The Latest Geothermal Steam Turbines

Yoshihiro Sakai †
Yoshiki Oka †
Hideo Kato †

1. Introduction ered to be one of the top manufacturers of geothermal

turbines in the world. This paper presents an overview
Geothermal power generation technology extracts of the recent technologies used in Fuji Electric’s latest
a mixture of steam and brine (geothermal fluid) that geothermal steam turbines.
has been heated by geothermal heat from a well dug
deep underground, and then uses that thermal energy 2. Recent Technologies for Geothermal Steam
to generate power (Fig. 1). Since there is no need to Turbines
burn fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas, there is
almost no emission of such environmental pollutants 2.1 Technology for improving corrosion resistance
as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sul- Geothermal steam contains large quantities of
fur oxides (SOx) which are a cause of global warming. chloride, sulfate, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide
Moreover, the steam, after having been used for power and other such corrosive chemicals. The majority of
generation, can be fed to a condenser and converted these corrosive substances are removed by a separator
into water and then reinjected underground and sub- (water / steam separator), a flasher (reduced pressure
sequently reused as geothermal steam. Geothermal evaporator), demister (moisture separator), and so
energy is reusable clean energy, and its usage is ex- on located upstream from the turbine. Nevertheless,
pected to increase in the future to help prevent global the corrosive substances contained in the steam that
warming. enters the steam turbine are 100 to 1,000 times more
In 1960, Fuji Electric delivered Japan’s first com- plentiful than in steam turbines for fossil fuel power
mercial geothermal power generating facility to Fujita plants where the feed water has been chemically treat-
Tourist Enterprises Hakone Kowakien. Since then, ed. Therefore, measures are needed to prevent general
Fuji has delivered a total of approximately 60 geother- corrosion, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), corrosion fa-
mal turbines within Japan and overseas, and is consid- tigue and erosion corrosion of parts and materials. In
response to these needs, Fuji Electric has continued to
Fig.1 Principles of geothermal power generation (double flash develop technology and applied it successively to actual
cycle) turbines(1). Examples of the latest technologies applied
to recent geothermal steam turbines are described be-
Geothermal High-pressure low.
fluid steam Steam (1) Coating technology
turbine Generator
Parts such as the rotors and stationary blade hold-
Separator ers that are exposed to highly corrosive geothermal
Low-pressure
steam are particularly susceptible to general corro-
Brine steam sion and erosion corrosion, which may lead to the
problem of dropout of the seal fin between blades. As
Flasher
Condenser one solution, a thermal spray coating technology for
the parts’ surface has been developed. Basic tests in
Brine
Condensate the laboratory and corrosion tests at geothermal sites
were conducted to establish a practical technology us-
ing a HVOF (high-velocity oxygen-fuel thermal spray
Production
well Reinjection well coating, high-velocity frame spraying) process to apply
a coating of WC-CoCr thermal spray material. Us-
ing this technology, spray coating was applied to the
seal fin area between blades of the turbine rotor at the
† Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd. Wayang Windu Unit 2 in Indonesia and resistance to

The Latest Geothermal Steam Turbines 87

corrosion and erosion was improved (Fig. 2). the work was performed with a robot so as to realize
(2) Shot peening technology stable quality (Fig. 3).
Corrosive material, which is likely to accumulate (3) Material technology
and concentrate in gaps between the blade root and Steam turbines at geothermal power plants oper-
rotor grooves, is a cause of SCC and corrosion fatigue. ate under environmental conditions that are much
Therefore, based on the results of materials testing in more severe than those of ordinary steam turbines at
the laboratory and at geothermal sites, the materials fossil fuel power plants. Evaluation of the corrosion re-
used for the rotor and the blade are selected from ma- sistance of materials is crucial for the stable long-term
terials that are highly resistance to SCC and corrosion operation of devices under such environmental condi-
fatigue, and in addition, shot peening technology ca- tions. Therefore, in the laboratory, Fuji Electric has
pable of withstanding even severer environments has systematically tested materials in corrosive environ-
been developed and applied to actual equipment. Shot ments with simulated geothermal fluid, and based on
peening technology bombards the high-stress areas of the results, has selected materials and working stress
the blade and rotor with steel balls at high speed so levels that are suitable.
that compressive residual stress is generated in the On the other hand, because the material proper-
surface of the part, thereby enhancing the capability ties of geothermal fluid vary by region, it is important
to withstand SCC and corrosion fatigue. SCC and cor- to verify the behavior of materials at the actual geo-
rosion fatigue tests were conducted on blade and rotor thermal site. Fuji Electric already has installed test
materials having been treated with shot peening, and equipment at geothermal sites throughout the world,
a significant improvement in resistance was confirmed. and has been testing materials in geothermal fluid.
The shot peening treatment parameters such as projec- Recently, over the course of approximately 1-year at
tion velocity and angle were optimized in advance, and Reykjanes, Iceland, Fuji Electric has performed onsite
testing of materials for use in geothermal turbines. In
Fig.2 Spray coating of rotor onsite testing, corrosion tests, SCC tests, erosion cor-
rosion tests, scaling tests and the like are performed
by using actual geothermal steam. The appearance
of the test equipment is shown in Fig. 4. The geother-
mal steam at Reykjanes is at a higher temperature
and pressure than at a usual geothermal steam site,
Therefore, materials were expected to exhibit different
behavior than usual, but good results corroborating the
efficacy of the original design were obtained.

Fig.4 Onsite materials testing at Reykjanes

Fig.3 Shot peening of rotor blade

Table 1 Standard materials for geothermal turbines

Part Standard material
13% Cr steel
Blade material 16% Cr-4% Ni steel
Ti-6% Al-4% V alloy
1% Cr-MoNiV steel
Rotor material
2% Cr-MoNiWV steel

88 Vol. 55 No. 3 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW

 Based on the verification results from various ma- (a) Designed for high reliability in consideration of
terial tests, the materials of Table 1 were selected as the corrosive atmosphere of geothermal steam
standard materials for geothermal turbine-use, and op- (b) High-efficiency blades incorporate the latest
timal materials were selected according to the working computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology
environment, stress and other usage conditions. (c) High-load design enables the realization of a
more compact turbine size
2.2 Technologies for efficiency improvement Fuji Electric’s lineup of new generation low-pres-
To improve the economic efficiency of geothermal sure blades for geothermal steam turbines is listed
power plants, increased reliability against the prob- in Table 2. The 798 mm blade for 50 Hz-use and the
lems of corrosion, scaling and the like which are spe- 665 mm blade for 60 Hz-use are the world’s largest
cific to geothermal power generation, and improved class low-pressures blades for geothermal steam tur-
turbine efficiency are needed. Fuji Electric has applied bines and contribute to increased unit capacity. Ro-
its latest technologies, based on know-how acquired tational vibration tests were performed on prototype
with fossil steam turbines, to geothermal turbine blades and the vibration characteristics verified (Fig.
blades, and has realized a significant improvement in 5).
turbine efficiency. The latest technologies for efficiency (2) High-load high-efficiency reaction blades
improvement are introduced below. For blade rows that do not include low-pressure
(1) Development of a new generation low-pressure blades, the latest blade design technology has been uti-
blade series lized to create high-load high-efficiency reaction blades
The design must be made in consideration of the that maintain high efficiency while increasing the load
high corrosiveness of geothermal steam, and SCC, cor- per row. The application of these high-load high-ef-
rosion fatigue and the like. Fuji Electric has developed ficiency reaction blades enables a 1 to 2% improvement
a new generation low-pressure blade series for applica- in cascade efficiency compared to conventional blades.
tion to geothermal steam turbines, and is sequentially The reaction blades are all integral shroud blades and
applying this series to actual turbines. Main features achieve high reliability even in the severely corrosive
of the new generation low-pressure blade series are as environment of geothermal steam (Fig. 6).
follows.
2.3 Compatibility with higher inlet steam pressure
Table 2 Series of new-generation low-pressure blades for Previously, geothermal steam turbines typically
geothermal steam turbines operated with an inlet steam pressure in the range
50 Hz use 60 Hz use of approximately 0.5 to 1 MPa, but owing to develop-
(nominal annular area) (nominal annular area) ments in geothermal well exploration technology and
2
348 mm blade (1.6 m )
2
290 mm blade (1.1 m ) drilling technology, and the increased utilization of
2
487 mm blade (2.5 m )
2
406 mm blade (1.7 m )
deep geothermal resources, nowadays the inlet steam
2 2 pressure can exceed 1 MPa, and in some cases, even
555 mm blade (3.2 m ) 462 mm blade (2.2 m )
2 2 approach 2 MPa.
612 mm blade (4.0 m ) 510 mm blade (2.8 m )
2 2
Fuji Electric has previously delivered many geo-
697 mm blade (5.0 m ) 581 mm blade (3.5 m )
2 2
thermal steam turbines compatible with inlet steam
798 mm blade (6.3 m ) 665 mm blade (4.4 m )
pressures of greater than 1 MPa. In recent years Fuji
has delivered geothermal steam turbines to the Reyk-
Fig.5 Rotational vibration test of new-generation low-pressure janes Units 1 and 2 (1.9 MPa inlet steam pressure) and
blade for geothermal steam turbine
Fig.6 High-load high-efficiency reaction blades

(a) Moving blades (b) Stationary blades

The Latest Geothermal Steam Turbines 89

the Svartsengi Unit 6 (1.6 MPa inlet steam pressure) certained quantitatively and reflected in the design of
in Iceland, and these turbines have continued to oper- actual turbines.
ate smoothly.
The fluid that flows out of a geothermal well is 2.4 Utilization of multiple types of steam sources
typically a mixture of steam and brine, and a separator With the trend towards higher pressures as de-
or flasher is used to extract the steam only. The inlet scribed above, plants that use a triple flash cycle to
steam is inevitably saturated steam. Accordingly, as a flash brine at three stages (high-pressure, intermedi-
result of the rising inlet pressure, the following issues ate-pressure and low-pressure) and introduce each
must be addressed. steam thusly obtained to the geothermal steam turbine
(a) Increased steam wetness of low-pressure stages have become common. Moreover, configurations in
(b) Increased steam corrosiveness in dry-to-wet which multiple steam flows are introduced to a single
transition zone geothermal steam turbine by utilizing surplus steam
(c) Turbine casing design capable of withstanding from existing geothermal steam power plants or by
high pressure drilling new geothermal wells have also become more
The extent to which the progression of erosion can popular.
be limited in low-pressure moving blades is a challenge Beginning with the geothermal turbine for the
for (a) above. Fuji Electric provides drain slot midway Svartsengi Power Plant Unit 5, and later with the
on the turbine blade stages, and employs a mechanism Salton Sea Unit 5 in the US and the Svartsengi Unit
for capturing and expelling water droplets in order to 6(2) (Fig. 7), Fuji Electric has delivered geothermal
reduce erosion. steam turbines that combine three or more steam
The extent to which erosion corrosion and SCC can sources.
be limited in the rotors, stationary holders and blades
that face high-pressure and low-pressure steam paths 3. Characteristics of Latest Geothermal Steam
is a challenge for (b) above. It is known that increasing Turbines
the amount of Cr content in a material will generally
reduce erosion corrosion dramatically. Fuji Electric 3.1 Wayang Windu Unit 2
uses 2% Cr steel rotors, stainless steel stationary blade Unit 2 increases the capacity of the Wayang Windu
holders, and highly SCC-resistant stainless steel as the Power Plant in Indonesia and was constructed sub-
blade material to meet the abovementioned challenge. sequent to Unit 1 for which Fuji Electric delivered a
A pressure of 2 MPa is low compared to that used turbine in 1999. The steam conditions, output, turbine
in fossil power generation. However, because geother- structure and so on for Unit 2 are nearly the same
mal steam turbines are larger in size than fossil power
steam turbines of the same capacity, the magnitude of Fig.8 Sectional view of Wayang Windu Unit 2 geothermal
deformation becomes larger. Additionally, structural steam turbine
design that considers the corrosion allowance over
the duration of long-term operation is also needed.
Therefore, for (c) above, detailed structural analysis
is performed utilizing 3-dimensional CAD and FEM
(finite element method) techniques, and also based on
the Fuji Electric’s long-term experience with actual
turbines, the deformation of the turbine casing is as-

Fig.7 Sectional view of Svartsengi Unit 6 geothermal steam

turbine

HP = High pressure HP outlet LP exhaust

IP = Intermediate LP inlet
pressure
LP = Low pressure

Table 3 Main specifications of Wayang Windu Unit 2 geother-

mal steam turbine

Turbine type Single-casing dual-exhaust condensing

Generator output 117.0 MW
Rotating speed 3,000 r / min
Inlet steam condition 1.07 MPa, 182.8 °C (saturated)
Effective strength of 697 mm
last stage blades
HP inlet IP inlet
Nominal annular area 5.0 m
2

90 Vol. 55 No. 3 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW

as for the existing Unit 1, but in order to provide en- section is exhausted once outside the steam turbine;
hanced corrosion resistance, the coating technology a portion is extracted to the existing steam lines and
described in section 2.1 has been applied to the rotor the remainder is re-introduced via a separator to the
and other parts of the turbine. The gross output of turbine intermediate-pressure section. In the case of
117.0 MW is the world’s largest for a single-casing type excess steam in the 0.12 MPa existing steam lines, that
geothermal steam turbine (Fig. 8). Main specifications excess portion is introduced to the turbine’s low-pres-
are listed in Table 3. sure section. This turbine is connected to input piping
and exhaust piping at total of 9 locations. The design
3.2 Svartsengi Unit 6 employed 3-dimensional CAD-based structural design
Unit 6 increases the capacity of the Svartsengi and piping design in order to ensure reliability.
Power Plant in Iceland and was constructed subse- This turbine achieved its rated load in December
quent to Units 3 and 5 for which Fuji Electric had 2007, all design values such as controllability and ther-
delivered turbines in 1980 and 1999, respectively. At mal efficiency were confirmed to have been satisfied,
this plant, 1.6 MPa high-pressure geothermal steam
had existed prior to constructing the Unit 6 shown in Fig.9 External view of Svartsengi Unit 6
Fig. 9. However, the pressure had been reduced to this
lower level prior to usage because the existing turbines
had been designed for lower pressure conditions of
0.65 MPa. Moreover, this plant also supplies steam for
district heating, and the effective utilization of excess
steam generated seasonally was a challenge.
Fuji Electric was involved from the conceptual de-
sign stage in the project to expand capacity by adding
Unit 6, and in order to optimize the thermal efficiency
of the overall plant, collaborated with customers to
consider the use of existing steam lines. These efforts
resulted in the design and construction of a unique
geothermal steam turbine as shown in Fig. 10 that uses
controlled extraction and a separator at the turbine in-
termediate-pressure section.
Expanded steam at the turbine’s high-pressure

Fig.10 Svartsengi Unit 6 steam line drawing

HP = High pressure
IP = Intermediate
pressure Unit 5
LP = Low pressure (pre-existing)

Unit 3
IP steam line (pre-existing)
M
M

M M M M
LP steam line
Production M
M M
M M
well

IP separator LP separator
0.65 MPa 0.12 MPa

HP separator Unit 6
1.6 MPa

The Latest Geothermal Steam Turbines 91

Table 4 Main specifications of Svartsengi Unit 6 geothermal Table 5 Main specifications of Kawerau Power Station geo-
steam turbine thermal steam turbine
Single-casing single-exhaust Single-casing single-exhaust
Turbine type Turbine type
mixed pressure condensing mixed pressure condensing
Generator output 33.3 MW Generator output 113.67 MW
Rotating speed 3,000 r / min Rotating speed 3,000 r / min
HP inlet 1.6 MPa, 201.4 °C (saturated) Steam HP inlet 1.33 MPa, 192.5 °C (saturated)
HP exhaust 0.67 MPa, 163.2 °C (wet) conditions HP exhaust 0.22 MPa, 124.4 °C (wet)
Steam
conditions IP inlet 0.65 MPa, 161.8 °C (saturated) Effective length of
798 mm
last stage blades
LP inlet 0.12 MPa, 104.8 °C (wet)
Nominal annular area 6.3 m
2
Effective length of
487 mm
last stage blades
2
Nominal annular area 2.5 m
high-efficiency 3-dimensional blades are used in all
stages (Fig. 11). Main specifications are listed in Table
Fig.11 Sectional view of Kawerau Power Station geothermal 5.
steam turbine
4. Postscript

The utilization of geothermal energy which is a re-

usable and clean is attracting attention worldwide as a
means to help preventing global warming. With inter-
national cooperation, the Iceland deep drilling project
(IDDP) is being advanced to drill a well 5,000 m below
ground, and utilization of 400 to 600 °C geothermal
steam is planned for the future. Moreover, Germany,
which had previously not been considered a source of
geothermal power generation, is moving ahead with a
project to dig wells 3,000 to 5,000 m deep and to gener-
ate geothermal power. The utilization of geothermal
resources is expected to become increasingly important
and the turbine continues to operate in good condition. in the future.
The main specifications are listed in Table 4. As a pioneer of geothermal power generation, Fuji
Electric intends to continue to advance the develop-
3.3 Kawerau Power Station geothermal power plant ment of geothermal power generation technology and
This turbine is produced for the Kawerau Power to help facilitate energy utilization that is environ-
Station in New Zealand. As a primary EPC (engineer- ment-friendly.
ing, procurement and construction) contractor, Fuji
Electric is responsible not only for the geothermal Reference
steam turbine, but also for the design, fabrication and (1) Sakai, Y. et al. Corrosion Resistance of Materials for
construction of the entire power plant. Geothermal Steam Turbines. Proceedings of Interna-
The inlet steam is at a high pressure of 1.33 MPa tional Conference on Power Engineering-03. Vol. 3,
(max.), and the geothermal steam turbine is charac- 2003, p. 297-302.
terized by its use of the world’s largest 798 mm last (2) Nishimaki, K. Application of Controlled Extraction to
stage rotor blades. In order to improve reliability in a Geothermal Steam Turbine. Proceedings of Interna-
geothermal steam environment, the shot peening tech- tional Conference on Power Engineering 2007. 2007, p.
nology described in section 2.1 is applied to the last 281-285.
3 stages, and 2% Cr steel rotors are used. Moreover,

92 Vol. 55 No. 3 FUJI ELECTRIC REVIEW

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