized, they would
represent an enormous source of electricity production capacity. In 2012, the U.S.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that conventional geothermal
sources (hydrothermal) in 13 states have a potential capacity of 38,000 MW, which
could produce 308 million MWh of electricity annually.
As EGS technologies improve and become competitive, even more of the largely
untapped geothermal resource could be developed. The NREL study found that hot dry
rock resources could provide another 4 million MW of capacity.
Not only do geothermal resources in the world offer great potential, they can
also provide continuous baseload electricity. According to NREL, the capacity factors of
geothermal plantsa measure of the ratio of the actual electricity generated over time
compared to what would be produced if the plant was running nonstop for that period
are comparable with those of coal and nuclear power .With the combination of both the
size of the resource base and its consistency, geothermal can play an indispensable
role in a cleaner, more sustainable power system.
Because of the near limitless ability of the earth to produce magma, and the
continuous transfer of heat between subsurface rock and water, geothermal energy is
considered a renewable resource.
Geothermal energy is a consistent and reliable resource that is ideal for replacing
baseload power sources such as polluting coal plants. Though initial development of a
project can be expensive, long-term costs are extremely low. We should be investing
heavily in geothermal development for our energy future.
History
Geothermal electricity history Geothermal Book - Italy. I n the early 1900s, geothermal
fluids were already exploited for their energy content. A chemical industry was set up in
Italy during that period, in the area known now as Larderello, to extract boric acid from
natural hot water outlets or from purposely drilled shallow boreholes. From years 1910

to 1940 the low pressure steam, in that area of Central Tuscany, was utilised to heat
industrial and residential buildings and greenhouses. In 1928, Iceland, another pioneer
in the utilisation of geothermal energy, began exploiting its abundant geothermal
resources (mainly hot waters) for domestic heating.
The first attempt to generate electricity from geothermal steam dates back to 1904 at
Larderello. The success of this experiment (see illustration) proved the industrial value
of geothermal energy and marked the beginning of an exploitation route that was
developed significantly since then. Actually, electricity generation at Larderello was a
commercial success. By 1942 the installed geothermoelectric capacity had reached 128
MWe. This application, exemplified by Italy, was followed by several countries. In Japan,
the first geothermal wells were drilled in 1919 and, in 1929, at The Geysers, California,
in the USA. In 1958, a small geothermal power plant started operating in New Zealand,
in 1959 in Mexico, in 1960 in the USA, and in many other countries the following years.

Geothermal Energy Technologies:

Geothermal Electricity Production

Generating electricity from the earth's heat.

Geothermal resources have been harnessed as an energy source since the dawn of
civilization, when natural hot springs were first used for cooking and bathing. The
geothermal resources tapped to generate electricity are far more intense than those
used for space heating and can reside as deep as 10,000 feet below the earth's
surface. Capital costs for the construction of geothermal power plants are much higher
than for large coal-fired plants or new natural gas turbine technologies. But geothermal
plants have reasonable operation and maintenance costs and no fuel costs. Though
more expensive than wind power in most cases, new geothermal electricity generation
facilities are increasingly competitive with fossil options.

Most power plants need steam to generate electricity. The steam rotates a
turbine that activates a generator, which produces electricity. Many power plants still
use fossil fuels to boil water for steam. Geothermal power plants, however, use steam
produced from reservoirs of hot water found a couple of miles or more below the Earth's
surface. There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam, flash
steam, and binary cycle.
Dry steam power plants draw from underground resources of steam. The steam is
piped directly from underground wells to the power plant, where it is directed into a
turbine/generator unit. There are only two known underground resources of steam in the
United States: The Geysers in northern California and Yellowstone National Park in
Wyoming, where there's a well-known geyser called Old Faithful. Since Yellowstone is
protected from development, the only dry steam plants in the country are at The
Geysers.
Flash steam power plants are the most common. They use geothermal reservoirs of
water with temperatures greater than 360F (182C). This very hot water flows up
through wells in the ground under its own pressure. As it flows upward, the pressure
decreases and some of the hot water boils into steam. The steam is then separated
from the water and used to power a turbine/generator. Any leftover water and
condensed steam are injected back into the reservoir, making this a sustainable
resource.

Binary cycle power plants operate on water at lower temperatures of about 225-360F
(107-182C). These plants use the heat from the hot water to boil a working fluid,
usually an organic compound with a low boiling point. The working fluid is vaporized in a
heat exchanger and used to turn a turbine. The water is then injected back into the
ground to be reheated. The water and the working fluid are kept separated during the
whole process, so there are little or no air emissions.
Small-scale geothermal power plants (under 5 megawatts) have the potential for
widespread application in rural areas, possibly even as distributed energy resources.
Distributed energy resources refer to a variety of small, modular power-generating
technologies that can be combined to improve the operation of the electricity delivery
system.
Currently, two types of geothermal resources can be used in binary cycle power
plants to generate electricity: enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and lowtemperature or co-produced resources.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems
EGS provide geothermal power by tapping into the Earth's deep geothermal resources
that are otherwise not economical due to lack of water, location, or rock type. The U.S.
Geological Survey estimates that potentially 500,000 megawatts of EGS resource is
available in the western U.S.about half of the current installed electric power
generating capacity in the United States.
Low-Temperature and Co-Produced Resources
Low-temperature and co-produced geothermal resources are typically found at
temperatures of 300F (150C) or less. Some low-temperature resources can be
harnessed to generate electricity using binary cycle technology. Co-produced hot water
is a byproduct of oil and gas wells in the United States. This hot water is being
examined for its potential to produce electricity, helping to lower greenhouse gas
emissions and extend the life of oil and gas fields.
Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy Technology

Geothermal Direct Use

Producing heat directly from hot water within the earth.

When a person takes a hot bath, the heat from the water will usually warm up the
entire bathroom. Geothermal reservoirs of hot water, which are found a couple of miles
or more beneath the Earth's surface, can also be used to provide heat directly. This is
called the direct use of geothermal energy.
Geothermal direct use dates back thousands of years, when people began using
hot springs for bathing, cooking food, and loosening feathers and skin from game.
Today, hot springs are still used as spas. But there are now more sophisticated ways of
using this geothermal resource.

In modern direct-use systems, a well is drilled into a geothermal reservoir to

provide a steady stream of hot water. The water is brought up through the well, and a
mechanical system - piping, a heat exchanger, and controls - delivers the heat directly
for its intended use. A disposal system then either injects the cooled water underground
or disposes of it on the surface.
Geothermal hot water can be used for many applications that require heat. Its
current uses include heating buildings (either individually or whole towns), raising plants
in greenhouses, drying crops, heating water at fish farms, and several industrial
processes, such as pasteurizing milk. With some applications, researchers are
exploring ways to effectively use the geothermal fluid for generating electricity as well.

Geothermal Heat Pumps

Using the shallow ground to heat and cool buildings.

Geothermal Heat Pumps Can Be Used Anywhere

Geothermal heat pumps can be used for heating and cooling buildings virtually
anywhere. Though initial installations costs exceed those for conventional heating and
cooling systems, monthly energy bills are always lower. Thus, within a few years,
cumulative energy savings equal the extra up-front cost of installation. Thereafter,
heating and cooling costs are less than those associated with conventional systems.
How Do Geothermal Heat Pumps Work?
A heat pump is simply a machine that causes thermal energy to flow up temperature,
that is, opposite the direction it would flow naturally without some intervention (see
accompanying sketches). Thus, a heat pump is commonly used for space heating and
cooling, when outside ambient air temperature is uncomfortably cold or hot,
respectively. The cooling and heating functions require the input of "extra" work (usually
electrical energy) in order to force heat to flow upstream, and the greater the "lift," or
difference in temperature between the interior of a building and the outside, the more
work is needed to accomplish the function. A geothermal heat pump increases the
efficiency of the heating and cooling functions by substantially decreasing the thermal
lift.

The Steady Temperature of Earth

Because rocks and soils are good insulators, they respond little to wide daily
temperature fluctuations and instead maintain a nearly constant temperature that
reflects the mean temperature averaged over many years. Thus, at latitudes and
elevations where most people live, the temperature of rocks and soil only a few meters
beneath the surface typically stays within the range of 5 to 10C.
Efficiency Compared to Air-Source Heat Pump
For purposes of discussion, consider the functioning of a conventional air-source heat
pump in a single-family residence, a system that exchanges thermal energy between air
indoors and outdoors. Whereas such a heat pump must remove heat from cold outside
air in the winter and deliver heat to hot outside air in the summer, a geothermal heat
pump exchanges heat with a medium that remains at about 8C throughout the year. As
a result, the geothermal-based unit is almost always pumping heat over a temperature
lift much smaller than that for an air-source unit, leading to higher efficiency through less
"extra" energy needed to accomplish the lift.
Higher Costs but Higher Savings
Some consumer resistance to geothermal heat pumps exists because initial purchaseand-installation cost is greater than that for an air-source system. The additional cost
comes mostly from the need to bury piping through which fluid (water or antifreeze) is
circulated to exchange heat with the ground or by drilling a shallow well to use ground
water as the heat source/sink. Additional cost varies with the capacity and subsurface
design of a given system. Experience to date indicates that the extra expense can be
amortized in as little as 3 or 4 years for some systems. Other systems carry a longer
pay-off period, but eventually all geothermal heat pumps provide savings that accrue as
lower-than-normal utility bills.
Comparison With Electricity
Heat pumps provide significant energy savings, more than 75 percent as compared to
electric baseboard heating and between 30 and 60 percent relative to other methods of
heating and cooling. Many utilities, particularly in the Eastern United States, have
subsidized the installation of geothermal heat pumps, also known as geoexchange

systems, to help reduce peak demand for electric power. The lower electrical usage
associated with the widespread use of geothermal heat pumps has allowed utilities to
avoid or postpone construction of new power plants in areas where suitable land and
transmission facilities are very difficult to acquire.
What are the environmental impacts?
Flash technologies allow the geothermal fluid to expand and release gases into
the atmosphere when the steam is created. Binary technology keeps the geothermal
fluid contained, using heat exchangers to capture heat to provide steam. Though these
air emissions represent tiny quantities and generally do not pose any serious
environmental threat, the chemical characteristics of geothermal resources are highly
site-specific. Dissolved gases usually include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, hydrogen
sulfide, ammonia, nitrogen and hydrogen.
Groundwater contamination, which can be easily prevented, is the principal
pollution concern.
The disposal of water and wastewater may cause significant pollution of surface
waters and ground water supplies. Still, used geothermal fluids are generally collected
and re-injected. This maintains pressures in underground reservoirs, but also allows for
recycling and reuse.
The best geothermal resources are sometimes located at remote sites that may
have significant wilderness, scenic or recreation value. While requiring relatively little
land itself, the siting of a geothermal plant - like remote wind farms -- may cause land
impacts when new transmission lines are connected to power plants in these rural
regions.

Geothermal Energy

If you were

to dig a big hole straight

down into

the Earth, you would

notice the

temperature getting

warmer the

deeper you go. That's

because

the inside of the Earth is

full of heat.

This heat is called

geothermal

energy.

People can

capture geothermal

energy

through:

Geothermal power plants, which use heat from deep inside the Earth to
generate steam to make electricity.

Geothermal heat pumps, which tap into heat close to the Earth's surface to heat
water or provide heat for buildings.

Geothermal Power Plants

At a geothermal power plant, wells are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the Earth to pump
steam or hot water to the surface. You're most likely to find one of these power plants in
an area that has a lot of hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity, because these are
places where the Earth is particularly hot just below the surface.

How It Works

1. Hot water is pumped from deep underground through a well under high pressure.
2. When the water reaches the surface, the pressure is dropped, which causes the
water to turn into steam.
3. The steam spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator that produces
electricity.
4. The steam cools off in a cooling tower and condenses back to water.
5. The cooled water is pumped back into the Earth to begin the process again.
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Not all geothermal energy comes from power plants. Geothermal heat pumps can do all
sorts of thingsfrom heating and cooling homes to warming swimming pools. These
systems transfer heat by pumping water or a refrigerant (a special type of fluid) through
pipes just below the Earth's surface, where the temperature is a constant 50 to 60F.
During the winter, the water or refrigerant absorbs warmth from the Earth, and the pump
brings this heat to the building above. In the summer, some heat pumps can run in
reverse and help cool buildings.

How It Works

1. Water or a refrigerant moves through a loop of pipes.

2. When the weather is cold, the water or refrigerant heats up as it travels through
the part of the loop that's buried underground.
3. Once it gets back above ground, the warmed water or refrigerant transfers heat
into the building.
4. The water or refrigerant cools down after its heat is transferred. It is pumped
back underground where it heats up once more, starting the process again.
5. On a hot day, the system can run in reverse. The water or refrigerant cools the
building and then is pumped underground where extra heat is transferred to the
ground around the pipes.
How geothermal energy is captured
Geothermal springs for power plants. Currently, the most common way of capturing
the energy from geothermal sources is to tap into naturally occurring "hydrothermal
convection" systems, where cooler water seeps into Earth's crust, is heated up, and
then rises to the surface. Once this heated water is forced to the surface, it is a

relatively simple matter to capture that steam and use it to drive electric generators.
Geothermal power plants drill their own holes into the rock to more effectively capture
the steam.
There are three basic designs for geothermal power plants, all of which pull hot water
and steam from the ground, use it, and then return it as warm water to prolong the life of
the heat source. In the simplest design, known as dry steam, the steam goes directly
through the turbine, then into a condenser where the steam is condensed into water. In
a second approach, very hot water is depressurized or "flashed" into steam which can
then be used to drive the turbine.
In the third approach, called a binary cycle system, the hot water is passed through a
heat exchanger, where it heats a second liquidsuch as isobutanein a closed loop.
Isobutane boils at a lower temperature than water, so it is more easily converted into
steam to run the turbine. These three systems are shown in the diagrams below.

The choice of which design to use is determined by the resource. If the water comes out
of the well as steam, it can be used directly, as in the first design. If it is hot water of a
high enough temperature, a flash system can be used; otherwise it must go through a
heat exchanger. Since there are more hot water resources than pure steam or high-

temperature water sources, there is more growth potential in the binary cycle, heat
exchanger design.
The largest geothermal system now in operation is a steam-driven plant in an area
called the Geysers, north of San Francisco, California. Despite the name, there are
actually no geysers there, and the heat that is used for energy is all steam, not hot
water. Although the area was known for its hot springs as far back as the mid-1800s, the
first well for power production was not drilled until 1924. Deeper wells were drilled in the
1950s, but real development didn't occur until the 1970s and 1980s. By 1990, 26 power
plants had been built, for a capacity of more than 2,000 MW.
Because of the rapid development of the area in the 1980s, and the technology used,
the steam resource has been declining since 1988. Today, owned primarily by the
California utility Calpine and with a net operating capacity of 725 MW, the Geysers
facilities still meets nearly 60 percent of the average electrical demand for California's
North Coast region (from the Golden Gate Bridge north to the Oregon border). The
plants at the Geysers use an evaporative water-cooling process to create a vacuum that
pulls the steam through the turbine, producing power more efficiently. But this process
loses 60 to 80 percent of the steam to the air, without re-injecting it underground. While
the steam pressure may be declining, the rocks underground are still hot. To remedy the
situation, various stakeholders partnered to create the Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge
Project, which involves transporting 11 million gallons per day of treated wastewater
from neighboring communities through a 40-mile pipeline and injecting it into the ground
to provide more steam. The project came online in 2003, and in 2008 provided enough
additional electricity for approximately 100,000 homes.
One concern with open systems like the Geysers is that they emit some air pollutants.
Hydrogen sulfidea toxic gas with a highly recognizable "rotten egg" odoralong with
trace amounts of arsenic and minerals, is released in the steam. Salt can also pose an
environmental problem. At a power plant located at the Salton Sea reservoir in Southern
California, a significant amount of salt builds up in the pipes and must be removed.
While the plant initially put the salts into a landfill, they now re-inject the salt back into a

different well. With closed-loop systems, such as the binary cycle system, there are no
emissions and everything brought to the surface is returned underground.

Direct use of geothermal heat.

Geothermal springs can also be used directly for heating purposes. Geothermal
hot water is used to heat buildings, raise plants in greenhouses, dry out fish and crops,
de-ice roads, improve oil recovery, aid in industrial processes like pasteurizing milk, and
heat spas and water at fish farms.
Ground-source heat pumps.
A much more conventional way to tap geothermal energy is by using geothermal
heat pumps to provide heat and cooling to buildings. Also called ground-source heat
pumps, they take advantage of the constant year-round temperature of about 50F that
is just a few feet below the grounds surface. Either air or antifreeze liquid is pumped
through pipes that are buried underground, and re-circulated into the building. In the
summer, the liquid moves heat from the building into the ground. In the winter, it does
the opposite, providing pre-warmed air and water to the heating system of the building.
In the simplest use of ground-source heating and cooling, a tube runs from the outside
air, under the ground, and into a building's ventilation system. More complicated, but
more effective, systems use compressors and pumpsas in electric air conditioning
systemsto maximize the heat transfer.
In regions with temperature extremes, such as the northern United States in the winter
and the southern United States in the summer, ground-source heat pumps are the most
energy-efficient and environmentally clean heating and cooling systems available. Far
more efficient than electric heating and cooling, these systems can circulate as much as
3 to 5 times the energy they use in the process. The U.S. Department of Energy found
that heat pumps can save a typical home hundreds of dollars in energy costs each year,

with the system typically paying for itself in 8 to 12 years. Tax credits and other
incentives can reduce the payback period to 5 years or less.
More than 600,000 ground-source heat pumps supply climate control in U.S.
homes and other buildings, with new installations occurring at a rate of about 60,000 per
year. While this is significant, it is still only a small fraction of the U.S. heating and
cooling market, and several barriers to greater penetration into the market remain. For
example, despite their long-term savings, geothermal heat pumps have higher up-front
costs. In addition, installing them in existing homes and businesses can be difficult,
since it involves digging up areas around a buildings structure. Finally, many heating
and cooling installers are simply not familiar with the technology.
However, ground-source heat pumps are catching on in some areas. In rural
areas without access to natural gas pipelines, homes must use propane or electricity for
heating and cooling. Heat pumps are much less expensive to operate than these
conventional systems, and since buildings are generally widely spread out, installing
underground loops is often not an issue. Underground loops can be easily installed
during construction of new buildings as well, resulting in savings for the life of the
building. Furthermore, recent policy developments are offering strong incentives for
homeowners to install these systems. The 2008 economic stimulus bill, Emergency
Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, included an eight-year extension (through 2016) of
the 30 percent investment tax credit, with no upper limit, to all home installations of
EnergyStar certified geothermal heat pumps.
The future of geothermal energy
Geothermal energy has the potential to play a significant role in moving the
United States (and other regions of the world) toward a cleaner, more sustainable
energy system. It is one of the few renewable energy technologies that can supply
continuous, baseload power. Additionally, unlike coal and nuclear plants, binary
geothermal plants can be used a flexible source of energy to balance the variable
supply of renewable resources such as wind and solar. Binary plants have the capability

to ramp production up and down multiple times each day, from 100 percent of nominal
power down to a minimum of 10 percent .
The costs for electricity from geothermal facilities are also becoming increasingly
competitive. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that the
levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for new geothermal plants (coming online in 2019) will
be less than 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), as opposed to more than 6 cents for new
natural gas plants and more than 9 cents for new conventional coal. There is also a
bright future for the direct use of geothermal resources as a heating source for homes
and businesses in any location.
However, in order to tap into the full potential of geothermal energy, two
emerging technologies require further development: Enhanced Geothermal Systems
(EGS) and co-production of geothermal electricity in oil and gas wells.
Enhanced geothermal systems.
Geothermal heat occurs everywhere under the surface of the earth, but the
conditions that make water circulate to the surface are found in less than 10 percent of
Earth's land area. An approach to capturing the heat in dry areas is known as enhanced
geothermal systems (EGS) or "hot dry rock". The hot rock reservoirs, typically at greater
depths below the surface than conventional sources, are first broken up by pumping
high-pressure water through them. The plants then pump more water through the
broken hot rocks, where it heats up, returns to the surface as steam, and powers
turbines to generate electricity. The water is then returned to the reservoir through
injection wells to complete the circulation loop. Plants that use a closed-loop binary
cycle release no fluids or heat-trapping emissions other than water vapor, which may be
used for cooling.
A 2006 study by MIT found that EGS technology could provide 100 gigawatts of
electricity by 2050 . The Department of Energy, several universities, the geothermal
industry, and venture capital firms (including Google) are collaborating on research and
demonstration projects to harness the potential of EGS. The Newberry Geothermal

Project in Bend, Oregon has recently made significant progress in reducing EGS project
costs and eliminating risks to future development . The DOE hopes to have EGS ready
for commercial development by 2015. Australia, France, Germany, and Japan also have
R&D programs to make EGS commercially viable.
One cause for careful consideration with EGS is the possibility of induced
seismic activity that might occur from hot dry rock drilling and development. This risk is
similar to that associated with hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly used method of oil
and gas drilling, and with carbon dioxide capture and storage in deep saline aquifers.
Though a potentially serious concern, the risk of an induced EGS-related seismic event
that can be felt by the surrounding population or that might cause significant damage
currently appears very low when projects are located an appropriate distance away from
major fault lines and properly monitored. Appropriate site selection, assessment and
monitoring of rock fracturing and seismic activity during and after construction, and
open, transparent communication with local communities are also critical.
Low-temperature and co-production of geothermal electricity in oil and gas wells.
Low-temperature geothermal energy is derived from geothermal fluid found in the
ground at temperatures of 150C (300F) or less. These resources are typically utilized
in direct-use applications, such as heating buildings, but can also be used to produce
electricity through binary cycle geothermal processes. Oil and gas fields already under
production represent a large potential source of this type of geothermal energy. In many
existing oil and gas reservoirs, a significant amount of high-temperature water or
suitable high-pressure conditions are present, which could allow for the co-production of
geothermal electricity along with the extraction of oil and gas resources. In some cases,
exploiting these geothermal resources could even enhance the extraction of the oil and
gas.
An MIT study estimated that the United States has the potential to develop
44,000 MWs of geothermal capacity by 2050 by coproducing geothermal electricity at oil
and gas fieldsprimarily in the Southeast and southern Plains states. The study

projected that such advanced geothermal systems could supply 10 percent of U.S.
baseload electricity by 2050, given R&D and deployment over the next 10 years.
According to DOE, an average of 25 billion barrels of hot water is produced in
United States oil and gas wells each year. This water, which has historically been
viewed as an inconvenience to well operators, could be harnessed to produce up to 3
gigawatts of clean, reliable baseload energy . This energy could not only reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, it could also increase profitability and extend the economic
life of existing oil and gas field infrastructure. The DOEs Geothermal Technologies
Office is working toward a goal of achieving widespread production of low-temperature
geothermal power by 2020.
These exciting new developments in geothermal will be supported by
unprecedented levels of federal R&D funding. Under, the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, $400 million of new funding was allocated to the DOEs
Geothermal Technologies Program. Of this $90 million went to fund seven
demonstration projects to prove the feasibility of EGS technology. Another $50 million
funded 17 demonstration projects for other new technologies, including co-production
with oil and gas and low temperature geothermal. The remaining funds went towards
exploration technologies, expanding the deployment of geothermal heat pumps, and
other uses. These investments are already beginning to expand the horizons of
geothermal energy production and will likely continue to produce significant net benefits
in the future.
Industrial Applications
Industrial applications encompass a rather wide range of industrial activities requiring
fluid at low to medium temperature, for instance:
Process heating;

Food processing;

Industrial space air conditioning;

Food drying;

 Fish drying;

Fuel production and oil enhancing

Pulp and paper processing;

Chemical production;

Washing and dyeing of textiles;

Mineral production: sulphur, gases,

salts or other precious metals.

Leather and fur treatment;

Milk pasteurization
Medo-Bel Creamery, in Klamath Falls, Oregon used geothermal heat in its milk
pasteurization process for about 50 years (Lund, 1997). A 233-m deep well provided 6.3
L/s of 87C geothermal fluid to a three-section plate heat exchanger. The incoming cold
milk at 3C was preheated by milking coming from the homogenizer in one section of

the heat exchanger. The milk was then passed to the second section of the heat
exchanger where the geothermal fluid heated the milk to a minimum temperature of
78C for 15 seconds in the short-time pasteurizer. If the milk temperature dropped
below 74C, the short-time pasteurizer automatically re-circulated the milk until the
required exposure was obtained. Once the milk was properly pasteurized, it was passed
through the homogenizer and then pumped back through the other side of the first
section of the heat exchanger where it was cooled to 12C by the incoming cold milk. It
was finally chilled back to 3C by cold water in the third section of the plate heat
exchanger, where the milk went into cartons (Figure 3). Milk was processed at a rate of
0.84 L/s, and a total of 225,000 kg were processed each month. Some steam was
necessary in the process to operate equipment;

Thus, geothermal water was heated by natural gas to obtain the required
temperature. Geothermal hot water was also used for other types of cleaning, and for

batch pasteurizing of ice cream. The heat was used to pasteurize the ice cream mix at
63C for 30 minutes.
The City of San Bernardino, California installed a primary anaerobic sewerage
digester in 1983 (San Bernardino Municipal Water District, undated). The process uses
58C geothermal fluid that replaced methane that was burned to fuel the digester
(Figure 4). At the time of the implementation of the geothermal conversion, the city
wastewater treatment plant was processing an average of 80,000 m3 per day of
domestic and industrial wastewater. The process includes primary and secondary
treatment of all wastewater, and tertiary treatment of 11,000 m3 per day, which is
reclaimed for process, washdown and irrigation purposes. The sludges and other solids
collected throughout the treatment process are pumped from their various collection
points to the thickeners, where they are concentrated through settling. This thickened
sludge is then pumped to the digesters. Digestion is a biological process that uses living
anaerobic (absence of free oxygen) microorganisms to feed on the organics. The
process is aided by heating and mixing to break down the organic material into a
digested sludge and methane gas. The methane gas is collected and used for fuel in
various in-plant engines which drive pumps and compressors, while the well digested
sludge is dried (Racine, et al., 1981).

Geothermal laundry in Hveragerdi cleaning and drying

The retirement home s in Hveragerdi, Iceland, was founded in 1952 and currently has
about 150 residents. In addition, the laundry also provides services to a local health
clinic. The laundry, see Figure 4, uses geothermal steam for washing and drying
purposes. The energy cost of this geothermal laundry is only a fraction of what it would
cost to use electricity.

The geothermal laundry was installed in 2006-2007. It uses 150C geothermal

steam from a borehole located nearby. The geothermal steam is directly used to heat up
the laundry dryers. Rather important savings in the use of electricity result from the use
of the geothermal steam, easily available in the neighbourhood.
Part of the geothermal steam goes through a heat exchanger used to heat cold
water up to 90C for use in the washing machines. Return water from the dryers, the
heat exchanger and from the washing machines is then directed to a cooling tank
before it is released back to nature. When at maximum load, the laundry requires about
0.2-0.3 kg/s of geothermal steam. This use of steam for heating enables the laundry to
save the electricity normally required for heating and drying.
In

addition to

using geothermal steam, the

laundry also only uses

environmentally friendly detergents in the laundry, thus minimising the effects on the
environment.

Fish drying in Reykjanes

One of the most successful uses of geothermal resources in an industrial
application in Iceland is the fish (head) drying in Reykjanes. The process is rather
simple, utilizing high pressure geothermal steam to heat up a closed low temperature
(80C/40C) water cycle driving the fish drying heater. A low temperature geothermal
resources could easily be utilized instead of the steam.
The drying process is done in 2 stages. The first stage is done in a rack cabinet
of the conveyor belt drying. The air temperature should be about 18-25C, relative
humidity 20-50% and air velocity 3 m/s.
The duration is about 2440 h and after that process the water content has gone
from 82% down to 55% (Figures 6-8).
The second stage is done with 22-26C air in a drying container, located on top
of an air tunnel. The relative humidity 20-50% and the air velocity 0.51 m/s through the
drying container. The duration is some 72 h. The water content after drying is lower than
15%.
The total drying time of fish products is in the range of 100140 h depending on
their size and initial water content.

Fish backbones dried in a conveyor dryer using geothermal energy in Iceland

Geothermal energy is also used to heat sidewalks and roads in order to prevent
freezing in the winter. Most recently, the Netherlands began using geothermal energy to
keep bike lanes from freezing in the wintertime, for instance.

Pilot-scale cotton dryer using geothermal energy in Greece

Polyethylene heating tubes in a plastic-covered greenhouse for vegetable

cultivation (left), and polypropylene heating tubes laid on the soil in a glass-covered
greenhouse (right) in Greece

Tomato cultivation in a greenhouse in Iceland & Cucumber cultivation in a

greenhouse in Iceland

Raceway pond for cultivation of spirulina using geothermal energy in Nigrita,

Greece

Heating pipe distribution for a soil warming system inside a greenhouse

Geothermal heat exchanger

Status of geothermal

Top ten countries for direct use of geothermal energy

Country

Annual use (terajoules/year)

China

75 348

United States of America

56 552

Sweden

45 301

Turkey

36 886

Norway

25 200

Iceland

24 361

Japan

15 698

France

12 926

Germany

12 765

Netherlands

10 699

Top ten countries for use of geothermal energy in power generation, 19902010
and 2015 forecast
El
Salvad
Year
1990

or

Iceland Indonesia

95

45

145

105

50

2000

161

170

590

2005

151

202

2007

204

2010
2015

Italy
545

Japan Kenya

Mexico

New

United

Zealand

States

215

45

700

283

891

2 775

414

45

753

286

785

547

45

755

437

1 909

2 228

797

791

535

129

953

435

1 930

2 564

421

992

811

535

129

953

472

1 970

2 924

204

575

1 197

863

536

167

958

628

1 904

3 087

290

800

3 500

920

535

530

1 140

1 240

2 500

5 400

199
310

632

1227

Installed capacityin megawatts

2 817