Power plants use steam produced from

geothermal reservoirs to generate

electricity. There are three geothermal
power plant technologies being used to
convert hydrothermal fluids to electricity
dry steam, flash steam and binary cycle.
The type of conversion used (selected in
development) depends on the state of the
fluid (steam or water) and its temperature.
Dry steam
Flash steam
Binary cycle
Dry steam plants use hydrothermal fluids
that are primarily steam. The steam
travels directly to a turbine, which drives
a generator that produces electricity. The
steam eliminates the need to burn fossil
fuels to run the turbine (also eliminating
the need to transport and store fuels).
These plants emit only excess steam and
Dry Steam Plants produce
electricity directly from the
steam that emerges at the
earths surface. The steam
drives turbines.
Flash steam plants are the most common
type of geothermal power generation plants
in operation today. Fluid at temperatures
greater than 360F (182C) is pumped under
high pressure into a tank at the surface held
at a much lower pressure, causing some of
the fluid to rapidly vaporize, or "flash." The
vapor then drives a turbine, which drives a
generator. If any liquid remains in the tank, it
Flash Steam Power Plants are the
most common form of geothermal
power plant. The hot water is
pumped under great pressure to
the surface.

When it reaches the surface the pressure is reduced and as a result some of the water
changes to steam. This produces a blast of steam. The cooled water is returned to the
reservoir to be heated by geothermal rocks again.
Binary cycle geothermal power generation
plants differ from Dry Steam and Flash Steam
systems in that the water or steam from the
geothermal reservoir never comes in contact
with the turbine/generator units. Low to
moderately heated (below 400F) geothermal
fluid and a secondary (hence, "binary") fluid
with a much lower boiling point that water
pass through a heat exchanger. Heat from
the geothermal fluid causes the secondary
If the water that reaches the
surface is not hot enough to
produce steam, it can still be
used to produce electricity by
feeding it into a Binary Power
Plant.

The hot water is fed into a heat

exchanger. The heat from the water is
absorbed by a liquid such as isopentane
which boils at a lower temperature. The
isopentane steam is used to drive
turbines, producing electricity. The
isopentane then condenses back to its
liquid state and is used again.