Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum

K.L.E Societys

B. V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering & Technology Hubli-580031 Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

VIII sem seminar report on

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY- OVERVIEW AND SIMULATION IN MATLAB

Member Sindhu Bijjal - 2BV08EE048 Batch v Faculty Varsha Tatti

INTRODUCTION The word geothermal comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and therme (heat). Geothermal energy is heat from within the earth. Georthemal is the thermal energy contained in the rock and fluid in the earths crust. It is almost 4,000 miles from the surface of the earth to its center. The outer layer of the earth, the crust, is 35 miles thick and insulates the surface from the hot interior Most of the renewable energy sources presently used and under development in the world are in one way or another connected to the energy that the Earth is receiving from the Sun (hydro, biomass, solar- and wind energy). Most of the energy resources used in the world at present (86%) are coming from finite energy sources embedded in the crust of the Earth (oil, gas, coal, and uranium). Only one energy resource of the crust is renewable, namely geothermal energy. The source of geothermal energy is the continuous energy of the Earth towards its flux flowing from the interior surface. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY GENERATION In 1904, Italys Prince Piero Ginori Conti became the first person to use thermal energy from within the earth to turn on the lights. A clean, base load source of power, geothermal offers consistent electricity production nearly 24 hours a day with little to no emissions. Today, more than 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of geothermal power capacity is online across 26 countries with a combined output of approximately 67 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. Currently, the United States is the global geothermal leader with 3,086 megawatt (MW) of installed capacity. Seven countries account for 88% of global capacity, and among countries utilizing geothermal resources, seven obtain 10-30% of their total electricity supply from domestic geothermal sources.

Geothermal power can play a fairly significant role in the energy balance of some areas of the world [9]. For non-electric applications of geothermal energy, the year 2000 worldwide figures show an installed capacity (15,145 MWt) and energy use (190,699 TJ/yr) for this renewable source [4]. The most common non-electric use worldwide (in terms of installed capacity) is for heat pumps (34.80%) followed by bathing (26.20%), space heating (21.62%), greenhouses (8.22%), aquaculture (3.93%), and industrial processes (3.13%). FORMATION OF GEO-THERMAL ENERGY Geothermal energy is generated in the earths core, almost 4,000 miles beneath the earths surface. The double-layered core is made up of very hot magma (melted rock) surrounding a solid ironouter core. Very high temperatures are continuously produced inside the earth in the rocks by the slow decay of radioactive particles. Surrounding the outer core is the mantle, made of magma and rock. The outermost layer of the earth, the land that forms the continents and ocean floors, is called the crust. The crust is not a solid piece, like the shell of an egg, but is broken into pieces called plates. Magma comes close to the earths surface near the edges of these plates. This is wherev olcanoes occur. The lava that erupts from volcanoes is partly magma. Deep underground, the rocks and water absorb the heat from this magma. This water is drawn out by digging wells and used for electricity generation.

FINDING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Some visible features of geothermal energy are volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles. But these geothermal resources cannot be seen. They are deep underground. There may be no clues above ground that a geothermal reservoir is present below. The most active geothermal resources are usually found along major plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated. Most of the geothermal activity in the world occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire which is along the border area of Pacific Ocean. Geologists use different methods to find geothermal reservoirs. The only way to be sure there is a reservoir is to drill a well and test the temperature deep underground.

Fig 3: cross section of geothermal site

HYDROTHERMAL RESOURCES There is more than one type of geothermal energy, but only one kind is widely used to make electricity. It is called Hydrothermal resources have two common hydrothermal energy. ingredients: water (hydro) and heat (thermal). If the temperature of the hydrothermal resource is high(300 to 700 F) then it is used to make electricity. If the temperature is low(50 to 300F), it is used for heating purposes. a) Low temperature resources: heating Hydrothermal resources at low temperatures (50 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit) are located everywhere, just a few feet below the ground. This low temperature geothermal energy is used for heating homes and buildings, growing crops, and drying lumber, fruits, and vegetables. In some countries geothermal heat pumps are used to heat and cool homes and public buildings. In the U.S. each year approximately 50,000 geothermal heat pumps are installed. Many people in France and most of the population of Iceland use geothermal energy to heat their homes and buildings. b) High temperature resources: electricity Hydrothermal resources at high temperatures (300 to 700F) is used to make electricity. Geothermal power plants are set up and they use the natural hot water and steam from the earth to turn turbine generators for producing electricity. Today, more than 8.7 gigawatts (GW) of geothermal power capacity is online across 26 countries to produce electricity. GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS Geothermal power plants use the natural hot water and steam from the earth to turn turbine generators for producing electricity. Unlike fossil fuel power plants, no fuel is burned in these plants. Geothermal power plants give off water vapors but have no smoky emissions. Geothermal electricity is for the base load power as well as the peak load demand. Geothermal electricity has become competitive with conventional energy sources in many parts of the world. The geothermal power plants are categorized into three types1) Dry steam power plants 2) Flash steam power plants 3) Binary cycle power plants

1)DRY STEAM POWER PLANTS

These are the cheapest and oldest type of geothermal Dry steam reservoirs use the water in the earth's crust, which is heated by the mantle and released through vents in the form of steam. The dry steam power plant is suitable where the geothermal steam is not mixed with water. Production wells are drilled down to the aquifer and the superheated, pressurised steam (180-350C) is brought to the surface at high speeds, and passed through a steam turbine to generate electricity. The waste water is then reinjected into the ground with reinjection wells. The underground water reservoirs that feed such a system are refilled when rain falls on the land. The rainwater eventually soaks back into the crust of the earth. Because this occurs on a continuous basis, geothermal energy is considered a renewable resource. 2)FLASH STEAM POWER PLANTS Flash steam power plants force water down into an injection well by a groundwater pump. The well must be sunk deep enough to reach subterranean rocks at a temperature higher than the boiling point of water. The water filters through the rocks where it becomes heated and rises back up through the nearby production well. The hot water from the production well enters a flash tank where the reduced pressure causes the water to boil rapidly or "flash" into vapor. Water that remains liquid in the flash tank is returned to the groundwater pump to be forced down into the earth again. The vapor from the flash tank drives a steam turbine, which turns the shaft of an electric generator. After passing through the turbine, the steam is cooled in a condenser. This returns the water vapor to the liquid state, and this liquid is forced by the groundwater pump back down into the earth. Some of the condensed vapor can be used for drinking and irrigation because it is, in effect, distilled. The flash tank must be periodically flushed and cleaned to get rid of mineral buildup. If the water from the production well has high mineral content, the flushing must be done more frequently.

3)BINARY CYCLE POWER PLANTS

In the binary cycle system, warm geothermal water is pumped to the surface and passed through heat exchanger that contains a fluid such as a butane or pentane hydrocarbon with a much lower boiling point than water. The heat from the geothermal water causes this secondary or 'binary' fluid to flash into vapor. The vapor created by heating the pentane is what spins the turbine powering the generator, while the cooled steam from the geothermal source is injected back into the formation where it heats up again and is available to eventually re-circulate through the heat exchanger.
Thus the water from the geothermal reservoir never comes into direct contact with the blades of the turbine generator and is uses water-based geothermal resources of approximately 200 to 360 F.

Binary cycle power plants have a thermal efficiency of 10-13%.

MODELLING AND SIMULATION RESULTS

Simulink , developed by The MathWorks ,is a commercial tool for modeling, simulating and analyzing multidomain dynamic systems. Its primary interface is a graphical block diagramming tool and a customizable set of block libraries. It offers tight integration with the rest of the MATLAB environment and can either drive MATLAB or be scripted from it. Simulink is widely used in control theory and digital signal processing for multidomain simulation and design. We want to obtain the model of process and the results of the model simulation.For writing the differential equation who describe the process , we start with the thermodynamics equations: - the quantity of heat which is transfer in time unit represents the thermal flux: = The body heat is given by: dQ=m.c.d (2) (1)

where represent the thermal flux , c represent specific feature heat , m represent mass of body , C represent thermal capacity, represent temperature , Q represent heat ,dt represent derivative. If we consider the temperature of hot water and as the temperature of cold water , we obtain the next equation:

(3)

The value of the thermal flux is also one of the process outputs. The Simulink model based on equation (3) is shown in the next figure:

MATHEMATICAL MODEL IN SIMULINK

RESULTS Case1) =20, teta 1 = 40

Case2) =20, teta1=60

Efficiency:

ADVANTAGES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY 1) Geothermal energy is an abundant, secure, and, if properly utilized, a renewable source of energy. 2) Modern geothermal plants emit less than 0.2% of the carbon dioxide of the cleanest fossil fuel plant, less than 1% of the sulphur dioxide, and less than 0.1% of particulates, particularly with respect to greenhouse gas emissions. 3) Geothermal energy is not associated with environmental impacts such as acid rain, mine spoils, open pits, oil spills, radioactive waste disposal or the damming of rivers. 4) Geothermal power stations are very reliable compared to conventional power plants. They have a high availability and capacity factor. 5) Geothermal energy has an inherent energy storage capability. 6) Geothermal power stations have a very small land area requirement.

DISADVANTAGES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY 1)Since, this type of energy is not widely used therefore the unavailability of equipment, staff, infrastructure, training pose hindrance to the installation of geothermal plants across the globe. 2)requires installation of power plants, to get steam from deep within the earth and this require huge one time investment 3)Geothermal sites can run out of steam over a period of time due to drop in temperature or if too much water is injected to cool the rocks and this may result huge loss 4)It is only suitable for regions where temperature below the earth are quite low and can produce steam over a long period of time 5)great research is required which is done by the companies before setting up the plant. 6)Geothermal sites may contain some poisonous gases and they can escape deep within the earth, through the holes drilled by the constructors.

REFERENCES

1) Analysis of Thermal Efficiency in Geothermal Power Station Using A Simulink Model by Claudiu Costea. 2) Geothermal Energy in Power Systems Shabana Sheth, Member, IEEE and Mohammad Shahidehpour, Fellow, IEEE. 3) Producing Electricity from Geothermal Energy by Shaikh Md. Rubayiat Tousif Shaiyek Md. Buland Taslim. 4) Revolving doors green technology by M.S.Murthy, Y.S.Patil,S .V.K.Sharma, B.Polem, S.S.Kolte, N.Doji, 2011 IEEE frist conference on clean energy and technology CET. 5) Textbook on Geothermal Power: Issues, Technologies, and Opportunities for Research Development, Demonstration, and Deployment February 2010, EPRI technology innovative white paper. 6) Wikipedia, geothermal energy,geothermal electricity. 7) http://www.indiaenergyportal.org/subthemes_link.php?text=geothermal&themeid=13 8) http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/heating/ 9) http://nothingnerdy.wikispaces.com/Geothermal+energy+-+Daiki 10) Geothermal Power Generation Worldwide by T. J. Hammons, University of Glasgow, Glasgow GI2 8QQ, UK, Paper accepted for presentation at 2003 IEEE Bologna PowerTech Conference, June 23-26, Bologna, Italy 11) http://www.digtheheat.com/geothermal/flash_power_plant.html