HEAT EXCHANGERS

Kevin D. Rafferty, P.E.

Gene Culver
Geo-Heat Center

INTRODUCTION
Most geothermal fluids, because of their elevated
temperature, contain a variety of dissolved chemicals.
These chemicals are frequently corrosive toward standard
materials of construction. As a result, it is advisable in
most cases to isolate the geothermal fluid from the process
to which heat is being transferred.
The task of heat transfer from the geothermal fluid to
a closed process loop is most often handled by a plate heat
exchanger. The two most common types used in geother-
mal applications are: bolted and brazed.
For smaller systems, in geothermal resource areas of a
specific character, downhole heat exchangers (DHEs) pro-
vide a unique means of heat extraction. These devices
eliminate the requirement for physical removal of fluid from Figure 1. The plate heat exchanger.
the well. For this reason, DHE-based systems avoid
entirely the environmental and practical problems associated
with fluid disposal. Figure 2 illustrates the nature of fluid flow through the
plate heat exchanger. The primary and secondary fluids
GASKETED PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS flow in opposite directions on either side of the plates.
The plate heat exchanger is the most widely used con- Water flow and circuiting are controlled by the placement
figuration in geothermal systems of recent design. A num- of the plate gaskets. By varying the position of the gasket,
ber of characteristics particularly attractive to geothermal water can be channeled over a plate or past it. Gaskets are
applications are responsible for this. Among these are: installed in such a way that a gasket failure cannot result in
a mixing of the fluids. In addition, the outer circumference
1. Superior thermal performance. of all gaskets is exposed to the atmosphere. As a result,
2. Availability of a wide variety of corrosion resistant should a leak occur, a visual indication is provided.
alloys.
3. Ease of maintenance.
4. Expandability and multiplex capability.
5. Compact design.

Figure 1 presents an introduction to the terminology of

the plate heat exchanger. Plate heat exchanger, as it is used
in this section, refers to the gasketed plate and frame
variety of heat exchanger. Other types of plate heat
exchangers are available; though among these, only the
brazed plate heat exchanger has found application in
geothermal systems.
As shown in Figure 1, the plate heat exchanger is
basically a series of individual plates pressed between two
heavy end covers. The entire assembly is held together by
the tie bolts. Individual plates are hung from the top carry-
ing bar and are guided by the bottom carrying bar. For
single-pass circuiting, hot and cold side fluid connections Figure 2. Nature of fluid flow through the plate heat
are usually located on the fixed end cover. Multi-pass cir- exchanger.
cuiting results in fluid connections on both fixed and
moveable end covers.

20 GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998

General Capabilities Table 1. Plate Heat Exchanger Gasket Materials
In comparison to shell and tube units, plate and frame ______________________________________________
heat exchangers are a relatively low pressure/low
temperature device. Current maximum design ratings for Temperature
most manufacturers are: temperature, 400oF, and 300 psig. Common Limit
Material Name (oF)
Above these values, an alternate type of heat
exchanger would have to be selected. The actual limita-
Styrene-Butadiene Buna-S 185
tions for a particular heat exchanger are a function of the Neoprene Neoprene 250
materials selected for the gaskets and plates; these will be Acrylonitrile- Butadiene Buna-N 275
discussed later. Ethylene/Propylene EPDM 300
Individual plate area varies from about 0.3 to 21.5 ft2 Fluorocarbon Viton 300
with a maximum heat transfer area for a single heat ex- Resin-Cured Butyl Resin-Cured Butyl 300
changer currently in the range of 13,000 ft2. The minimum Compressed Asbestos Compressed Asbestos 500
plate size does place a lower limit on applications of plate ______________________________________________
heat exchangers. For geothermal applications, this limit
generally affects selections for loads such as residential and Testing by Radian Corporation has revealed that Viton
small commercial space heating and domestic hot water. shows the best performance in geothermal applications,
The largest units are capable of handling flow rates of followed by Buna-N. Test results revealed that neoprene
6000 gallons per minute (gpm) and the smallest units developed an extreme compression set and Buna-S and
serviceable down to flows of approximately 5 gpm. natural rubber also performed poorly (Ellis and Conover,
Connection sizes are available from 3/4 to 14 in. to 1981).
accommodate these flows. Although Viton demonstrates the best performance, its
high cost generally eliminates it from consideration unless
Materials its specific characteristics are required. Buna-N, generally
Materials selection for plate heat exchangers focuses the basic material quoted by most manufacturers, and the
primarily upon the plates and gaskets. Since these items slightly more expensive EPDM material are generally
significantly effect first cost and equipment life, this acceptable for geothermal applications.
procedure should receive special attention.
Performance
Plates Superior thermal performance is the hallmark of plate
One of the features which makes plate-type heat heat exchangers. Compared to shell-and-tube units, plate
exchangers so attractive for geothermal applications is the heat exchangers offer overall heat transfer coefficients 3 to
availability of a wide variety of corrosion-resistant alloys 4 times higher. These values, typically 800 to 1200 Btu/-
for construction of the heat transfer surfaces. Most hr·ft2 oF (clean), result in very compact equipment. This
manufacturers will quote either 304 or 316 stainless steel a high performance also allows the specification of very small
the basic material. approach temperature (as low as 2 to 5oF) which is some-
For direct use geothermal applications, the choice of times useful in geothermal applications. This high thermal
materials is generally a selection between 304 stainless, 316 performance does come at the expense of a somewhat
stainless, and titanium. The selection between 304 and 316 higher pressure drop. Selection of a plate heat exchanger
is most often based upon a combination of temperature and is a trade-off between U-value (which influences surface
chloride content of the geothermal fluid. Should oxygen be area and hence, capital cost) and pressure drop (which
present in as little as parts per billion (ppb) concentrations, influences pump head and hence, operating cost).
the rates of localized corrosion would be significantly Increasing U-value comes at the expense of increasing
increased (Ellis and Conover, 1981). Should the system for pressure drop.
which the heat exchanger is being selected offer the Fouling considerations for plate heat exchangers are
potential for oxygen entering the circuit, a more considered differently than for shell-and-tube equipment.
conservative approach to materials selection is There are a variety of reasons for this; but, the most
recommended. important is the ease with which plate heat exchangers can
Titanium is only rarely required for direct use appli- be disassembled and cleaned. As a result, the units need
cations. In applications where the temperature/chloride re- not be over-designed to operate in a fouled condition.
quirements are in excess of the capabilities of 316 stainless Beyond this, the nature of plate heat exchanger equipment
steel, titanium generally offers the least cost alternative. tends to reduce fouling due to:
The first cost premium for titanium over stainless steel
plates is approximately 50%. • High turbulence,
• Narrow high-velocity flow channels which eliminate
Gaskets low flow areas found in shell-and-tube equipment, and
As with plate materials, a variety of gasket materials • Stainless steel surfaces that are impervious to
are available. Among the most common are those shown in corrosion in most groundwater applications
Table 1.
GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998
21
Costs On the negative side, the brazed plate approach
For most geothermal systems, the plate heat exchanger eliminates some of the advantages of the plate-and-frame
can constitute a large portion of the mechanical room design. In terms of maintenance, the brazed plate units
equipment cost. For this reason, it is useful to have a method cannot be disassembled for cleaning or for the addition of
of evaluating the capital cost of this component when heat transfer plates as bolted units can.
considering the system design. Most importantly, however, the brazing material is
Final heat exchanger cost is a function of materials, copper. Since most geothermal fluids contain hydrogen
frame size and plate configuration. sulphide (H2S) or ammonia (NH3), copper and copper
Figure 3 presents a plot of plate heat exchanger costs alloys are generally avoided in geothermal system construc-
in 1996 dollars/ft2 of heat transfer area based on a number tion. The situation with brazed plate heat exchangers is
of manufacturer’s quotes for various geothermal especially critical due to the braze material and length (a
applications. Since heat transfer area takes into account few tenths of an inch) of the brazed joints.
duty, temperature difference and fouling, it is the most
useful index for preliminary costing. Application Considerations
In addition to the material related questions, there are
70 also issues related to the standard configuration of brazed
60 plate heat exchangers.
Physical size of the exchangers limits application flow
Cost in $/sq ft

50 rates to approximately 100 gpm (athough one manufacturer

produces units capable of 200 gpm). Maximum heat trans-
40
fer area is limited to 200 ft2. Heat transfer rates are similar
30 to those of plate-and-frame heat exchangers and range from
800 - 1300 Btu/hr ft2 oF in most applications.
20 The major design considerations for brazed plate
10 exchangers is that standard units are manufactured in only
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 single-pass flow arrangements for both hot and cold fluids.
Heat Transfer Area - sq ft This influences the ability of the exchanger to achieve close
approach temperatures in certain applications.

Figure 3. Plate heat exchanger cost for Buna-N Heat Exchanger Equipment Cost
gaskets and 316 stainless steel plates As discussed above, the low cost of the brazed plate
(1996). heat exchanger is its most attractive feature. Since heat
exchanger cost is influenced by a host of factors including
hot- and cold-side fluid flows and temperatures, it is most
BRAZED PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS useful to discuss costs in terms of heat transfer area.
Figure 5presents cost data for brazed plate heat
Construction exchangers. As indicated, a similar curve to the one shown
The brazed plate unit as shown in Figure 4 eliminates earlier for plate-and-frame, holds for these units; however,
the end plates, bolts, and gaskets from the design. Instead, it is offset toward lower costs.
the plates are held together by brazing with copper. This
results in a much less complicated, lighter weight and more 140
compact heat exchanger. The simpler design also results in
greatly reduced cost. 120
Cost in $/sq ft

100

80

60

40

20
0 5 10 15 20
Heat Transfer Area - sq ft

Figure 5. Brazed plate heat exchanger.

Figure 4. Brazed plate heat exchanger.

22 GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998

 Based on limited testing, brazed plate heat exchangers be a costly addition to a small geothermal heating project.
should demonstrate a minimum service life of 12 years in The cost of keeping a pump operating in the sometimes
fluids of less than 1 ppm H2S and 10 years in fluids of 1 to corrosive geothermal fluid is usually far greater than that
5 ppm H2S. involved with the maintenance of a DHE.
Based on calculations of capital cost, service life, The principal disadvantage with the DHE technique is
maintenance and installation cost our study (Rafferty, 1993) its dependence on the natural heat flow in the part of the hot
suggests that the selection of the brazed plate exchanger is aquifer penetrated by the well. A pumped well draws in hot
valid when the capital cost is 50% or less of the plate-and- water and the resultant heat output is normally many times
frame exchanger. This relationship was determined for the natural value. This limitation on the potential heat
fluids of < 5ppm H2S. output of a DHE makes it most suitable for small to
moderate-sized thermal applications.
DOWNHOLE HEAT EXCHANGERS DHE outputs range from supplying domestic hot water
The downhole heat exchanger (DHE) is of a design for a single family at Jemez Springs, New Mexico to
that eliminates the problems associated with disposal of Ponderosa High School in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The
geothermal water since only heat is taken from the single family is supplied from a 40 ft well and the school at
well. These systems can offer significant savings over over one MWt from a 560 ft, 202oF, 16 in. diameter well.
surface heat exchangers where available heat loads are low The DHE's are also in use in New Zealand, Austria,
and geologic and ground water conditions permit their use. Turkey, the USSR and others. A DHE producing 6 MWt
The use of a DHE for domestic or commercial geo- has been reported in use in Turkey.
thermal space and domestic water heating has several
appealing features when compared to the alternative geo- Typical Designs
thermal heat extraction techniques. It is essentially a pas- The most common DHE consists of a system of pipes
sive means of exploiting the geothermal energy because, in or tubes suspended in the well through which clean water is
marked contrast to the alternative techniques, no water is pumped or allowed to circulate by natural convection.
extracted or flows from the well. Environmental and insti- Figure 6 shows a U tube system typical of some 500 instal-
tutional restrictions generally require geothermal water to lations in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The wells are 10 or 12
be returned to the aquifer from which it was obtained. in. diameter drilled 20 or more ft into geothermal fluids and
Therefore, techniques involving removal of water from a an 8 in. casing is installed. A packer is placed around the
well require a second well to dispose of the water. This can casing below any cold water or unconsolidated rock, usually

Figure 6. Typical hot-water distribution system using a downhole heat exchanger (Culver and Reistad, 1978).

GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998 23

20 to 50 ft, and the well cemented from the packer to the of the well bore where the constant movement could scrub
surface. The casing is torch perforated (0.5 x 6 in.) in the off protective scale, exposing clean surface for further
live water area and just below the static water level. corrosion.
Perforated sections are usually 15 to 30 ft long and the total Corrosion at the air-water interface is by far the most
cross-sectional area of the perforations should be at least common cause of failure. Putting clean turbine oil or paraf-
1-1/2 to 2 times the casing cross section. Because fluid fin in the well appears to help somewhat, but is difficult to
levels fluctuate summer to winter the upper perforations accurately evaluate. Use of oil or paraffin is frowned on by
should start below the lowest expected level. A 3/4 or 1 in. the Enviornmental Protection Agency since geothermal
pipe welded to the outside of the casing and extending from water often commingles with fresh water.
ground surface to below the packer permits sounding and DHE wells are typically left open at the top; but, there
temperature measurements in the annulus and is very useful appears to be no reason they could not be sealed air-tight.
in diagnosing well problems. Once the initial charge of oxygen is used up in forming
The space heating DHE is usually 1-1/2 or 2 in. black corrosion products, there would be no more oxygen avail-
iron pipe with a return U-bend at the bottom. The domestic able because there is essentially no dissolved oxygen in the
water DHE is 3/4 or 1 in. pipe. The return U bend usually geothermal fluid. Swisher and Wright (1986) measured
has a 3 to 5 ft section of pipe welded on the bottom to act as corrosion rates of mild steel in geothermal water under
a trap for corrosion products that otherwise could fill the aerobic and anerobic conditions in the lab. They found
U-bend, preventing free circulation. Couplings should be aerobic corrosion rates of 260-280 micrometer/year with
malleable rather than cast iron to facilitate removal.
completely emersed specimens with paraffin on the water,
830 micrometer/year above the paraffin on partially
Materials
emersed specimens and only 11 micrometer/year under
Considering life and replacement costs, materials
anerobic conditions.
should be selected to provide economical protection from
corrosion. Attention should be given to the galvanic cell
Convection Cells
action between the DHE and the well casing, since the
Although the interaction between the fluid in the well,
casing could be an expensive replacement item. Experience
fluid in the aquifer, and the rock surrounding the well is
indicates that general corrosion of the DHE is most severe
poorly understood, it is known that the heat output can be
at the air-water interface at the static water level. Stray
significantly increased if a convection cell can be set up in
electrical currents can cause extreme localized corrosion
the well. There is probably some degree of natural mixing
below the water. Insulated unions should be used at the
(i.e., water from the aquifer continuously enters the well,
wellhead to isolate the DHE from stray currents in the
mixes with the well fluid, and fluid leaves the well to the
buildings and city water lines. Galvanized pipe is to be
aquifer). There are two commonly used methods of
avoided; since, many geothermal waters leach zinc and
inducing convection.
usually above 135oF, galvanizing loses its protective ability.
The first method may be used when a well is drilled in
Considerable success has been realized with non-
a stable formation, and will stand open without a casing.
metallic pipe, both fiberglass-reinforced epoxy and poly-
This allows an undersized casing to be installed. If the
butylene. Approximately 100,000 ft of fiberglass re-
casing is perforated just below the minimum static water
portedly has been installed in Reno at bottom-hole tempera-
level and near the bottom or at the hot aquifer level, a
tures up to 325oF. The The only problem noted has been
convection cell is induced and the well becomes very nearly
national pipe taper (NPT) thread failure that was attributed
isothermal between the perforations (Figure 7). Cold
to poor quality resin in some pipe. Another manufacturer’s
surface water and unstable formations near the surface are
pipe, with epoxied joints, performed satisfactorily. Before
cemented off above a packer. If a DHE is then installed
installing any FRP pipe, check with the manufacturer giving
and heat extracted, a convection cell is established with
them temperature, water chemistry, and details of installa-
flow down the inside of the casing and up the annulus
tion. Also check on warranties for the specific conditions.
between the well wall and casing. The driving force is the
Average DHE life is difficult to predict. For the density difference between the fluid surrounding the DHE
approximately 500 black iron DHEs installed in Klamath and fluid in the annulus. The more heat extracted, the higher
Falls, the average life has been estimated to be 14 years. In the fluid velocity. Velocities of 2 ft/s have been measured
some instances, however, regular replacement in 3 to 5 with very high heat extraction rates; but, the usual velocities
years has been required. In other cases, installations have are between 0.04 and 0.4 ft/s.
been in service over 30 years with no problems. Stray The second method is used where a different situation
electrical currents, as noted above, have undoubtedly been exists. In New Zealand where wells do not stand open and
a contributing factor in some early failures. Currents of several layers of cold water must be cased off, a system
several tens of milli-amps have been measured. In others, using a convection promoter pipe was developed (Figure 8).
examination of the DHEs after removal reveals long, deeply The convector pipe is simply a pipe open at both ends,
corroded lines along one side. This may be caused by the- suspended in the well above the bottom and below the static
mal expansion and contraction of the DHE against the side water level. An alternate design involves the pipe resting

24 GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998

on the bottom, and having perforations at the bottom and Both lab and field tests indicate that the convection cell
below static water level. The DHE can be installed either velocities are about the same in undersized casing systems
in the convector or outside the convector; the latter being and convector pipe systems.
more economical since smaller convector pipe is used Optimum conditions exist when frictional resistance
(Freeston and Pan, 1983; Dunstall and Freeston, 1990). because of wetted surfaces (hydraulic radius) is equal to
both legs of the cell and DHE surface area is maximized,
providing maximum heat transfer. For designs using
undersized casing and DHE inside the convector, this
occurs when the casing or convector is 0.7 times the well
diameter. When the DHE is outisde the convector, the
convector should be 0.5 times the well diameter. The full
length U-tube DHE diameter is 0.25 times the well diameter
in all cases. Partial length or multi-tube exchangers will
have different ratios (Allis, 1979; Allis and James, 1979).

Design Considerations
Downhole heat exchangers extract heat by two
methods: extracting heat from water flowing through the
aquifer, and extracting stored heat from the rocks
surrounding the well.
Once the DHE is extracting heat and a convection cell
is established, a portion of the convecting water is new
water entering the well from the aquifer, the same amount
of cooled water leaves the well and enters the aquifer.

The ratio of convecting water to new water has been

termed the mixing ratio and is defined as:

Figure 7. Temperature vs. depth with and without where:

casing (Culver and Reistad, 1978).
Rm = mixing ratio
ma = mass flow of new water
mt = total mass flow of convecting water.

Note that a larger mixing ratio indicates a smaller

proportion of new water in the convection cell.

Mixing ratios vary widely between wells even in the

same aquifer and apparently depend on permeability. As
more heat is extracted, the mass flow rate in the convection
cell increases; but, the mixing ratio appears to remain
relatively constant up to some point, then increases with
further DHE loading. This is interpreted as the perme-
ability, allowing new hot fluid to enter the well or, more
probably, allowing used cool fluid to sink into the aquifer
near the well bottom. At some combination of density
difference and permeability, the ability to conduct flow is
exceeded and the well rapidly cools with increasing load.
The theoretical maximum steady state amount of heat
that could be extracted from the aquifer would be when the
mixing ratio equals zero. That is, when all the water makes
a single pass through the convection cell and out the well
bottom. Mixing ratios lower than 0.5 have never been
Figure 8. Convection promoter pipe with DHE (Allis observed and usually range from about 0.5 to 0.94. The
and James, 1979). theoretical maximum steady heat extraction rate can be

GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998 25

estimated if the hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic Referring again to Figure 7, it can be seen that up to
gradient are known and it is assumed there is some the upper perforations, the well becomes very nearly
temperature drop of the water. isothermal, with the upper portion approaching the aquifer
Many DHE wells in the Moana area of Reno are temperature and the rock temperature increasing
pumped to increase hot water flow into the well. Pumping significantly. When a DHE is turned on, the water in the
rates for residential use is limited to 1800 gal/day and the well cools rather rapidly; the rate depending on the mixing
pump is thermostatically controlled. The system is ratio. As the water continues to cool, the convection cell
designed to switch on the pump if the DHE temperature extracts heat from the surrounding rocks.
drops below some predetermined level, usually
approximately 120oF. This method permits use of a well REFERENCES
that would not supply enough heat using a DHE alone, Allis, R. G, 1981. "A Study of the Use of Downhole Heat
yet minimizes pumped fluid and pumping costs. It is, Exchangers in the Moana Hot Water Area, Reno,
however, limited to temperatures at which an economical Nevada.”
submersible or other pump can be used.
Unfortunately, at the present time, there is no way to Allis, R. G. and R. James, 1979. "A Natural Convection
relate mixing ratio and permeability. With good perme- Promoter for Geothermal Wells.”
ability similar to well-fractured basalt, the mixing ratio
might be approximately 0.5, in coarse sand approximately Culver, G.G.and G. M. Reistad, 1978. "Evaluation and
0.8, and in clayey sand 0.9 to 0.94. Design of Downhole Heat Exchangers for Direct
At the time the term mixing ratio was introduced, it Application."
seemed to be a logical hypothesis because all known DHE
wells had (and most still have) perforations, at least in the Dunstall, M. G. and D. H. Freeston, 1990. “U-Tube
hot aquifer zone. Some new fluid could enter the well, mix Downhole Heat Exchanger Performance in a 4-in.
with fluid in the well and some used water exit the well. Well, Rotorua, New Zealand,” Proceedings of the 12th
The mixing ratio is really a term for energy input into the New Zealand Geothermal Workshop, Auckland, pp.
well. Although perforations undoubtedly help, a solidly 229-232.
cased well with a DHE will provide heat. The energy
output is then limited by the conduction of the rock and Ellis, P. and P. Conover, 1981. "Materials Selection
casing, allowing energy to flow into the well. Guidelines for Geothermal Energy Utilization Systems,"
In Klamath Falls, it has been experimentally verified USDOE (DOE RA270226-1), Washington, DC.
that when a well is drilled, there is negligible convective
flow in the well bore. When undersized perforated casing Freeston, D. H. and H. Pan, 1983. “Downhole Heat
is installed, a convection cell is set up, causing flow up the Exchanger,” Proceedings of the 5th New Zealand
inside of the casing and down the annulus between the Geothermal Workshop, Auckland, pp. 203-208.
casing and well wall. When a DHE is installed and heat is
extracted, the convection cell reverses with the flow Rafferty, K., 1993. “Direct-Use Geothermal Applications
downward in the casing (around the DHE) and up the for Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers,” Geo-Heat Center,
annulus. Similar circulation patterns were noted in New USDOE Contract # DE-FG07-90ID 13040, Klamath
Zealand using convection promoters. Falls, OR.
DHEs are principally used in space and domestic water
heating applications: homes, schools, small com-mercial Swisher, R. and G. A. Wright, 1986. "Inhibition of
buildings and greenhouses, with the resulting inter-mittent Corrosion by Paraffin at the Air-Water Interface in
operation. When the heating system is not calling for heat, Geothermal Downhole Heat Exchangers", University
and if a convection cell can exist, it functions to store heat of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
in rocks surrounding the well; especially those cooler rocks
nearer the surface that would normally be at the natural
temperature gradient for the locale. The under-sized casing
or convection promoter then acts to increase thermal
storage.

26 GHC BULLETIN, MARCH 1998