Geothermal Dincer

3.
6 Geothermal Energy Production

Ibrahim Dincer, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada
Muhammad F Ezzat, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada and Minia University, Minya, Egypt
r 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
3.6.1 Introduction 254

3.6.2 Importance of Geothermal Energy 255
3.6.3 History of Geothermal Energy 255
3.6.4 Geothermal Sources 256
3.6.4.1 Classification of Geothermal Resources 258
3.6.4.1.1 Hot water produced from oil and gas fields 258
3.6.4.1.2 Magma bodies 259
3.6.4.1.3 Conductive sedimentary systems 259
3.6.4.1.4 Hydrothermal convective systems 260
3.6.4.1.5 Geo-pressured systems 260
3.6.4.1.6 Radiogenic resources 260
3.6.4.1.7 Enhanced geothermal systems 260
3.6.4.2 Chemistry of Geothermal Fluids 261
3.6.5 Utilization of Geothermal Energy 262
3.6.5.1 Geothermal Heat Pumps and Space Conditioning 262
3.6.5.2 Greenhouse and Soil Warming 262
3.6.5.3 Aquaculture Heating 264
3.6.5.4 Agriculture Drying 265
3.6.5.5 Industrial Uses 265
3.6.5.6 Bathing and Swimming 266
3.6.5.7 Snow Melting and Deicing 266
3.6.5.8 Other Uses 266
3.6.5.9 Electricity Production 266
3.6.6 Geothermal Power Production 267
3.6.6.1 Thermodynamic Limits of Geothermal Energy Conversion 267
3.6.7 Flash Steam Power Production 269
3.6.7.1 Single Flash Steam Power Production 269
3.6.7.2 Double Flash Steam Power Production 271
3.6.8 Dry Steam Power Production 273
3.6.9 Binary Cycle Power Production 274
3.6.10 Hybrid Power Production 276
3.6.11 Geothermal Heat Pumps 278
3.6.11.1 Horizontal Closed Loop System 278
3.6.11.2 Vertical Closed Loop System 278
3.6.11.3 Spiral Closed Loop System 279
3.6.11.4 Pond/Lake Closed System 279
3.6.11.5 Open Loop System 280
3.6.12 Production of Other Geothermal Commodities 280
3.6.12.1 District Heating 280
3.6.12.1.1 Primary system 281
3.6.12.1.2 Secondary system 281
3.6.12.2 Cooling Production 281
3.6.12.3 Fuel Production 282
3.6.12.3.1 Ethanol production 282
3.6.12.3.2 Hydrogen production 282
3.6.13 Integrated Geothermal Systems 284
3.6.14 Environmental Impact of Geothermal Power Production 285
3.6.14.1 Gaseous Emissions 285
3.6.14.2 Solid and Liquid Wastes 286
3.6.14.3 Noise Pollution 286
3.6.14.4 Water Usage 286
3.6.14.5 Land Use 287
252 Comprehensive Energy Systems, Volume 3 doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-809597-3.00313-8

Geothermal Energy Production 253
3.6.14.6 Subsidence 287

3.6.14.7 Induced Seismicity 287
3.6.14.8 Induced Landslides 287
3.6.15 Economic Assessment of Geothermal Energy Production 288
3.6.15.1 Capital Expense 288
3.6.15.2 Capacity Factor 288
3.6.15.3 Levelized Cost 288
3.6.15.4 Energy Returned on Energy Invested 289
3.6.15.5 Employment in Geothermal Energy Industry 289
3.6.15.6 Economics of Direct Use of Geothermal Energy 290
3.6.16 Case Study 291
3.6.16.1 System Description 291
3.6.16.2 Energy and Exergy Analyses 292
3.6.16.3 Geothermal Integrated System Balance Equations 293
3.6.16.3.1 Absorption cooling system balance equations 293
3.6.16.3.2 Heat pump system 293
3.6.16.3.3 Drying process 293
3.6.16.3.4 Energy efficiencies 294
3.6.16.3.5 Exergy efficiencies 294
3.6.16.4 Results and Discussion 295
3.6.16.5 Final Remarks 297
3.6.17 Future Directions 299
3.6.18 Concluding Remarks 301
References 301
Relevant Websites 303
Nomenclature h Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)

E Exergy of flow (kJ) m _ Mass flow rate (kg/s)
E_ Exergy rate (kW) P Pressure (kPa)
ex Specific exergy (kJ/kg) Q Heat (kJ)
Ex_ d Exergy destruction rate (kW) Q _ Heat rate (kW)
Exd Exergy destruction (kJ) s Specific entropy (kJ/kg K)
_ Q
Ex Thermal exergy rate (kW) s_gen Entropy generation rate (kW/K)
ExQ Thermal exergy (kJ) T Temperature (K)
H Enthalpy of flow (kJ) W _ Work rate (kW)
Greek letters
Z Energy efficiency C Exergy efficiency
Subscripts hp Heat pump

0 Reference environment hw Hot water
1, 2, 40 State points is isentropic
Abc Absorption chiller L Loss
Bi Binary Pr Product
CF Capacity factor Pu Pump
Comp Compressor s Source
Cond Condenser sep Separator
Dry Dryer Sol Solar
Eva Evaporator st Steam turbine
EV Expansion valve Sys System
F Fan Wa Water
Gen Generator Wof Working fluid
ha Hot air X Vapor quality
HE Heat exchanger
Abbreviations GWHP Ground water heat pump

CCS Carbon capture and storage LCOE Levelized cost of energy
COP Coefficient of performance L.H.V Low heat value
EGS Enhanced geothermal systems NCG Non-compressed gases
EROI Energy retuned over energy invested ORC Organic Rankine cycle
GHP Geothermal heat pump PV Photovoltaic
GSHP Ground source heat pump
3.6.1 Introduction
Geothermal energy is considered one of the most promising renewable energy sources for power generation and production of
other useful commodities, such as heat, cooling, fresh water, hydrogen and alternative fuels. It is important to note that the
amounts of heat that is stored and could be generated from the Earth is sufficient to fulfill the global energy demand. However, the
current amount of energy that could be obtained from geothermal sources is only about 13.2 GW in power production and
around 21.7 GWth in heat production and direct use utilization with total annual rate growth of 3.7% in 2015 [1]. The renewable
energy accounts for only 19% of the worldwide energy consumption, while the fossil fuels share up to 78% and nuclear power
2.5% as shown in Fig. 1. The biomass, geothermal and solar heat in total share up to 22% of the total renewable energy
consumption while the wind, solar, geothermal and biomass options share up to 7% of the total renewable energy consumption
as represented in Fig. 2.
The proportion of the renewable energy from the global electricity generation is around 23.7%, and the geothermal, CSP and
ocean account for only 0.4% of the renewable energy as shown in Fig. 3. Around two billion USD is invested in the geothermal
power, 1.3 billion by the developing countries and 0.7 by developed countries. Turkey was responsible for adding 159 MW of
geothermal power, which accounts for 50% of the total geothermal power capacity addition in 2015, followed by the United States
with geothermal power addition of 71 MW. Geothermal direct utilization and direct thermal extraction for heating and cooling,
without taking in consideration heat pumps was predicted at 272 PJ (75.5 TWh) in 2015 with an overall capacity of 21 GWth. The
development of the direct utilization capacity was recorded with an annual average of 5.9% in the past years, and the growth of the
direct heat consumption has been registered by an average of 3.3% annually [1].
Fossil fuels, 78%
All renewables,
19%
Nuclear energy,
3%
Fig. 1 Renewable energy share of the world final energy consumption in 2014. Data from REN21. Renewables 2016 Global Status Report; 2016.
Biofuel
5%
Biomass/geother-
mal/solar heat
22%
Traditional
biomass
46%
Wind/solar/geo-
thermal/biomass power
7%
Hydropower
20%
Fig. 2 The share of biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind energy of global renewable energy consumption in 2014. Data from REN21.
Renewables 2016 Global Status Report; 2016.
Non renewables
16.6 Hydropower
76.3 23.9 Wind
Bio-power
3.7 Solar PV
2 Geothermal, csp
1.2 and ocean
0.4
Fig. 3 Proportion of the renewable energy from the global electricity generation in 2015. Data from REN21. Renewables 2016 Global Status
Report; 2016.
Furthermore, the following eight countries share up to 80% of the total worldwide geothermal capacity, and they are characterized
by the major geothermal direct use capacity. China utilized around 6.1 GWth followed by Turkey (2.9 GWth), Japan (2.1 GWth),
Iceland (2.0 GWth), India (1.0 GWth), Hungary (0.9 GWth), Italy (0.8 GWth), and finally the United States utilized around 0.6 GWth
[2]. Regarding the direct geothermal heat, the following countries share up to 70% of the direct geothermal heat utilization. Again,
China utilized the largest amount of heat around 20.6 TWh, followed by Turkey (12.2 TWh), Iceland (7.4 TWh), Japan (7.1 TWh),
Hungary (2.7 TWh), the United States (2.6 TWh), and eventually New Zealand (2.4 TWh). However, in Iceland, each person utilizes
about 22 MWh of geothermal direct use heat. This amount of utilization is the highest per capita basis compared to the other
countries, followed by New Zealand, Hungary and Turkey, at a rate of 0.5 MWh per person or less annually [2].
3.6.2 Importance of Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is treated as completely sustainable and may exist at any location on Earth, therefore, it can be used to generate
geothermal power constantly during its total operational life cycle regardless any variation in the weather condition, offering an
exceptional, consistent and continuous source of clean energy. Geothermal energy can be integrated with other intermittent
renewable sources, such as solar and wind, to compensate any power fluctuation that could disturb the grid leading to a significant
enhancement in the efficiency of the entire grid system. Geothermal power production is scalable. It can be utilized to generate few
tens of kilowatts for small applications, and it can be used in high scales of multi hundreds of megawatts competing with fossil
fuels power plants. Utilization of renewable sources such as geothermal energy can improve national security as it is a domestic
energy source that does not require import of the depleted, unsustainable carbon fuels to operate. Geothermal power production
does not include any combustion resulting in insignificant levels of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Nevada Geo-
thermal Council, the State’s 300 MW geothermal power plant can save 4.5 million barrels of oil, the same amount of fuel required
to operate 100,000 cars, and prevent emissions of 2.25 million tons of CO2 per year [3]. Geothermal projects can assist in
developing the economic growth and secure different types of jobs, particularly in rural areas that suffer from low employment.
Table 1 shows the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from a life cycle analysis per every Gigawatt-Hour generated by various
power generating technologies.
3.6.3 History of Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is the residue heat resulting from the formation of the planet billion years ago, as well as the heat released by
the nuclear decay of the naturally occurring radioactive isotopes. Earth interior heat has been used since long time ago for health
treatment, cooking, bathing, and heating purposes. The real use of the geothermal thermal energy for energy conversion purpose
started at the end of the 19th century due to the evolution of thermodynamic science which efficiently describes the feasibility of
converting the energy from the hot stream to mechanical energy and consequently, to electrical energy.
Electricity generation by geothermal energy initiated in Larderello region of Tuscany in northern Italy, in 1913 the first power
plant was working on saturated steam and produced an electric power of 250 kW increased to 15 MW in 1915. After the
development of the drilling technology, a superheated steam was able to be extracted and helped to increase the Lorderello power
plants capacity to 66 MW. Nowadays, around 550 MW of electrical energy could be utilized from the geothermal power plants
[4,5]. Using geothermal heat for district heating systems and greenhouses was documented in Boise, Idaho, United States, and
Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States in 1890 and 1900, respectively. Currently, Iceland is producing around 79,700 TJ from
different geothermal sites, which account for 53% of Iceland total energy demand. In 1958, New Zealand established the first
geothermal plant in Wairakei, followed by Mexico in 1959. The world largest installation for geothermal plants occurred in
California, United States (The Geysers Project) with a total of 21 power stations and total output of 750 MW electrical power.
Table 1 Life cycle analysis showing carbon dioxide

emissions of different power generation technology
Comparison of life cycle emissions, tons of carbon dioxide

equivalent per Gigawatt-Hour
Coal 1041
Natural gas 622
Biomass 46
Solar photovoltaic (PV) 39
Hydro 18
Nuclear 17
Geothermal 15
Wind 14
Source: Reproduced from Meier PJ. Life-cycle assessment of electricity gen-

eration systems and applications for climate change policy analysis [Ph.D.
thesis]. University of Wisconsin, Madison; 2002.
3567
4000
3500
Operating capacity (MW)
3000
2500
1930
2000
1375
1500 1069
994
973
665
637
1000
607
533
205
204
500
109
97
56
42
40
29
27
15
8
0
China
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Germany
Guadeloupe
Guatemala
Iceland
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Kenya
Mexico
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Portugal
Russia
Turkey
United States
Fig. 4 Geothermal power operating capacity by country. Data from GEA. Annual U.S. & Global Geothermal Power Production Report; 2016.
Some countries like Germany started building up geothermal power plants due to the increase in oil prices [4,5]. Fig. 4 shows the
global geothermal power operating capacity by country with a total capacity of 13.3 GW while Fig. 5 depicts the developing
geothermal power planned capacity, all data represented are updated until 2015 [6].
3.6.4 Geothermal Sources
The existence of hot springs and volcanos were two good reasons for our ancestors to estimate that the Earth interior is hot, and
with very simple experiments they realized that the Earth’s temperature rise with increasing depth. The radiogenic heat, a phe-
nomenon that occurs due to the radioactive decay of the radioactive isotopes, which is considered to be responsible for roughly
half of the heat generated from earth interior to earth surface. Radioactive isotopes are represented in potassium, which generates
heat of about 3.5 109 W/kg uranium produces 96.7 106 W/kg, and thorium generates 26.3 106 W/kg. The other source of
internal Earth heat is coming from the primordial heat that is remaining due to earth creation. Stacey and Loper [7] conducted a
heat balance for the Earth, and they deduced that Earth has a total heat flow of 42 1012 W including all heat transfer modes. The
crust which accounts for 2% of Earth volume but has plenty of radioactive isotopes is responsible for 8 1012 W, while the mantle
which is around 82% of Earth volume generates 32.3 1012 W. Finally, the core which represents 16% of Earth volume produces
1.7 1012 W of heat. In Fig. 6, a section in the Earth interior has been taken to show Earth’s crust, mantle, and core. Although
Earth internal thermal energy is enormous, humanity can get the benefit of only a fraction of this energy in limited sites on Earth,
4013
4500
4000
Planned capacity additions (MW)

3500
3000
2500
2000
1272
1153
1091
1500
987
587
575
1000
481
285
250
197
180
165
120
500
98
95
62
59
59
57
54
50
0
Indonesia
United States
Turkey
Kenya
Ethiopia
Philippines
Iceland
Mexico
New Zealand
Guatemala
Columbia
Armenia
Costa Rica
Chile
India
Germany
Vietnam
Nicaragua
Australia
Japan
Argentina
Djibouti
Fig. 5 Geothermal power capacity under development by country. Data from GEA. Annual U.S. & Global Geothermal Power Production Report; 2016.
Crustal stretching can Mountain building can

thin the crust thicken the crust
Oceanic
crust
km
0
Moho Continental crust
20
40 Sea
Mantle level
60
150 km
Crust
410 km
660 km
Upper Transition zone
mantle
Lower
mantle
2900 km
Outer
core
5155 km
Inner
core
6371 km
Fig. 6 Earth inner layers, showing core, mantle and crust [8].
and innovative technologies could offer a breakthrough in energy utilization in this field [9]. The heat flow distribution which is
obtained as an outcome of an optimization procedure from best combination method and similarity method done by Goutorbe
et al. [10] is shown in Fig. 7. Note that increasing the depth of the geothermal sites has a significant influence on increasing the
temperature of the geothermal resources. Fig. 8 shows the temperature-depth maps in the United States at 6.5 and 10 km.
3.6.4.1 Classification of Geothermal Resources

Although there are various approaches used by numerous people and institutions to classify the geothermal resources, geothermal
resources can be categorized based on their thermal and compositional features as follows:
1. Hot water produced from oil and gas fields.

2. Magma bodies.
3. Conductive sedimentary systems.
4. Hydrothermal convective systems.
5. Geo-pressured systems.
6. Radiogenic resources.
7. Enhanced geothermal systems
3.6.4.1.1 Hot water produced from oil and gas fields

Hot water production from oil and gas fields is sometimes accompanied with the production of the oil from the currently
operating or abandoned deep gas or oil wells. There are almost no challenges to develop and utilize this kind of sources. However,
they have relatively low enthalpy, low temperature, and low mass flow rate which make them not very attractive economically (see
Ref. [12]).
(A)
Mean heat flow (mW m−2)

5
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
80
0
00
<3
10
12
15
(B)
>2
Fig. 7 Global heat flow maps obtained from (A) best combination method and (B) the similarity method [10].
°C
C
0°
0°
0°
0°
0°
50
10
15
20
25
30
(A)
°C
C
0°
0°
0°
0°
0°
50
10
15
20
25
30
(B)
Fig. 8 Temperature of the geothermal resources in the United States at different depths, (A) at 6.5 km and (B) at 10 km [11].
3.6.4.1.2 Magma bodies

The magma bodies are also named as molten rocks and usually exist under active volcanoes at very high temperatures beyond
6501C. Theoretically utilizing geothermal energy from magma bodies is considered possible and feasible. However, it may
practically encounters several implications [13,14]. The idea is to pump pressurized chilled water down through the injection pipe
to the well which was previously drilled inside the magma leading to the solidification of the molten magma and turn it to a
vulnerable glassy substance that is tending to crack due to the thermal stresses applied to it. If the supplied water succeeded to
circulate back to the surface through the tremendously hot cracked glassy material, it will attain the surface in scalding state and
will be utilized in the geothermal power plants [15].
3.6.4.1.3 Conductive sedimentary systems

Efforts are held to promote the geothermal projects based on the sedimentary basins with high heat flow predominantly
in Australia. Cracking the rocks in the sedimentary system is not required as the sedimentary rocks are characterized by its
porousness and permeability. However, drilling very deep wells is essential to utilize such systems to guarantee a sufficiently
high geothermal water temperature and flow capacities. This type of systems is not commercially available. These systems
are usually extended over the Madison Formation of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming area of the northern
United States and the Pannonian Basin of central Europe. The temperature of the sedimentary basin system ranges between 20 and
1501C [14,16].
3.6.4.1.4 Hydrothermal convective systems

Hydrothermal convective systems occur due to the transfer of the heat from the Earth to the naturally existing hot water or steam
through the convective circulation or by the flow of the geothermal water through the cracks [15]. The utilization of these sources
for electric power production was commercially available several decades ago in around 24 countries, with limited global
distribution. The total worldwide installed power capacity is reported as 10.7 TW by the end of the first decade of the 21st century,
3 TW of them existed in the United States. The reserve of these systems in the United States is predicted to be ranging from 10 to
30 TW. Power production from these resources is regarded as a mature technology [17,18]. They can be either vapor dominated or
water dominated system or mixture. In the vapor-dominated systems, steam is generated due to the deep geothermal water boiling
in low porousness rocks. These resources are rare, and the well-known example of it is the Geysers in northern California and
Larderello in Italy where the steam is used directly to generate electricity the typical temperature range of the vapor-dominated
system is 2401C. Water dominated systems are generated as a result of the ground water circulating toward the depth of the Earth
and rising from the buoyancy in penetrable reservoirs that are distributing a uniform temperature over large volumes of the
geothermal water. The standard temperature of the liquid dominated system is varying from 20 to 3501C or even more [15].
3.6.4.1.5 Geo-pressured systems

The geo-pressurized systems have a typical hot geothermal water temperature range varying from 150 to 1801C at extremely high
pressure reaching 600 bar [19]. The geothermal fluid in these resources is comprising methane and characterized with a high
concentration of dissolved solids. Consequently, the fluid is extremely corrosive and very hard to handle or utilized [18]. Geo-
pressurized systems have two advantages represented by the extremely high pressure of the geothermal water which permits the
utilization of both thermal and kinetic energy of the geothermal water, and the fact that the high pressurized geothermal water is
sometimes consisting of a significant amount of methane gas dissolved in the geothermal water. The dissolved methane can be
utilized in a gas engine to produce electric power. However, this type of resources is not commercial and encounters numerous
technical challenges [14]. These resources currently exist in many parts of the world, for example, Texas, and Louisiana Gulf Coast
in the United States which are already examined for utilization. In such sources, deep drilling depths (maybe going down to
several kilometers) may be quite costly.
3.6.4.1.6 Radiogenic resources

Radiogenics systems are existing due to heating the local geothermal water by the granitic intrusions which are positioned near the
surface through the decay process of the radiocative materials such as potassium, uranium, and thorium. This heating mechanism
causes an abrupt rise in the natural geothermal gradient creating geothermal hot water at a relatively low drilling depth which is an
economic privilege. The eastern part of the United States has multiple radiogenics resources. The average temperature of the
radiogenics resources is ranging from 30 to 1501C, and it is not commercially developed yet.
3.6.4.1.7 Enhanced geothermal systems

An enhanced geothermal system (EGS) also called hot, dry rocks geothermal systems. EGS systems are conductive systems with
improved flow and storage capacity from artificial rock cracking. In this system, the hot rocks are characterized by insufficient pore
space, small cracks and very low or no permeability, which lead to a rare existence of water. These rocks are located at an average
depth of 10 km. To extract the heat from those deep rocks, a human-made reservoir is formed by artificially cracking the hot rocks,
then supplying the artificial resource with geothermal water generated from another well, leading to the creation of an EGS system
capable of producing suitable thermal energy that can be utilized in numerous aspects. Theoretically, establishing an EGS system
could exist easily at any location on Earth through drilling enough depth to obtain commercial appropriate rock temperature.
Nevertheless, EGS is a auspicious technology, it is still premature and facing some technical challenges such as establishing a
pervasively cracked huge rock volume, Limitation of any possible reasons that might induce seismic in the project location,
Selection of commercial wells with promising production rate and preventing the waste of the injected water through rock's cracks.
Primary experimental projects at Fenton Hill in northern New Mexico and on Cornwall in south-west England were stopped after a
while because of issues related to economics and the obtained results. Projects are currently operating in Soultz-sous-Forêt (II) in
France at a depth of 5 km generating geothermal water at a temperature of 1501C and 25 L/s as mass flow rate with an output
power of 1 MW. In Landau, Germany, an EGS system is installed at 2.5 km depth. The temperature of the geothermal fluid can
reach 1601C with a mass flow rate of 76 L/s and output power of 1.5 MW. In Habanero, Australia an EGS system is installed at
depth of 4.25 km, the geothermal fluid temperature and mass flow rate are reported to be 2121C and 30 L/s respectively with an
output power of 1.5 MW [20].
Classification of geothermal resources can be based on the enthalpy/temperature of the geothermal water which transfers the
heat from the deep hot rocks to the surface as shown in Table 2. The enthalpy is a thermodynamic property that highly affected by
the temperature, and it is utilized to indicate the thermal energy content of the fluids and can be used to determine this thermal
energy value.
However, Sanyal [26] categorized the geothermal water temperature based on seven classes:
• Class 1 (less than 1001C).

• Class 2 (1001C to less than 1501C).

• Class 6 (greater than 3001C).
• Class 7 (pure steam fields).
3.6.4.2 Chemistry of Geothermal Fluids

Geothermal water is characterized by its wide range of chemical constituents, ranging from low to high concentration by weight of
the overall dissolved ingredients. The type and percentage of the dissolved constituents can identify the reservoir's features, such as
its temperature, history of the reservoir, and reservoir's mineralogy. Moreover, the chemical composition of the geothermal fluid
and how it might change during the operation can have a significant influence on the performance of the geothermal power plant
and the long-term functioning of the system. Therefore, after drilling the well and the geothermal fluid is ready to be used, a
sample should be extracted and analyzed prudently. The geothermal fluid should be monitored and analyzed during plant
operation because it might encounter some chemical composition change, leading to a variation in the reservoir conditions and
structure. Table 3 shows some common species that might exist in the geothermal fluid with their atomic/molecular weight and the
ionic radius of each species; while Table 4 shows analyzed geothermal fluid samples from different geothermal systems. Mainly,
the temperature and pressure of the fluid are reduced at the well head and then sampled. The chemical composition of this natural
geothermal heat transfer fluid relies on the major rock type of the thermal reservoir, as the hot fluid will probably react with the
Table 2 Classification of geothermal resources based on enthalpy and temperature levels
Source Reference
[21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
Low enthalpy/temperature o90 o125 o100 r150 r190

Medium enthalpy/temperature 90–150 125–225 100–200 – –
High enthalpy/temperature 4150 4225 4200 4150 4190
Table 3 Properties of some species that might exist in the geothermal fluid
Species Atomic/molecular weight Ionic radius Species Atomic/molecular weight Ionic radius
(g/mole) (angstroms) (g/mole) (angstroms)
Hþ 1.008 0.25 H2S 34.082 –

Li þ 6.941 0.1 F 19 1.2
Na þ 23 1.1 Cl 35.45 1.6
Kþ 39.1 1.5 Br 79.9 1.8
Mg2 þ 24.31 0.7 HS 33.074 –
Ca2 þ 40.08 1.2 HCO3 61.017 –
Fe2 þ 55.85 0.7 O 16 1.2
B3 þ 10.81 0.1 S 32.06 1.7
SiO2 60.09 – – –
Source: Reproduced from Glassley WE. Chemistry of geothermal fluids. Geothermal energy: renewable energy and the environment. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2014.
Table 4 Analyzed geothermal water samples from different geothermal systems
Location pHa B HCO3 Ca K Na Mg Cl SO4 SiO2
Wairakei, New Zealand 8.3 28.8 23 12 210 1250 0.04 2210 28 670
Tauhara, New Zealand 8.0 38 19 14 223 1275 – 2222 30 726
Broadlands, New Zealand 8.4 51 233 1.43 224 1035 0.1 1705 2 848
Ngawha, New Zealand 7.6 1080 298 2.9 90 1025 0.11 1475 27 464
Cerro Prieto, Mexico 7.27 14.4 52 438 1660 7370 0.35 13,800 18 808
Mahia-Tongonan, Philippines 6.97 260 24 255 2184 7155 0.41 13,550 32 1010
Reykjanes, Iceland 6.4 8.8 87 1705 1720 11,150 1.44 22,835 28 631
Salton Sea, California 5.2 481.2 220 35,500 21,600 62,000 1690 191,000 6 1150
Paraso, Solomon Islands 2.9 5 – 51 27 136 11.1 295 300 81
Source: Reproduced from Glassley WE. Chemistry of geothermal fluids. Geothermal energy: renewable energy and the environment. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2014.
All chemical constituent’s concentrations are in mg/kg.
pH of the fluid in the reservoir is laboratory measured at 201C.
rocks, and congruently the hot fluid constituents change. Also, the circulation pathway of the hot fluid will affect the chemical
composition of the geothermal fluids. The greatest share of the deep fluids are saline brines with the main constituents of NaCl
and CaCl2. Mostly, these deep fluids include around 1 to 4 NaCl equivalents corresponding to a total dissolved solids (TDS)
between 60 and 270 g/L. Handling the extracted deep fluid with care is favorable as the fluid might contain some toxic or harmful
materials. For instance, heavy metals and mercury [27].
3.6.5 Utilization of Geothermal Energy
The temperature of the geothermal resources plays a vital role in choosing the suitable application and limiting the usage of the
geothermal source to certain uses. For instance, if the geothermal resource’s temperature is high, above 1501C it would fit more to
be utilized in the electricity production purpose and for ethanol and biofuels production. However, power generation can be
obtained at a temperature as low as 951C by using the binary cycle plants. If the geothermal resource temperature is lower than
1501C and greater than 901C, it can be used for refrigeration and ice making, timber drying, pulp, and paper processing, fabric
dyeing, cement, and aggregate drying, building heating and cooling and water heating, fruit, and vegetable drying. Moreover,
geothermal resources with temperatures lower than 901C and greater than 301C can be used in drink and food processing,
greenhouse heating, aquaculture, concrete block curing, bathing, snow melting and deicing, cooking and pasteurization, and
biogas production. Finally, temperature lower than 301C can be used in the geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) application and in
soil warming. The utilization of the geothermal resource would be more efficient if it is utilized for numerous uses to produce
multiple beneficial outputs, which will directly improve the viability of the geothermal projects. Fig. 9 shows a classification for the
different utilization of the geothermal energy either through the direct or indirect use, and Fig. 10 shows the Lindal diagram which
demonstrates the possible uses of geothermal energy at different temperatures of the geothermal resources.
3.6.5.1 Geothermal Heat Pumps and Space Conditioning

The idea of the heat pumps was familiar since the 17th century and started to be commercialized 60 years ago. However, the
geothermal space heating/cooling has increased significantly since the 1980s. Heat can be offered efficiently, economically, and
environmentally by using heat pumps. Heat pumps share the same concept with the refrigerators; it transfers the thermal energy
from the lower temperature medium to the higher temperature medium [28]. The heat pump generates useful heat, regularly at an
adequate temperature level to ensure a comfortable environment for residential application purpose. One of the privileges of the
heat pumps is that they can convey extra thermal energy compared to the input energy required for heat pump operation. GHPs
are mentioned throughout the literature under many designations. For instance, ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), ground-
coupled heat pumps, earth energy systems, earth-coupled heat pumps, ground source systems, and geoexchange heat pumps [29].
The GHP systems primarily consist of three main subsystems [30]:
• GHP: transfers heat from building to the ground and vice versa, it also adjusts its temperature.
• Earth connection: facilitates heat removal from the ground through a heat exchanger (HE) loop so that, it can be utilized in the
heat pump unit.
• Internal heat circulation system: conditions and allocates heat through space.
One of the main privileges of using the heat pumps is that it can be reversible and can supply both space cooling and heating.
Ground-coupled and groundwater heat pump systems are now utilized effectively in many countries with increasing rates. The
temperature of the GHPs operation ranges between 4 and 381C.
3.6.5.2 Greenhouse and Soil Warming

The utilization of the geothermal energy in the agriculture field is most widely in the greenhouse heating, a total of 31 countries or
more are frequently utilizing geothermal energy for producing vegetables, flowers, and fruits commercially in any season during
Geothermal energy
utilization
Direct use
Indirect use
Space Green Others

Heat Aquacul Agricul Indus-
heating house Bathing Cooling Electricity
pump -ture -ture trial
and soil and and snow production
pond drying uses
heating swimming melting
heating
Fig. 9 Classification for the different utilization schemes of the geothermal energy.
371°C
204°C Flash and

dry steam
geothermal
power plants*
and minerals recovery
177°C
Ethanol,
149°C biofuels
production
Cement and
aggregate
Refriger- drying
ation and
121°C icemaking
Binary Onion and

Water temperature
geothermal Lumber garlic

power plants* drying drying
95°C Fabric Building
dyeing Pulp and heating and
paper Blanching,
cooling and cooking Fruit and
Fruit and processing
vegetable water and vegetable
66°C drying Concrete heating pasteur- drying
block Food ization
Soft drink processing
carbon- curing
Green-
ation housing
38°C and soil
sterilization
Aqua-
culture** Bathing Snow
21°C melting
and
16°C de-icing
Geo- Soil
thermal warming
10°C heat
pumps
4°C
Fig. 10 Lindal diagram showing the possible uses of the geothermal energy with the various temperatures of the geothermal resource [32].
the year. Global utilization of the geothermal energy in greenhouse heating and soil heating rose by 19% in installed capacity
reaching 1830 MWt in 2015, and the amount of energy used annually grew by 16% to reach 26,662 TJ/yr. The important countries
that are utilizing geothermal energy in this use are Turkey, Russia, Hungary, China, and Netherlands. The chief crops which mainly
grown in greenhouses are vegetables and flowers. Tree seedlings are cultivated in the United States and fruit such as bananas are
grown in Iceland [2]. The utilization of geothermal energy in the sector of greenhouse heating is favorable for the following
reasons [31]:
• Good correlation between the sites of greenhouse production areas and low-temperature geothermal resources.
• Greenhouses are one of the main low-temperature energy users in the field of agriculture.
• Installing heat systems operating on geothermal energy is comparatively uncomplicated and easy to maintain.
• Using geothermal energy is a competitive economic and clean solution for greenhouse heating.
• It enhances food production efficiency by providing a beneficial utilization of the locally existing energy resources.
The heating process of the greenhouses may be accomplished in multiple ways:
• Using punctured plastic tubes to extend air that already passed over hot water in the HEs through the length of the greenhouse,
and to disseminate heat consistently.
• Circulating hot water in pipes or ducts above or underneath the floor.
DE aerator pipe
Thermal geothermal water tank

Plastic covered greenhouse
Regulation valve
Connection pipe
Geothermal production well Installed heating arrangement
To reinjection well
Fig. 11 Schematic diagram showing the basic direct installion to use geothermal heat inside a greenhouse.
• Heating greenhouse surfaces by utilizing hot water.

• Heat distribution in finned units passing through the walls and below bleachers.
• Combine any of the previous techniques.
As shown in Fig. 11, the water coming from the geothermal production well is directed to an open deaeration tank fitted
above the ground level so that the gravity assists in the transmission of the geothermal water through the pipeline and the
heating system. The mass flow rate entering the system will be regulated using valve. This setup is very common in the Medi-
terranean countries, where simple shielded greenhouses are utilized for a prior spring crop. Also, this setup is considered a possible
selection when the water is highly corrosive, where the plastic materials are utilized for HEs, pipes and all other construction
parts contacting water. Greenhouse heating requires temperatures between 30 and 901C, while soil warming can be done
with temperatures ranging from 10 to 351C. Lengthening the growing season can be achieved through heating the soil which
will lead to a stable soil temperature and subsequently leading to an upsurge of the crops. Soil heating is utilized largely to farm
carrots and cabbages [33]. The geothermal water is used for the soil heating process by running through a network of poly-
propylene tubes spaced at one- to two-meter intervals and typically around 65–85 cm from the soil surface. The inlet geothermal
water through the tubes system is around 601C, and the outlet water is dispossessed at a temperature of 251C [30]. Sometimes the
outlet geothermal water leaving the greenhouses is utilized in soil heating. However, in most cases, a separate supply is provided
for soil heating [31].
The distribution of the temperature in a cross-section of soil above the tubes depends on the atmospheric temperature, inlet
and outlet water the temperatures of the geothermal water entering and leaving the tubes. Moreover, the surface heat transfer
coefficient of the soil, the thermal conductivity of the soil, penetration depth of the tubes and the spacing between the tubes affect
the temperature of the soil.
3.6.5.3 Aquaculture Heating

Aquaculture includes the raise of marine or freshwater organisms in specific conditions to improve production rates. Multiple
species are reared in this way; crayfish, mullet, salmon, tilapia, lobster, shrimp, catfish, oyster, abalone, mussels, tropical fish, bass,
eels, frog, scallops, and carp. It has been explained that if the geothermal energy is used in aquaculture along with the sun energy
for heating water, it would lead to an augmentation in the fish production. The outgrowth of the fish could be promoted by
50–100% annually. This extraordinary growth is happening because reducing the water temperature below the maximum average,
affects the fish metabolism negatively, and they cannot feed properly. The pre-mentioned species could survive in a temperature
averaged between 13 and 391C. The geothermal energy utilization in the field of aquaculture augmented the installed capacity
about 6.7% to reach 695 MWt and rose the amount of energy utilization annually by 2.7% to record 11,958 TJ/year in 2015
compared to 2010. Twenty-one countries recorded this type of use, the highest consumption of the geothermal energy annually for
this specific use are recorded in the following countries, United States, China, Iceland, and Italy in 2015 [2]. The growth in this area
is slow because aquaculture is labor exhaustive and needs highly skilled workers, which is frequently difficult to satisfy eco-
nomically. As presented in Fig. 12, the cold water that will be pumped to the fish pond could be heated by two options; first one
through mixing geothermal water from the low-temperature well with the cold water from the tank, or by exchanging the waste
heat from the geothermal water leaving the steam turbine with the cold water supplied from the tank. The temperature of
the geothermal source and the optimum temperature required for the fish species plus the heat losses during the heating process
are the main factors that control the selection of the fish pond size.
3
Steam turbine
4
Separator Generator
5 Cold water
7 tank
Condenser
8
Fish farming pond
2
Expansion
valve 7 9
6 11
Expansion
valve
1
To reinjection
well
To reinjection
well 10
High or moderate temperature

production well
Low temperature
production well
Fig. 12 Schematic diagram showing geothermal energy utilization in aquaculture.
3.6.5.4 Agriculture Drying

Drying processes are commonly used for food and agriculture’s industry to maintain a rising variety of foods. Drying processes are
known as energy intensive operations and consume about 7–15% of the industry total energy consumption in some countries and
it might reach up to 33%, with comparatively low thermal efficiency around 25–50% [34]. Thus, using renewable energy
sources to provide this industry with the required heat is essential and more efficient, particularly the use of the low and medium
temperature geothermal sources [35]. Drying processes can utilize the geothermal water directly from low and medium tem-
perature geothermal resources, or it can use the rejected geothermal water from geothermal power plants. The geothermal HE is the
vital component of the drying system. It usually made of steel or copper tubes for geothermal water circulation, and the tubes
provided with aluminum/copper fins to enlarge the heat transfer surface. The air required for the drying process is blown by a fan
through the tubes. The air exchange heat with the geothermal water and leaves the HE ready for the drying process as shown in
Fig. 13. The number of the countries recorded the utilization of the geothermal energy for food drying purposes are increased from
13 in 2010 to 15 in 2015. The dried food industry includes seaweed (Iceland), onions (United States), and fruits (Mexico). The
major utilization was in China and United States followed by Hungary with a total capacity of 161 MWt and annual energy
utilization of 2030 TJ/year with a growth of 24.2% in 2015 compared to reports recorded in 2010 [2].
3.6.5.5 Industrial Uses

Applications for this category are distributed over 15 countries without any noticeable change in the number of countries since
2010. Examples include concrete curing which is mostly found in Guatemala and Slovenia, chemical extractions which largely
occur in Bulgaria, Poland, and Russia. Milk pasteurization in Romania, New Zealand which performs pulp and paper processing.
Bottling of water, and carbonated drinks in United States and Bulgaria. Moreover, CO2 extraction in Iceland and Turkey, borate
and boric acid manufacturing in Italy, iodine and salt extraction in Vietnam. Other industries, such as evaporation and distillation
processes, drying lumber, vegetable dehydration, diatomite plant, are also included. These applications are characterized by high
energy consumption since they are active during the whole year. The annually geothermal energy utilization recorded as 10,453 TJ/
year in 2015 decreased by 12% compared to 2010, this declination can be interpreted by the increase in the efficiency of operation.
Hot air out for drying

process
Geothermal
water in
Geothermal
water out
Cold air
in
Fig. 13 Geothermal heat exchanger utilized in the drying process.
The installed geothermal capacity for this category reported as 610 MWt in 2015 with a growth rate of 18% compared to 2010. The
amount of heat utilization in the industrial purposes recorded amongst the uppermost capacity factors compared to other direct
utilization of geothermal water [2].
3.6.5.6 Bathing and Swimming

Quantifying and gathering data in this category of utilization is difficult compared to other uses because of the numerous spas and
resorts that are using geothermal water for heating swimming pools. Various portions of the spas and resort owners allow the
water to flow unceasingly. Accordingly, the actual utilization and usage capacity might not be accurate. There are around
70 countries recorded bathing and swimming pools utilization. However, the global installed capacity in 2015 is estimated at
9140 MWt growing by 36.4% compared to 2010 and the annual energy utilization are predicted to be 119,381 TJ/year with a 9.1%
growth in 2015 compared to 2010 [2]. The major annual energy utilization was recorded from China, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, and
Mexico.
3.6.5.7 Snow Melting and Deicing

The major application in this category is pavement snow melting projects for streets and sidewalks. An estimation of 2.5 million
square meters of pavement is heated around the world, 74% of them in Iceland. The highways in the Andes, Argentina are
subjected to snow melting in the resorts community during the winter. While in Oregon, United States, the pavement snow
melting is a part of the district heating system, where the returned low-temperature water will pass through a HE to trade heat with
a glycol–water mixture. The power needed diverges from 130 to 180 W/m2, the installed capacity is 360 MWt, and the annual
energy utilization is 2600 TJ/year [2].
3.6.5.8 Other Uses

This area recorded an installed capacity of 79 MWt in 2015 with 88% development compared to 2010 and annually geothermal
energy utilization of 1452 TJ/year, with 52% growth in 2015 compared to 2010. The previous results were recorded based on data
collected from 13 countries. This category includes animal farming, spirulina cultivations, desalination, and sterilization of bottles
and food. For instance, sterilization is an essential stage in a broad variety of industries such as meat and fish canning as it stops
any bacteria growth, predominantly the Clostridium botulinum which required to be exposed at a temperature of 1211C for at least
three minutes. Utilization of either geothermal steam or water with a temperature ranging from 105 to 1201C is practical for
applications, such as food processing and bottling industry. The major utilization for this category exists in New Zealand, where
geothermal energy is utilized for irrigation, frost protection, and a geothermal tourist park [13].
3.6.5.9 Electricity Production

The temperature of the geothermal source temperature should be higher than 1501C excluding the binary cycles which
can operate at a geothermal source temperature of 951C. Deep wells are usually drilled, and steam from reservoirs at a depth of
3–5 km are used for operating steam turbines to generate electricity. Increasing the well depth has a significant effect on
increasing the source temperature. Nevertheless, in specific areas such as Iceland drilling very deep is not necessarily. The com-
mercial types of plants that are utilized for geothermal power generation purpose will be discussed in the geothermal power
production part.
3.6.6 Geothermal Power Production
Geothermal energy is a vital and promising renewable source that can be utilized in several aspects of energy production as shown
in Fig. 14. Power production can be achieved by using the medium and high geothermal resources to operate geothermal power
plants. However, identifying the thermodynamic limits of the geothermal energy conversion can determine the maximum the-
oretical efficiency that can be obtained from a geothermal power plant.
3.6.6.1 Thermodynamic Limits of Geothermal Energy Conversion

Carnot factor can typically govern the boundary of any energy conversion as long as the source of energy is heat which is applicable
to the geothermal energy. Therefore, evaluating the Carnot factor range for geothermal resources is essential. Furthermore, it is
valuable to investigate the pertinent irreversibilities related to geothermal energy conversion. Thus, an overall illustration of the
thermodynamic limits resulting from converting the thermal energy from the geothermal source into beneficial work is required.
The geothermal gradient, which is defined as the gradient at which the temperature upsurge with increasing the depth under Earth
surface, is ranging from 25–301C for every 1 km depth, and this value can drop down to 101C for every 1 km in the ancient
continental crust, and the gradient value could reach 1001C for every kilometer near the active volcanic area. Heat from Earth can
be transferred to Earth surface likely by three possibilities, hot water, steam, or by a mixture of steam and water [36].
The exergy of the geothermal water either it was brine or steam may be identified based on the following equation.
ex ¼ ðhðT; P Þ h0 Þ T0 ðsðT; P s0 ÞÞ ð1Þ
Here, T and P denote for the temperature and the pressure of the geothermal water that are available to perform the energy
conversion process, the energy content of the geothermal water entering the geothermal system is identified by the enthalpy as
follows:
en ¼ hðT; P Þ h0 ð2Þ
where 0 refers to the reference condition. Therefore the energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the geothermal power plant can be
determined by
W_ net
Z¼ ð3Þ
_
m en
W_ net
c¼ ð4Þ
m_ ex
where W _ net denotes the net produced work rate after deducting all the parasitic work rate and m
_ is the inlet mass flow rate of the
geothermal water. To acquire a prediction of the conversion limit we have to put in consideration an ideal thermodynamic cycle
describing the transfer of geothermal energy to beneficial work. The geothermal fluid is usually brine. As a result, assuming that
the brine exchanges sensible heat throughout the heat transfer procedure is very rational. Therefore the brine temperature will be
reduced to reach (T0). Fig. 15 shows a thermodynamic cycle of a geothermal fluid attaining an equilibrium with the surrounding
environment at (T0 and P0) by supplying the sensible heat through a cooling process. Assuming the process is represented as a
Geothermal energy
production
Power Heat Cooling Fuels Integrated

production production production production systems
Flash steam Dry steam Binary cycles Hybrid power

power plants power plant power plants plants
Fig. 14 Classification of the possible energy production from geothermal energy.

T T T, s
T–T0 T, s T, s0
=
T+T0
CARNOT
T–T0
=
T
T0, s0 T0 , s0
s s
(A) (B)
Fig. 15 Thermodynamic cycles for maximum work that could be obtained from geothermal energy, (A) sensible heat exchange and (B) latent
heat exchange.
Table 5 Thermodynamic limits of geothermal energy conversion efficiency at different resources temperatures
Geothermal resource Temperature (1C) Sensible heat exchange (%) Latent heat exchange (%)
Low enthalpy/temperature 70 7 13
Medium enthalpy/temperature 150 17 29
High enthalpy/temperature 350 35 52
straight line Ts as shown in the Fig. 15. The triangle shape is reflecting the thermodynamic maximum produced work, where the
work can be designated through the triangular gray area. The efficiency can be determined by the following equation and the
values are stated in Table 4:
ðT T0 Þ
Z¼ ð5Þ
ðT þ T0 Þ
Table 5 tabulates thermodynamic limits of geothermal energy conversion efficiency at different geothermal resources tem-
peratures for the case that the sensible heat which is obtained from the geothermal water is determined. If the obtained geothermal
water is in steam form, it can be assumed that the steam is condensed during an isothermal procedure attaining an entropy value
of s0, followed by an isentropic expansion to reach the environmental condition at T0 and P0. The previous mentioned process for
geothermal steam source is ideal and is not possible to exist in any real system, it is just a theoretical way to calculate the possible
theoretical conversion efficiency which is reported in the Table 5 under latent heat exchange.
The actual geothermal energy conversion efficiencies should be less than the theoretical ones as a result of the geothermal
system irreversibilities. The energetic efficiency of a geothermal steam plant is varying from 10 to 17%, while in binary geothermal
plants it is varying from 2.8 to 5.5%. Energy efficiency values in binary geothermal plants are less than the geothermal steam plants
since the binary plants are working with low geothermal resources temperature compared to the temperatures required for dry
steam and flash plants operation. Specific exergy index is an indicator that assesses the quality of the geothermal resource through
the exergy content of the geothermal water, and it can be calculated as follows [37]:
sbrine
SExI ¼ hbrine 273:16 ð6Þ
1192
This index can be utilized to categorize the geothermal resources by using the following conditions:
• If SExI is less than 0.05, it refers to a low quality geothermal resources.

• If SExI is greater than 0.05 and less than 0.5, it indicates that this geothermal resources is medium quality.
• If SExI is greater than 0.5 it indicates that this geothermal resource is high quality.
At this point, the demarcation limits for these indexes are exergies of saturated water and dry saturated steam at 1 bar absolute.
Generating power from geothermal resources does not require the existence of external fuel infrastructure, as the main heat
source for the power generation purpose is located underneath the power plant. Moreover, transporting, processing and refueling
fuel are not required to either extracting the necessary energy or to maintain the power plant working for electricity generation.
Furthermore, the geothermal heat source is accessible during the whole day, and it can reliably generate the required electrical
power to fulfill the minimum demand. As a result, the geothermal power production is distinguished with a great privilege over
the other intermittent energy sources, such as solar or wind power production. Geothermal power generation is flexible, as any
fluctuating in the power demand from the grid can be satisfied easily by altering the output power of the power plants, which
would recommend the geothermal power generation as a vital part of the mix of power production technologies to maintain a
steady electrical supply. Generating power from the geothermal source depends on the capability to transform geothermal heat at
depth to electricity. This can be accomplished by extracting geothermal hot fluids from the geothermal source and deliver it to a
turbine facility to convert thermal energy into kinetic energy. The electrical generators then convert the kinetic energy to electrical
energy. Delivering the geothermal fluids to the turbine may encounter some losses such as heat conduction from the geothermal
fluid to the nearby rocks and the frictional losses between the pipe and the fluid [38].
There are traditional and commercial types of plants that are used for geothermal power production and these types are as
follows:
• Flash steam power plants.

• Dry-steam power plants.
• Binary cycle power plants.
• Hybrid power plants.
3.6.7 Flash Steam Power Production
Flash steam power plants can be categorized into single, double flash or even triple flash stages. Single and double flash stages are
dominating the commercially available plants with almost two-third of the total geothermal power plants installed. Some
theoretical studies in the literature investigated the feasibility of using multiflashing stages, such as quadruple and quintuple flash.
The general concept of the flash steam power plant is converting the high-temperature and pressure geothermal fluid into steam
and brine. The steam is directed to a steam turbine for electricity production, and the separated brine is injected again into the well
to ensure the sustainability of the geothermal well.
3.6.7.1 Single Flash Steam Power Production

The single flash steam plant is the pillar of the geothermal power plants and commonly used in the geothermal power generation
industry. It is often installed at any liquid-dominated geothermal field. By 2011, single flash power plants accounted for 169 units
in all over the world, and they represent about 29% of all geothermal power plants and approximately 43% of the entire installed
geothermal power capacity around the world. A simple schematic of the single flash power plant is given in Fig. 16. The geothermal
fluid enters an expansion valve (EV) at state 1 to reduce the geothermal fluid pressure instantly in an isenthalpic process, and with
ignoring any variation in the kinetic and potential energy of the geothermal fluid during the flashing process, we may write the
3
Steam turbine
4
Separator Generator
Condenser
Expansion
valve 7
6
Expansion
valve
1
To reinjection
well
To reinjection
well
From production
well
Fig. 16 Schematic diagram of a single flash steam power plant.
enthalpy of the inlet and outlet as follows: h2 ¼ h1. After that, the stream leaving the EV will enter the flashing chamber to proceed
with the separation process, the separation process will assume to be isobaric. The two phases separated due to their intrinsical
density difference. Quality (X) of the mixture that formed after flashing can be found by dividing the mass of the vapor divided by
the mass of the total blend. The steam will leave the separator at state 3 and enters the turbine to be expanded and produce power
while the brine will abandon the separator at state 7 and will be rejected again to the geothermal well. The steam leaves the turbine
at state 5 to enter the condenser to change the phase of the steam from vapor to liquid; then it is reinjected to the well. The system
in Fig. 16 can be analyzed energetically and exergetically as shown in Table 6.
Here, exi is the physical exergy and can be determined as follows:
ex i ¼ ðhi h0 Þ T0 ðsi s0 Þ ð7Þ
In addition, Ex_ Q is the exergy rate associated with the heat transfer rate and can be identified as follows:

T0 _ cond
Ex_ Qcond ¼ 1 Q ð8Þ
Tcond
Example 1: A single flash geothermal power plant as shown in Fig. 16 is utilizing hot geothermal water at 2801C. The mass flow
rate of the geothermal water is 30 kg/s. Calculate the mass flow rate of the steam entering the turbine, the power generating from
the turbine, the isentropic efficiency of the turbine, energy and exergy efficiencies of the system (Tables 6–8).
Assumptions:
• The system operates at steady state.

• The changes in potential and kinetic energies are negligible.
Analysis: utilizing the properties of the water for geothermal water, we can obtain the following data:
T1 ¼ 2801C; X1 ¼ 0; h1 ¼ 1236 kJ=kg
h2 hf 1236 640:1
h2 ¼ h1 ¼ 1236 kJ=kgðisenthalpic expansionÞ; P2 ¼ 500 kPa; x2 ¼ ¼ ¼ 0:2827
hfg 2108
The mass flow rate of the steam entering the turbine can be determined as follows:
kg
_ 3 ¼ X2 m
m _ 1 ¼ 0:2827 30 ¼ 8:482
s
Table 6 Mass, energy, and exergy balance equations of some parts
Part Mass balance Energy balance Exergy balance
Separator _ 3 þ m_ 7
m_ 2 ¼ m m_ 2 h2 ¼ m_ 3 h3 þ m_ 7 h7 _ 2 ex2 ¼ m_ 3 ex3 þ m_ 7 ex7 þE x_ dsep
m
Steam turbine m_ 3 ¼m_5 m_ 3 h3 ¼ m_ 5 h5 þW_ st _ 3 ex3 ¼ m_ 5 ex5 þW_ out þE x_ dst
m
Condenser m_ 5 ¼m_6 m_ 5 h5 ¼ m_ h þ Q_ con
6 6 _ 5 ex5 ¼ m_ 6 exh6 þE x_ dcond þE x_ Qcond
m
Table 7 Thermodynamic properties at each state point for single flash steam power plant obtained from the engineering equation solver (EES)
software
State Phase ex (kJ/kg) h (kJ/kg) P (kPa) s (kJ/kg K) T (K) Quality X ( ) m_ (kg/s)
0 Water 104.8 101.3 0.3669 25 0

1 Water 326.6 1236 6413 3.067 280 0 30
2 Mixture 268.3 1236 500 3.263 151.9 0.2827 30
3 Steam 720.2 2748 500.5 6.82 151.9 1 8.482
4
5 Mixture 141.3 2297 10 7.248 45.82 0.88 8.482
6 Water 2.852 191.8 9.994 0.6491 45.8 0 8.482
7 Water 90.3 640.4 500 1.861 151.9 0 21.52
Table 8 Exergy destruction rate for some parts in the single flash power plant
Part Flashing chamber Steam turbine Exergy destruction in the plant
Exergy destruction rate kW 1751 1082 5971

The power output from the turbine can be calculated as follows:

_ st ¼ m
W _ 3 ðh3 h5 Þ ¼ 8:482 ð2748 2297Þ ¼ 3828 kW
kJ kJ
P3 ¼ 500 kPa; X3 ¼ 1; h3 ¼ 2748 ; s3 ¼ 6:82
kg kg=K
kJ
P5 ¼ 10 kPa; s5 ¼ s3 ; h5s ¼ 2160 ; X4 ¼ 0:88
kg
kJ
h5 ¼ hf þ X5 hfg ¼ 191:8 þ 0:88 2392 ¼ 2297
kg
h3 h5 2748 2297
# Zise ¼ ¼ 100 ¼ 76:75%
h3 h5s 2748 2392
The input power can be calculated from the following equation:
E_ in ¼ m
_ 1 ðh1 h0 Þ ¼ 30 ð1236 104:8Þ ¼ 33;936 kW
_ 1 ex1 ¼ 30 326:6 ¼ 9708 kW

Ex_ in ¼ Ex_ 1 ¼ m
W_ st 3828
Energy efficiency ¼ ¼ 100 ¼ 11:28%
_Ein 33;936
W _ st 3828
Exergy efficiency ¼ ¼ 100 ¼ 39%
_Ex in 9799
3.6.7.2 Double Flash Steam Power Production

In double flash steam power plants, an additional flashing process is added to produce additional amount of steam, but with low
pressure, the generated steam can run an additional turbine and consequently, produce more power. Adding other parts should be
resulting in increasing the complexity of the power plant design, and it would be more expensive and will require extra main-
tenance compared to the single flash system. However, the extra generated power would compensate for the pre-mentioned
disadvantages. The schematic diagram for the double flash plant is introduced in Fig. 17. After the geothermal water leaves the
separator at state 7, it is directed to another flashing chamber, which will lead to a phase change in the stream from pure
geothermal water to the geothermal mixture. The geothermal mixture will enter separator two to discrete the steam from water. The
steam stream will enter another low-pressure turbine for an additional power production and the geothermal water will be
returned to the reinjection well.
Example 2: A double flash geothermal power plant as shown in Fig. 17 is utilizing hot geothermal water at 2801C. The mass
flow rate of the geothermal water at state 1 is 30 kg/s. Calculate the temperature of the steam that will enter the second turbine, the
power generating from the second turbine, and the overall energy and exergy efficiencies of the power plant are to be determined
(Tables 9 and 10).
Assumptions:
• The system operates at steady state.

• The changes in potential and kinetic energies are negligible.
Analysis: the values of the state points from 1 to 7 and 12 are the same as the previous example.
kg
P8 ¼ 175 kPa; T8 ¼ 116:11C; X8 ¼ 0:0693; h8 ¼ h7 ; _ 8 ¼ 21:52
m
s
kJ
P9 ¼ 175 kPa; T9 ¼ 116:11C; X9 ¼ 1; h9 ¼ 2700
kg
The mass flow rate that will enter the second turbine can be determined as follow:
kg
_9¼m
m _ 7 X8 ¼ 21:52 0:0693 ¼ 1:491
s
The power output from the first turbine should remain the same as calculated from the previous example (Example 1).
3
High pressure
steam turbine
4
Separator Generator
9
Low pressure
steam turbine 5
Condenser
7 8
11
Generator
Expansion
2
valve
12
Expansion Condenser 6
10 Separator
valve
1 To reinjection
well
To
From production reinjection
well well
Fig. 17 Schematic diagram of double flash steam power plant.
Table 9 Thermodynamic properties at each state point for double flash steam power plant obtained from the engineering equation solver (EES)
software
State Fluid phase ex (kJ/kg) h (kJ/kg) P (kPa) s (kJ/kg K) T (K) Quality X [ ] _ (kg/s)
m
0 Water 104.8 101.3 0.3669 25 0

1 Water 326.6 1236 6413 3.067 280 0 30
2 Mixture 268.3 1236 500 3.263 151.9 0.2827 30
3 Steam 720.2 2748 500.5 6.82 151.9 1 8.482
4
5 Mixture 141.3 2297 10 7.248 45.82 0.88 8.482
6 Water 2.852 191.8 10 0.6491 45.8 0 9.973
7 Water 90.3 640.4 500 1.861 151.9 0 21.52
8 Water 84.92 640.4 175 1.879 116.1 0.0693 21.52
9 Steam 567.7 2700 175.2 7.171 116.1 1 1.491
10 Water 49.01 487.1 175.2 1.485 116.1 0 20.03
11
12 Mixture 141.3 2297 10 7.248 45.82 0.88 1.491
Table 10 Exergy destruction rate for some parts of the double flash power plant
Part Flashing chamber 1 Flashing chamber 2 Steam turbine 1 Steam turbine 2 Exergy destruction in the plant
Exergy destruction rate kW 1751 115.8 1082 34.26 5370
The power output from the second turbine can be calculated as follows:
_ st2 ¼ m kg kJ
W _ 9 ðh9 h12 Þ ¼ 601:5 kW
s kg
The overall energy and exergy efficiencies of the power plant can be determined as follows:
The input power can be calculated from the following equation:
E_ in ¼ m
_ 1 ðh1 h0 Þ ¼ 30 kg=s ð1236 kJ=kg 104:8 kJ=kgÞ ¼ 33;936 kW
3
23
18
5 13
Power
Quintuple flash
1 2 power plant Building
Medium Low
Extreme high 4 Very high High 14 19 pressure 24
6 pressure
pressure turbine pressure pressure turbine
8 turbine
turbine turbine
10 22
Geothermal well
12 17
9
7 11
Geothermal well 16 21 Water electrolyzer Hydrogen
20 25
15
Geothermal well
Water
Fig. 18 Schematic of the quintuple flash geothermal energy system.
_ 1 ex 1 ¼ 30 kg=s 326:6 kJ=kg ¼ 9708 MW

Ex_ in ¼ Ex_ 1 ¼ m
_ st þ W
W _ st2 3828 þ 601:5
Energy efficiency ¼ ¼ 100 ¼ 13%
_Ein 33;936
_ st þ W
W _ st2 3828 þ 601:5
Exergy efficiency ¼ ¼ 100 ¼ 45:2%
_ in
Ex 9799
Although using multiflash stages, such as the quadruple or quintuple flash stages, is not practically available in the commercial
geothermal power plants, they subjected to an energy and exergy analysis by Ratlamwala and Dincer [39,40], In their study, novel
systems based on geothermal energy, integrated with an electrolyzer unit for hydrogen production purpose are introduced. Fig. 18
shows schematic of the quintuple flash geothermal energy system. The integrated systems are consisting of multiflash (single to
quintuple) geothermal power generating systems. The study aimed to investigate the effect of increasing flash stages on the overall
energy and exergy efficiencies of the proposed systems. The results showed that the exergetic efficiency of the single flash, double
flash, triple flash, quadruple flash, and quintuple flash were 6.5%, 9.1%, 13.58%, 21%, and 47.29, respectively, highlighting the
fact that the systems exergetic efficiency increases with a bigger step from quadruple flash to quintuple flash. Moreover, the exergy
destruction rates of each system were calculated. The exergy destruction rates of the single flash, double flash, triple flash,
quadruple flash, quintuple flash systems are found to be 118.9 kW, 137.7 kW, 140.4 kW, 138.4 kW, and 100.9 kW, respectively.
Furthermore, the effect of varying some operating and designing condition, such as ambient temperature, geothermal mass flow
rate, and geothermal temperature were taken into consideration. The analysis of the multiflash geothermal power generating
systems proved that the quintuple flash system is more efficient energetically and exergetically compared with other flash systems.
The power generation, hydrogen production rate are found to be changing from 6.8 to 112.9 kW, 2.6 to 44.21 l/s, by increasing the
temperature of the geothermal water.
3.6.8 Dry Steam Power Production
The history of the dry steam plants extended to 113 years ago in Larderello, Italy when Piero Conti utilized a very tiny steam engine
that could illuminate five light bulbs in the factory. Also, this type of geothermal power plants was the first to be commercialized. Dry
steam plants are simple and less costly compared to flash steam plants due to the absence of the geothermal brine. There are around
71 units of dry steam plants around the world which count for 12% of the total geothermal plants installed around the world, and
sharing up to 27% of the total power generated by geothermal plants with a total capacity of around 3000 MW with average power
rating of 41 MW for each single unit installed [65]. Dry steam plants usually operate utilizing pressurized dry saturated or superheated
steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs. The produced steam is comprising tiny amounts of other gases such as carbon dioxide
and hydrogen sulfide and, it is supplied directly from the production wells to steam turbines and is exhausted right after that to the
atmosphere. This type is called direct non-condensing cycle where the condensers are not existing at the outlet of the turbine. If the
percentage of the non-condensed gases in the steam is over 15% by weight, it is better to use the direct non-condensing cycle, as
removing these gases from the condenser will require more power and will decline the plant efficiency. However, in most of the dry
steam condensing geothermal plant, a condenser is added to condense the outlet vapor from the turbine and keep the outlet
geothermal water at a temperature ranging from 35 to 451C. The condenser is usually equipped with a removal for the non-
condensed gases such as carbon dioxide and ejects it to the atmosphere. Toxic substances such as hydrogen sulfide must be removed
by using a chemical purification unit. The privilege of the steam condensing over non-condensing plants is that it is more efficient and
Steam turbine
2
Separator Generator
Condenser 2
1
To reinjection
well
From production
well
Fig. 19 Schematic of a dry steam condensing geothermal power plant.
it removes the environmental noise risk resulting from the steam discharge. However, the condensed plant’s maintenance is costly,
and the plant design is more complex and will lead to an increase in the expenses of the plant construction as a result of adding a
cooling system to the plant. A schematic diagram of the dry steam power plant is represented in Fig. 19.
3.6.9 Binary Cycle Power Production
Binary plants growing rate is considered the fastest compared to the rate of growing of the other geothermal power plants due to their
ability to utilize the most of the geothermal resources represented in medium and high temperature resources. Binary plants are
utilizing an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) or a Kalina cycle. The concept of the binary cycle is to recover the heat of the geothermal
water by passing it through HEs to evaporate an organic fluid, such as isobutane and pentane, which characterized by their low boiling
point. The superheated organic fluid will drive a turbine connected with a generator to produce electric energy as shown in Fig. 20.
Temperature as low as 74°C could be a good target for establishing a binary plant like the plant in (Chena hot springs, Alaska).
Example 3: Fig. 20 shows a binary geothermal cogeneration plant with a geothermal water source at 1651C with isobutane as
the working fluid. The mass flow rate of the geothermal water is 175 kg/s, and the net power output is 6.9 MW. It is known that the
geothermal water leaves the plant at 851C (state 6) but leaves the space heater at 651C (state 7). The fresh liquid water, heated to
751C (state 9), is used for space heating and returns to the cogeneration plant at 501C (state 8). Assume there is no heat loss in the
HE and space heater (cp ¼ 4.18 kJ/kg/1C, T0 ¼ 298K). Determine the following:
1. The rate of space heating provided by the system and the mass flow rate of water used for the space heating.
2. The thermal efficiency of the entire cogeneration plant (including the heating).
3. The exergy efficiency of the whole cogeneration plant (assume Tsink ¼ T9 ¼ 348K); and
_ d
4. The total exergy destruction rate of the entire cogeneration plant using Zex ¼ 1 Ex
Ex
_ .
in
Assumptions:
• Steady operating conditions exist.

• Kinetic and potential energy changes are negligible.
Properties: the specific heat of water at room temperature is cp ¼ 4.18 kJ/kg/1C.

1. The rate of space heating provided by the system is determined from

_ heat ¼ m kg kJ
Q _ cp ðT6 T7 Þ ¼ 175 4:18 ð85 65Þ1C ¼ 14;630 kW
s kg=1C
8 9
Space heater
6
3 Isobutane
turbine
Heat exchanger
Generator
2
4
Pump Condenser
1
5
Geothermal
water out
Geothermal
water in
Fig. 20 Schematic of binary power cogeneration power plant for heating and electricity production.
The mass flow rate of fresh water is calculated from

_ heat ¼ m kJ
Q _ w cp ðT9 T8 Þ ¼ m
_ w 4:18 ð75 50Þ1C ¼ 14;630 kW
kg=1C
kg
_ w ¼ 140
m
s
2. The rate of heat input to the power plant is

_ in ¼ mc kg kJ
Q _ p ðT5 T6 Þ ¼ 175 4:18 ð165 85Þ1C ¼ 58;520 kW
s kg=1C
The thermal energy efficiency of the cogeneration plant is determined as follows:

_ heat þ W
Q _ net 14;630 kW þ 6900 kW
Zen ¼ ¼ ¼ 0:36 100 ¼ 36%
Q_ in 58;520 kW
3. The exergy efficiency is calculated as follows:

_ heat 1 T0 þ W _ net
Q Tsink 14;630 kW 1 298 þ 6900 kW
Zex ¼ ¼
348 ¼ 0:48 100 ¼ 48%
Q_ in 1 T0 58;520 kW 1 298
438
TS
4. The total exergy destruction rate of the entire cogeneration plant:
_ d
Ex _ d
Ex
Zex ¼ 1 ¼ 0:48 ¼ 1 ¼ 9703 kW
_Exin 58;520 kW 1 298
438
_ d ¼ 9703 kW
Ex
3.6.10 Hybrid Power Production
All the geothermal resources are quite different in pressure, temperature, and the mass flow rate that could be obtained from the
reservoir, the geothermal power plant must be chosen carefully based on a detailed study on the reservoir’s conditions, since some
resources may require the utilization of more than one conversion energy system. This can easily be done by integrating and
combining two geothermal plants of different types. For instance, frequently the single flash geothermal plant is commonly
installed before any other geothermal plants as a result of its simple design and its lower construction expenses compared to the
double flash system. Nevertheless, the energy efficiency of the single flash system is appeared to be lower than that of the double
flash plants. The increase in the electricity demand or the rise of the geothermal brine production will require an additional power
unit to be installed. Particularly, if the extra geothermal water is leaving the separator at a temperature that could reach 1501C it
can be utilized to generate more electric power instead of being disposed into the reinjection wells. Therefore, combining binary
cycle with the single flash geothermal plant would be very effective to increase the total capacity of the power plant and to augment
the energetic and the exergetic efficiencies of the whole plant. Fig. 21 shows a schematic diagram of a hybrid power plant consisting
of single flash and binary cycle. The liquid geothermal fluid will leave the separator from state 6 and will directly enter the HE so
that heat can be transferred from the liquid geothermal fluid to the binary cycle working fluid such as isobutane. The liquid
geothermal water will leave the HE to be disposed into the reinjection well, while the working fluid will enter turbine for electricity
generation. In this system, the produced power is increased, since it utilizes the same production wells that were dedicated for the
single flash plant without drilling any extra production wells, resulting in an economic and efficient system compared to as system
that is utilizing single or double flash technologies.
A relationship between the geothermal water leaving the separator and the working fluid in the binary plant in the Fig. 21 can
be derived by using the first law of thermodynamics as follows:
_ 6 ð1 X2 Þ cp6 ðT6 T7 Þ ¼ m
m _ wof ðh8 h11 Þ ð9Þ
The previous equation indicates that the heat removed from the geothermal water is equivalent to the amount of heat that will
be engrossed by the working fluid inside the binary cycle and the mass of the working fluid can be calculated as given below:

cp6 ðT6 T7 Þ
m _ 6 ð1 X2 Þ
_ wof ¼ m ð10Þ
ðh8 h11 Þ
3 Steam turbine Generator
Separator Condenser 2
9
Isobutane
4
turbine
8 10
2
6 Condenser 1
Expansion 5
Valve
Pump
Heater
1 11
To reinjection
To reinjection well
From production well
well
Fig. 21 Schematic of a hybrid (single flash – binary) geothermal power plant.
Example 4: For the system in Fig. 21, geothermal plant supplies saturated liquid water at a temperature of 2101C with a flow
rate of 220 kg/s from a production well. It is first flashed by a flash chamber as shown in Fig. 21 to a pressure of 450 kPa through
an isenthalpic flashing process, where the resulting saturated steam is separated from the liquid in a separator and directed to the
turbine. The steam leaves the turbine at 50 kPa with a quality of 90%. The mixture leaves the condenser as saturated liquid water.
The liquid water coming out of the separator can be used as the heat source in a binary cycle with isobutane as the working fluid.
The geothermal liquid water leaves the HE at 751C while the isobutane enters the turbine at 3.3 MPa and 1551C and leaves at 751C
and 350 kPa. Isobutane is condensed in an air-cooled condenser (x ¼ 0) and then pumped to the HE pressure. Assuming an
isentropic efficiency of 85% for the pump, determine the following: (1) the mass flow rate of isobutane in the binary cycle, (2) the
net power outputs of both the flashing and the binary sections of the plant, and (3) the energy and exergy efficiencies of the binary
cycle and the overall combined plant. Assume the following: (a) No pressure losses in condensers and HE. (b) Steady operating
conditions exist. (c) Kinetic and potential energy changes are negligible. Clearly, write out the balance equations in each case
(Table 11).
kJ
T1 ¼ 2101C; X1 ¼ 0; h1 ¼ 897
kg
kJ h2 hf 897 623:4
h2 ¼ h1 ¼ 897 ¼ ðisenthalpic expansionÞ; P2 ¼ 450 kPa; x2 ¼ ¼ ¼ 0:1293
kg hfg 2120
kg
_2¼m
m _ 1 ¼ 220
s
1. Mass flow rate of the isobutene in the binary cycle can be calculated as follows:
kg kg
Mass flow rate at state 6 ¼ m _ 2 ð1 X2 Þ ¼ 220
_6¼m ð1 0:1293Þ ¼ 191:5
s s
m _ 7 h7 ¼ m
_ 6 h6 þ m _ iso ðh8 h11 Þ
_ 6 ðh6 h7 Þ
m kg
_ iso ¼
m ¼ 114:2
ðh8 h11 Þ s
2. The net power outputs of both the flashing and the binary sections of the plant can be determined as follows:
_ st ¼ m
W _ 3 ðh3 h4 Þ ¼ 9:36 MW
_ bi ¼ m
W _ 8 ðh8 h9 Þ ¼ 11:67 MW
3. The energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the binary cycle and the overall combined plant.
Energy efficiency of the binary cycle can be calculated as follows:

v10 ðP11 P10 Þ v10 ðP11 P10 Þ kJ
WPu ¼ ¼ ¼ 6:31
Zis 0:85 kg
_ P ¼ WPu m kJ kg
W _ iso ¼ 0:72 114:2 ¼ 0:72 MW
kg s
Table 11 Thermodynamic properties at each state point for the combined plant obtained from the engineering equation solver (EES) software
State Fluid/phase ex (kJ/kg) h (kJ/kg) P (kPa) s (kJ/kg K) T (K)
0 Water/liquid 0 104.8 101.3 0.3669 298

1 Water/liquid 179.3 897.7 1906 2.425 483
2 Water/mixture 165.1 897.7 450 2.472 420.9
3 Water/steam 704.1 2744 450 6.857 420.9
4 Water/mixture 375.1 2415 50 6.857 354.34
5 Water/liquid 19.77 340.5 50 1.091 354.34
6 Water/liquid 1876 623.4 450 1.821 420.9
7 Water/liquid 15.74 314 450 1.016 348
8 Isobutene/superheated vapor 160.3 784.7 3300 2.599 428
9 Isobutene/superheated vapor 88.71 682.5 350 2.602 348
10 Isobutene/liquid 441 259.3 350 2.364 306.84
11 Isobutene/liquid 55.4 265.7 3300 1.21 299.86
W _ bi W
_ net ¼ W _ Pu ¼ 11:67 MW 0:72 MW ¼ 10:94 MW
W_ net
Zbi ¼ ¼ 0:184 100 ¼ 18:4%
_ 8 ðh8 h11 Þ
m
The exergetic efficiency of the binary cycle can be calculated as follows:
W_ net
cbi ¼ ¼ 0:91 100 ¼ 91%
_ 8 ðex 8 ex 11 Þ
m
The energy efficiency of the overall combined plant can be calculated as follows:
Since streams from state 5 and state 7 are not used, thus the total energy and exergy entering the combined power plant can be
calculated as follows:
Inlet energy to the system:
_ 1 h1 ðm
Ein ¼ m _ 5 h5 þ m
_ 7 h7 Þ ¼ 127:6 MW
Inlet exergy to the system:

_ 1 ex 1 ðm
Exin ¼ m _ 5 ex 5 þ m
_ 7 ex7 Þ ¼ 35:8 MW
Energy efficiency of the system:
_ st þ W
W _ net 9:36 MW þ 10:94 MW
Zsys ¼ ¼ ¼ 0:159 100 ¼ 15:9%
Ein 127:6 MW
Exergy efficiency of the system:

_ st þ W
W _ net 9:36 MW þ 10:94 MW
csys ¼ ¼ ¼ 0:5662 100 ¼ 56:62%
Exin 35:8 MW
The thermodynamic properties of each state in the example are tabulated as below.
3.6.11 Geothermal Heat Pumps
Geothermal hot water can be used to provide space heating by using heat pumps, and it can also be used in large scale in district
heating to provide both space heating and hot water for residential and commercial applications. Low temperature or low
enthalpy geothermal resources can work efficiently as a source for heat production. A system operating using a temperature of
551C can satisfy the least practicable temperature requirement for direct geothermal heating usages [9].
Heat pumps can operate with geothermal water temperature ranging from 10 to 351C, there are two available basic heat pump
systems, air source, and ground water source. Ground water heat pumps (GWHP) have numerous privileges that distinguish them
from air source ones such as lower annual energy consumption that might reach one-third of that consumed by air source pumps.
Stable performance during the different seasons leading to lower refrigerant consumption. Moreover, the design is simple resulting
in less maintenance. However, the capital cost of GWHP is higher than air heat pumps as a consequence of the additional costs
from burying HEs or drilling production wells. If the cost of GWHP is compared to air heat pumps during the whole operating life
of the system, GWHP appeared to be more economical as the coefficient of performance (COP) in the GWHP is around 3 while it
is around 2 in air heat pumps [41]. A schematic diagram of a GHP is shown in Fig. 22. Two main types of GWHP are available, the
closed loop systems which also called earth coupled and open loop systems. In closed loop systems, which are widely used, the
heat transfer fluid is flowing in a closed loop and is contacting with the ground, any heat loss from the system to the ground is
occurring due to the heat transfer from pipes. There are four types of closed loop systems: horizontal, vertical, spiral, and pond as
shown in Fig. 23 [28].
3.6.11.1 Horizontal Closed Loop System

This type is the best economic option for installation in the residential application, predominantly for newly constructed buildings
where enough land is available. System loop is buried horizontally underneath earth surface in backfilled trenches at a depth
ranging from 1 to 1.5 m and spaced from each other by a 1.5 m. There are three arrangements for this type, basic loop, which
occupies more land area compared to the other two kinds, the parallel and series loops [28].
3.6.11.2 Vertical Closed Loop System

This type is frequently utilized for commercial buildings where land area usage is restricted, or when drilling in the bedrock is
essential due to any soil issues that prevent burying the horizontal loops in the trenches. It is more costly compared to horizontal
loops. However, it occupies less area and mitigates any disturbance that could happen to the surrounding landscape. Drilled hole’s
depth for residential applications is ranging from 45 to 75 m while it might exceed 150 m for huge industrial applications. In this
Expansion valve
1 Evaporator Condenser 6
2
Heat is transferred to
4 5 the room by radiators
or underflow heating
Compressor
Geothermal
well
Fig. 22 Schematic of geothermal ground heat pump system.
(A) (B)
Pond or
(C) (D) stream
Fig. 23 Types of closed loop systems: (A) horizontal system, (B) vertical system, (C) spiral system, (D) pond/lake system.
type, a pair of pipes is installed and connected in the drilled hole by a U-shaped connector. Improving the heat transfer can be
achieved by filling the gap between the pipes and the borehole wall with a pumpable grout material [42]. The borehole radius is
around 51 mm for a regular residential home. The space between boreholes is ranging from 5 to 6 m so that it can avoid nearby
boreholes from affecting one another and cause variation in the ground conditions.
3.6.11.3 Spiral Closed Loop System

Spiral loop system and horizontal loops are similar since both are buried horizontally inside shallow trenches. The difference is
that the pipes are installed in circular loops inside the trench, and the end of each spiral has a straight return pipe to the heat
pump. Spiral loops occupy smaller area compared to horizontal loops, but they require larger piping lengths for the same load.
3.6.11.4 Pond/Lake Closed System

This type requires low expenses compared to the other previous systems, particularly if the designated area has an adequate
amount of hot geothermal water. This system is typically a spiral loop system flooded in water bond. The pipes are extended
from the building to the water pond and coils into circles at least 2.5 m underneath the surface to avoid any freezing possibilities.
Supply Injection
well well Supply
well
Pond or
stream
(A) (B)
Fig. 24 Types of open loop system (A) with supply well and reinjection well, (B) with supply well only and discharging in pond.
This type has several advantages such as it utilize shorter pipes, has better heat transfer features, and trenching or drilling are not
needed. The main disadvantage of this type is the limited existence of adequate water bonds.
3.6.11.5 Open Loop System

Open loop systems deal with the ground geothermal water existing in the production wells, lakes, or bonds directly. The
geothermal water is extracted and delivered to the heat pump HE to trade heat with the fluid that needs to be heated, and then it is
disposed again to the geothermal source. There are three open loop arrangements: one with extraction wells only, another
arrangement with extraction and reinjection wells, and a surface water system. Fig. 24 shows two types of the open loop system.
The arrangement comprising of production and reinjection wells is commonly used. Open loop system can be a practical option
if the water exists in a relatively clean condition. This system has some privileges such as the source water temperatures remain
nearly constant, heat losses generated from the auxiliary HE used in closed loop systems are eliminated. Moreover, the obtained
COP is higher than the closed loop system. However, maintaining an acceptable water quality is the main challenge that is facing
this system.
3.6.12 Production of Other Geothermal Commodities
Geothermal energy can be used for heat production purpose in district heating systems for heating space and heating water.
Furthermore, geothermal energy can be utilized for space cooling and refrigeration industry by integrating absorption cooling
systems with the geothermal resource. Geothermal energy can be utilized for fuel production. For example, supplying water
electrolyzer with the required power to generate hydrogen and using geothermal energy in ethanol processing. Integrating geo-
thermal energy with different systems for producing two or more useful outputs such as integrating a heat pump system,
absorption cooling system with a flash steam plant for producing electricity, space heating and cooling would substantially
increase the low energy efficiency of the geothermal system.
3.6.12.1 District Heating

Geothermal district heating is a system that is used for distributing the thermal energy obtained from the geothermal resources in
residential and commercial applications, such as space and water heating. The mass flow rate and the temperature of the
geothermal source identify whether the source is having the required potential and the adequacy to be used in the district heating
applications or not.
Furthermore, the chemical composition of the geothermal water is necessary for selecting the appropriate materials needed to
design the energy conversion systems since the geothermal water might contain some constituents, such as silica, hydrogen sulfide,
chlorides, and oxygen. The concentration of the minerals inside the geothermal water increases proportionally with increasing the
temperature and the depth of the geothermal resource. Geothermal water with limited concentration of 150 mg/kg for silica, less
than 50 mg/kg for chlorides, and oxygen below 5 mg/kg is considered pure and can be utilized directly for heating space and for
providing tap water. Hot water is supplied to consumers at temperatures ranging from 60 to 901C and returned to a temperature
varying from 30 to 351C which is 301C lower than the returned temperature in a conventional district system operating by utilizing
fossil fuels. The amount of power that can be obtained from geothermal hot water flowing at 6 kg/s and dropping in temperature
from 90 to 501C is approximately 1.4 thermal megawatt. Furthermore, geothermal district heating systems can be divided into two
types relying on the usage of the geothermal energy, if it is utilized indirectly by transporting the geothermal heat to the secondary
system through using HEs the system then the system will be called primary. However, if it is utilized directly in the house heating
systems the system will be called secondary.
3.6.12.1.1 Primary system

In this system the geothermal water is circulated inside a HE to exchange heat with the flowing cold water supplied from the tank,
both fluids are separated and not mixed at any point. This is mainly because of two reasons, the chemical composition of the
geothermal water and the elevated temperature and pressure of the geothermal water. Utilizing the HEs would control the
temperature that is required inside the district heating system. Fig. 25 shows a simple district primary heating system.
3.6.12.1.2 Secondary system

Utilizing this type of system requires no HEs to separate the geothermal water and the fluid that needs to be heated either it was
water or air. Using this type greatly depending on the quality of the geothermal water at the location regarding the constituents of
the water and whether it is meeting the safety concentration without any harmful effects on the human being. One example of this
type is the geothermal water existing in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.
3.6.12.2 Cooling Production

Geothermal energy can be utilized to achieve space cooling by using absorption cycles where the cooling effect is obtained
through utilizing two fluids and supplying sufficient heat to the cycle, despite other vapor compression cycles which require an
electrical input to operate the compressor inside the cycle. Two basic configurations are used in the absorption cycle; the first one is
using lithium bromide as the absorbent and water as the refrigerant to achieve temperatures above 01C which are typically
appropriate for air conditioning purpose. The other configuration is used for industrial application to achieve cooling effect
below 01C where ammonia is used as a refrigerant, and the water is used as an absorbent. In the lithium bromide absorption
cycle, the geothermal heat is fed into the absorption generator that contains a solution of LiBr/H2O resulting in boiling the water
which acts as the refrigerant. The water vapor then passes through a condenser to change the phase of the water from vapor to liquid
then it enters an evaporator section to exchange heat with the fluid that needs to be cooled. Maintaining very low pressure of the
water in the absorber allows water boiling to occur at a substantially lower temperature. In the ammonia water absorption chiller, the
geothermal heat will be supplied to the generator to separate the ammonia from the mixture; the ammonia vapor will then enter a
condenser to release the obtained heat to the environment. The expansion valve is used to reduce the temperature and the pressure of
the refrigerant, after that the ammonia vapor will enter an evaporator so that it can extract the heat from the space and provide the
cooling effect as shown in Fig. 26 ammonia absorption chillers can be used for applications that required refrigeration up to 181C.
An energy and exergy analysis for absorption chiller operating by geothermal heat is highlighted in the case study.
1 Heat exchanger
Heat exchanger 7
Heat rejected for

5 space heating
Hot
water
1
2 Cold water
4 6
To reinjection Cold water

well tank
To reinjection well
Production well
Fig. 25 Schematic diagram of a simple district primary heating system using geothermal energy.
Generator
Condenser
3
9
10
2 Heat
exchanger
11
8
1 Expansion
valve
Pump 4
12 Expansion
valve
5
7
Evaporator
Absorber
Cooling
effect
6
Production
well
To re-injection
well
Fig. 26 Utilization of the geothermal heat for cooling production using ammonia absorption chiller.
3.6.12.3 Fuel Production

Geothermal energy can be used to produce fuels such; as ethanol and hydrogen, this type of production requires low to medium
temperature resources and units of hydrogen or ethanol production can be added to an existing power plant for cogeneration
purposes.
3.6.12.3.1 Ethanol production

Ethanol can be generated utilizing one of the following processes, wet-mill process or dry-mill process. Wet-mill process includes
immersing then separating the corn into its constituents, and then it is recovered lately before the fermentation stage. While in the
dry milling process, corn is crushed into flour (meal) and handled without isolation of the constituent. Wet-mill plants require
large capital and operating costs compared to dry milling plants which are more common. In the dry milling plants, geothermal
energy can be used in three stages of ethanol generation process, cooking and liquefaction stage, which typically requires tem-
perature ranging from 60 to 801C. Also, the meal is processed for short duration of time at high temperature ranging from 120 to
1501C in order to decrease the bacterial growth in the mash. Distillation stage which requires temperatures varying from the
boiling point of ethanol which is around 78.31C to the boiling point of the water at 1001C. Finally, grain drying stage where
temperatures above water boiling point are needed. Ethanol generation using the geothermal energy encounters some challenges
represented in the distance of the geothermal resource from ethanol markets and the feasibility of the transportation infrastructure.
Moreover, most of the ethanol plants utilize low temperature steam to operate, which require plant design alterations to consider
the two-phase or single-phase liquid geothermal fluids [43].
3.6.12.3.2 Hydrogen production

Geothermal energy can be utilized as a potential renewable source for hydrogen generation, particularly in the countries that
possess abundant geothermal resources. Geothermal power plants can easily be integrated with an electrolyzer system for
hydrogen generation and utilization. Cost of hydrogen generation will be reduced if it is produced by using geothermal energy
providing a competitive price of hydrogen compared to other sources of generating hydrogen. In some countries, such as Iceland,
geothermal energy is considered one of the main energy sources; Iceland established the Icelandic new energy to supervise an
ambitious project of transitioning Iceland into the first hydrogen society by 2050. Table 12 shows some projects that utilize
geothermal energy for generating hydrogen in Hawaii, United States, and Treiceria in Portugal [44]. The average energetic efficiency
of electricity production process is ranging between 5 and 25%. Congruently, if an electrolyzer is integrated with the geothermal
plant, the predictable hydrogen energy efficiency is estimated to be varying from 3 to 12%.
Fig. 27 shows a schematic of a geothermal power plant integrated with water electrolyzer for hydrogen production purpose.
A typical single flash power plant will produce the electricity required for the electrolysis process. The electricity will be fed into the
electrolyzer to dissociate water electrochemically into hydrogen and oxygen. A compressor will be added to the system to compress
the hydrogen so that it can be stored easily, and after that it can be distributed to any location.
Example 5: Fig. 13 shows a single flash geothermal plant combined with water electrolyzer for hydrogen production purpose.
The steam is entering the turbine at a temperature of 2501C and a pressure of 10 bar and leaving the turbine as a mixture with the
Table 12 Hydrogen production using geothermal energy in some projects
Location Geothermal capacity Electrolyzer capacity Hydrogen production

(MW) (MW) (t/day)
Hawaii, United States 3 2.6 0.46

Hawaii, United States 2.4 1.9 0.34
Treiceria, Portugal 250 234 N/A
Source: Reproduced from Chiasson A. Geothermal energy utilization in ethanol production. Geo-Heat Center Q Bull 2007;28(1):1–3.
3
Steam turbine
4 Water
Separator Generator
7 8
Water
electrolyzer
5
Condenser
2 Hydrogen
9
11
Expansion
valve 7
6 Oxygen
Expansion 10
valve
High pressure
1 hydrogen tank
To reinjection
well
To reinjection
well
From production
well
Fig. 27 Schematic showing geothermal power plant for hydrogen production.
quality of 0.9 and at a temperature of 801C and a pressure of 0.5 bar. The mass flow rate of the geothermal water is 175 kg/s. If the
electrolyzer efficiency is 70% and the hydrogen produced from the electrolyzer at 2 bar and ambient temperature (note that the
lower heat value of the hydrogen fuel ¼119.96 MJ/kg). Calculate the following:
1. The output power from the steam turbine.

2. The mass flow rate of the hydrogen produced from the electrolyzer if only 50% of the steam turbine electric output is used to
operate the electrolyzer.
Assume the following: (1) the system operates at steady state and (2) the changes in potential and kinetic energies are negligible.
1. The output power from the steam turbine.

At state 3
kg
T3 ¼ 2501C; P3 ¼ 10 bar; _ 3 ¼ 175
m ; h3 ¼ 2942
s
kg
T4 ¼ 801C; P4 ¼ 0:5 bar; _ 4 ¼ 175
m h4 ¼ 2415 ;
s

_ st ¼ m kJ kJ kJ
W _ 3 ðh3 h4 Þ ¼ 175 2942 2415 ¼ 92:2 MW
kg kg kg
2. The mass flow rate of the hydrogen produced:
Assuming that only 50% of the power output of the steam turbine will be used for the electrolysis process.
_hHlhv
m
Zelec ¼ 0:7 ¼ _ st
W
2
0:7 92:22MW kg
_h¼
m ¼ 0:26
119:96 MJ
kg
s
3.6.13 Integrated Geothermal Systems
The system is guaranteed to be more efficient if it is utilizing the techniques of cogeneration and multigeneration as nominated by
Dincer and Rosen [45]. Dincer and Zamfirescu [46] reported that multigeneration could offer better efficiency, cost-effectiveness,
cleaner environment and therefore better sustainability. The following studies were reported in the literature review for the
integration of the geothermal system with other renewable sources for multigeneration purposes. Moreover, some studies include
only geothermal source producing multiple useful outputs.
Malik et al. [47] established and investigated an integrated system using energy and exergy approaches. The system is running
on two main renewable sources of energy, biomass system and a hybrid geothermal system consisting of two flash stage system
and binary cycle, the biomass and geothermal energy sources are integrated to produce five valuable commodities for residential
applications. The energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system were calculated at 56.5% and 20.3%, correspondingly. Al-Ali
and Dincer [48] performed a thermodynamic analysis based on the first and second law of thermodynamics with a detailed
parametric study for an integrated solar–geothermal hybrid system (single flash and binary cycle). The system typically is intro-
duced to generate electrical power, cooling, space heating, hot water, and heat for industrial applications. Furthermore, an
assessment of a single generation, cogeneration, trigeneration, and multigeneration systems is accomplished. The energetic effi-
ciencies for the single generation and multigeneration systems are calculated as 16.4 and 78% congruently, while the exergetic
efficiencies are recorded as 26.2% and 36.6%, correspondingly. Suleman et al. [49] utilized two different renewable sources of
energy represented in the solar energy and geothermal energy (binary cycle) for integration application to provide multi useful
outputs. The overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system are identified to be 54.7% and 76.4% respectively accom-
panied with a comprehensive parametric study on the introduced integrated system.
Al-Zaharani et al. [50] evaluated an integrated system mainly powered with a stand-alone binary geothermal system with a total
output power of 18.59 MW by cascaded supercritical (CO2) Rankine cycle with Organic (R600) Rankine cycle for power and
hydrogen generation. The introduced integrated system overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies were recorded as 13.67% and
32.27%, respectively. The integrated system total exergetic effectiveness was reported as 43.22%. Wang et al. [51] introduced a
geothermal energy system (binary cycle) operating at a medium temperature integrated with a new carbon capture and storage
system aiming at the reduction of the power consumption in the post-combustion CO2 capture process. A technical and economic
evaluation were carried out based on a 300 MWe coal-fired power plant. Moreover, the integrated system was also compared with
a stand-alone geothermal power plant. To detect the consequence of changing geological properties and the heat features on the
system performance, the authors selected two choices as possible reservoirs, the enhanced geothermal system and the hot
sedimentary aquifer. The total geothermal efficiency in the enhanced geothermal system and the hot sedimentary aquifer are found
to be 21.34% and 20.35%, respectively. The economic assessment shows that for the geothermal-assisted post-combustion CO2
capture the marginal cost was calculated as 70.84 and 101.06 $/MWh for the enhanced geothermal system and the hot sedi-
mentary respectively.
Ezzat and Dincer [52] introduced multigeneration system integrating geothermal energy (single flash stage power plant) with
solar energy. The goal of the system was to obtain various useful outputs, electricity production, hot water for domestic use,
refrigeration for industry, space heating for residential application, and eventually drying food. The energetic and exergetic
efficiencies are calculated as 69.6% and 42.8%, respectively. Khalid et al. [53] performed a techno-economic evaluation of a
multigeneration system consisting of two renewable energy subsystems – geothermal (double flash stages) and solar system to
supply electricity, hot water cooling, hydrogen and hot water for buildings. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the system were
found to be 17% and 14.6%, respectively. A total of 2.7 kg/h of hydrogen were successfully produced. The economic evaluation
demonstrates that the total present cost of the optimized electrical power system is $476,000 and the levelized cost of electricity is
$0.089/kWh. Bicer and Dincer [54] introduced a unique multigeneration system, utilizing solar and geothermal resources (binary
geothermal system), for hydrogen generation, accompanied with power production, cooling and heating outputs. Utilizing
geothermal water at a temperature of 2101C resulted in increasing the overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the integrated
system to reach 10.8% and 46.3% respectively. Calise et al. [55] proposed a dynamic simulation of a new hybrid solar integrated
with a low enthalpy geothermal source (binary cycle-based). The system comprised of parabolic trough collectors, multi-effect
distillation, ORC turbo expander and absorption chiller to generate electric power, space heating and cooling for residential
application and freshwater from seawater. The electricity generation was recorded as 4600 MWh/year. However, the heat recovery
for seasonal heating and cooling were reported as 83,100 MWh/year with an estimated Payback period of about 4.5 years for the
integrated system.
3.6.14 Environmental Impact of Geothermal Power Production
Using and developing the utilization of the renewable energy resources are receiving growing attention accompanied with the
global shift in attitudes toward a clean, healthy environment and abandoning the use of the fossil fuels. Geothermal energy is one
of the promising renewable energy sources, and developing this technology particularly for power production purpose is affecting
the ecosystem, social system, and the landscape. Many countries nowadays enact legislations to protect the environment, which
promote the use of renewable resources such as geothermal energy. The features of the geothermal water have a significant
influence on the environment impact. An illustration of all the potential sources that could affect the environment using the
geothermal energy will be provided below. Fig. 28 shows the possible sources that have an impact on the environment as a result
of using geothermal power plants.
3.6.14.1 Gaseous Emissions

Non-condensable gases (NCG), such as sulfur oxide, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, are the
gaseous emissions that are found dissolved in the geothermal water. The existence of these gases could decrease the power output
from the turbine due to the gases accumulation in the condenser which causes an increase in the turbine back pressure.
Removing the NCG can be done by several techniques such as; turbo compressors or steam jet ejectors, and it might influence
the steam or the power obtained negatively. However, any power losses resulting from NCG removal is not comparable with the
power losses resulting from leaving the NCG to build up in the condenser.
Carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are the most harmful emissions and predominantly found in the geothermal water
stream as an NCG. Carbon dioxide which accounts for 95% of the NCG is the leading cause of the global warming, and hydrogen
sulfide which accounts for 1–2% of the NCG is very toxic at concentration levels above 30 ppm and possesses a strong odor at low
concentrations. Binary cycle plants do not emit any carbon dioxide gases. However, the steam or flash geothermal power stations
emit some carbon dioxide, but it is significantly low compared with other fossil fuel power plants based on the amount of carbon
dioxide produced per megawatt hour. Theoretically, the amount of the hydrogen sulfide that can be emitted is ranging from
0.5–1.8 kg/MWh [56], geothermal power plants usually do not emit NOx or emit very low levels as a result of hydrogen sulfide
combustion. Hydrogen sulfide also is the main reason of sulfur dioxide emission from geothermal plants as it changes to sulfur
dioxide and sulfuric acid when it is released to the surrounding air. Mercury has a significant harmful impact on health,
Environmental impact
sources
Gaseous Solid and Noise Water Land Induced Induced

liquid Subsidence seismicity
emissions pollution usage use land slide
wastes
Fig. 28 Environmental impact sources that are resulting from geothermal power plants operation.
Table 13 Carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide, NOx and particulates emissions from different power plants
Plant type Emissions
CO2 kg/MWh SO2 kg/MWh NOx kg/MWh Particulates kg/MWh
Natural gas fired plants 550 0.0998 1.343 0.0653

Oil-fired steam plants 758 5.44 1.814 NA
Coal-fired steam plants 994 4.71 1.955 1.012
Flash steam geothermal plants 27.2 0.1588 0 0
Dry-steam geothermal plants 40.3 0.000098 0.000458 Negligible
Binary cycle 0 0 0 Negligible
Source: Reproduced from Kagel A, Bates D, Gawell K. A Guide to geothermal energy and the environment. Washington, DC: Geothermal Energy
Association; 2007.
particularly if it is reacted chemically with water to form methyl mercury which is very toxic material and could build up in fish
bodies and cause harm to animal or humans feeding on them. However, Mercury usually does not exist in all geothermal plants.
Table 13 shows carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide, NOx and particulates emissions from different power plants.
3.6.14.2 Solid and Liquid Wastes

The solids that can be discharged into the environment from geothermal plants are limited to materials that are originally existing
in the geothermal water, such as arsenic, mercury, and silica. Arsenic, in its pure form, is a gray, crystalline solid, and generated in
the Earth’s crust and also it is emitted during volcanic eruptions. Geothermal plants emit low levels of arsenic. For example, the
arsenic emissions from the Geysers power plant showed arsenic emissions of 1.6 ng/m3 [56]. Silica, a plentiful element that is the
main constituent of sand, is considered a possible threat when found at elevated concentrations. Concentrations of silica are very
low in geothermal sites leaving the people interacting with the geothermal power plants without any risks. The main waste in
geothermal operations is drilling cuttings, which consists of bentonite and naturally occurring earthen. Wastes resulting from
drilling actions are stored in sumps, which provide safe storing for drilling mud and cuttings. Increasing the temperature of the
geothermal resource leads to a substantial rise in the dissolved solids percentage, and consequently, enlarge the risk of surface or
ground water poisoning.
3.6.14.3 Noise Pollution

Decibel (db) is the unit of measuring sound. However, dBA, a modified unit based on the human auditory system is used for
measuring sound. A significant portion of the geothermal power plants is in remote places where noise levels are insignificant,
which would cause the residents living close to geothermal power plants to feel uncomfortable and would even influence the
nearby animal's behavior. Noise occurs in the well-drilling and testing phase. Air drilling results in the highest noise (120 dBA)
compared to mud drilling at 80 dBA, The construction stage accompanied cause a noise ranging from 54 to 90 dBA. However, the
building stage noise is temporary and will vanish by finishing plant construction. The noise associated with steam moving through
pipelines and the vent release are acceptable. The sources of the noise in the geothermal power plants are the cooling tower fans,
transformers, steam ejectors and the turbine generator facility with noise ranging from 15 to 28 dBA. Numerous noise silencing
techniques and equipment are available to be used in the geothermal plants. For instance, a temporary noise shield can be utilized
while drilling and using impact tools, the turbine generator facility is basically designed to be well insulated to allow the
geothermal plant to work in cold weather properly.
3.6.14.4 Water Usage

Water is mandatory for drill process and soil compaction during the construction of the geothermal plant and it is just a temporary
stage. Furthermore, water is required for examining the reinjection wells, and for cooling water. The influence of using the water
from the local water sources will differ significantly depending on the location. In the geothermal plant system that is cooled down
by water, half or more of the water is evaporated to the surrounding air in the form of steam, and the remaining water is reinjected
into the system. However, the binary geothermal plants do not waste any water because the geothermal water is maintained in a
closed loop cooled by air. In a geothermal plant, the geothermal water is isolated during production, and separated from
groundwater by thickly covered pipes, making the plant almost without any water contaminants. Geothermal plant's development
does not contaminate groundwater. However, fossil fuel power plants is accompanied with water discharging resulting in a
significant thermal contamination during the lifetime of the plant. Waste heat from fossil fuel and nuclear power stations could
destroy the animals and plants that inhabit local water bodies [57]. In addition, the utilization of water based on the output power
of the coal and nuclear plants is very high compared to the water required for cooling down the geothermal plants. For instance,
natural gas-fired power plant could utilize 361 gal/MWh compared to a 5 gal/MWh for a geothermal power plant.
3.6.14.5 Land Use

The obvious influence in the countryside is relying on the nature of the landscape, the size, and the development phase. Regularly,
the space required for geothermal development is depending on the piping system required for gathering production water
from reservoirs and discharging the waste water to reinjection wells, plant designed power output, and the properties of the
geothermal water inside the reservoirs. Obviously, geothermal systems are often positioned in a volcanic environment where the
topography is sharp and entering the site is not easy. Moreover, critical erosion difficulties could occur, predominantly in high-
rainfall zones.
The net area required for the utilization of geothermal plants is limited to plant constructions along with the production and
the injection wells, while in coal power plants large area of the land is dedicated for coal mining purpose. Moreover, the damaging
land impact of the renewable energy development and utilization is insignificant compared to the harmful implications of the
fossil fuels development and utilization. For example, coal mining demands the conveyance of enormous amounts of dirt and
rock which sometimes cause disturbance of water systems by acid drainage, deforestation and causing harm to ecosystems.
Moreover, nuclear plants demand safety maintenance precautions for the enormous amounts of radioactive wastes. If the geo-
thermal plants compared to other plants based on the life cycle impact for 30 years, geothermal plants will possess the lowest
impact [57].
3.6.14.6 Subsidence
Subsidence is the ground deformation that can occur as a slow downward sinking of the land surface, upward inflation of the
land and it is extended to the horizontal movement. Subsidence may cause potential damage to roads and constructions or
even result in submerging the land by neighboring water sources. Subsidence might occur naturally or due to the removal
of the fluids from the land surface such as groundwater, hydrocarbons, and geothermal water or when the reservoir production
rate is significantly higher than the disposing rate. Thus, causing pressure reduction and consequently reducing the support
of the reservoir rocks itself and for the rocks superimposing the reservoir resulting in a sluggish deformation of the terrestrial
surface.
Subsidence regularly occurs in areas that are tectonically active such as volcanic areas and fault zones and take place in the
field at which the sedimentary sinks are occupied with unconsolidated sands, gravels, silts and clays. Furthermore, subsidence
occurs mostly in reservoirs where fluids are under lithostatic pressure and not under hydrostatic pressure such as the geo-
pressurized sources where the extraction of very high pressurized geothermal water would violate the support of the reservoir.
An exemplary successful method to overcome the pressure drop is to inject water into the geothermal reservoir to maintain
a stabilized pressure in the reservoir. This technique would significantly prevent or reduce the possibility of subsidence
occurrence at plants. Nevertheless, it is hard to identify general rules for all geothermal power plants regarding the subsidence
occurrence. For instance, the Larderello dry steam power plant is operating since 100 years ago, and it witnesses insignificant
subsidence.
However, the Wairakei and Ohaakil geothermal plants in New Zealand which are operating for more than 50 years have
experienced subsidence. The Wairakei reported a subsidence rate of 500 mm/year with maximum downward sinking above 15 m.
The rate of subsidence in Wairakei geothermal plant currently dropped to 70 mm/year with a prediction of an additional 20 m
subsidence by 2050 [58].
3.6.14.7 Induced Seismicity

Induced seismicity is a phenomenon at which slight and low magnitude earthquakes and tremors produced artificially due to
human activities that adjust the stress and strains on the Earth’s crust. For instance, altering in injected water pressure inside a
stressed rock formation will result in the movement of the cracked rocks. Rare sites frequently encounter great earthquakes such as
the geysers geothermal plant in California, United States. Scientific research connected the wastewater injection activity in deep
reinjection wells with the induced seismicity [59,60]. Precaution is taken in geothermal plants such as the Wairakei geothermal
field by stopping the reinjection of the water under elevated pressure if any earthquakes are felt in the surrounding zone. Induced
seismicity could be a potential concern in the enhanced geothermal systems since injecting the water into the artificially created
wells is an essential feature of this kind of systems.
3.6.14.8 Induced Landslides

Production and injection processes in geothermal plants might induce seismicity and landslides can occur due to earthquakes,
which increase the probability of landslides occurrence in the geothermal plant location. However, the landslides rarely
happened in the global existence geothermal fields. The degree to which geothermal development would trigger landslides
is uncertain. Particularly, the geothermal plant locations exist near volcanic zones which usually witness earthquake
activity. Geothermal plant construction process can cause landslides. Localized geological conditions are an important reason
for landslides to occur. A catastrophic accident took place at the Zunil field in Guatemala in 1991 and 23 people were
passed away.
3.6.15 Economic Assessment of Geothermal Energy Production
The construction and operation of the geothermal project should be executed in a possible economic manner so that it would be
suitable for the market conditions. The main parameters that influence the economic feasibility and would provide an
acceptable competitive electricity cost are listed below [61]:
• Capital expenses.
• Costs of operation and maintenance.
• Fuel expenses.
• The facility expected lifetime.
• Power generation average rate.
3.6.15.1 Capital Expense

The improvement of geothermal energy depends on examination and assessment of various parameters such as plant type (binary,
flash, dry steam, hybrid), the temperature of the geothermal water, expected rate of production, the geography of the designated
location and available infrastructure in the surrounding area. Moreover, the economic condition of the countries can affect the
expenses of the power plant as establishing the same plant in different locations can have different costs. The predicted devel-
opment expense for a 50 MW geothermal plant is distributed as shown in Table 14.
The majority of the overall cost is typically attributed to the construction stage of the power plant due to the high prices of the
raw material such as steel followed by the drilling stage.
3.6.15.2 Capacity Factor

The capacity factor characterizes the conversion technology, and its value relies on the utilized fuel, plant design, location and even
the maintenance calendar. The capacity factor of any conversion technology is the ratio between the actual generated power during
a period divided by the maximum potential power output that obtained when the plant is operating at full capacity during the
same period. The capacity factor for geothermal power generation possesses the uppermost capacity factor among all other energy
conversion technologies due to the following reasons; the nonexistence of fuel cycles which avoid the geothermal energy gen-
eration from relying on the obtainability of the fuel and the unstable prices of the fuel. Moreover, the availability of the heat in a
stable manner under the surface which provides constant power output, which guarantee a stable level of electricity generation to
the grid. In contrary with other renewable sources such as wind and solar which are affected by the weather condition and provide
unsteady power output during the day. This reason validates the fact that geothermal power is a base-load resource. Furthermore,
the geothermal plants are always operating at a relatively low pressure and temperature compared to the fossil fuel power plants
that operate at elevated temperatures above 20001C. The relatively low operating conditions of the geothermal plant lessen the
stresses applied to the material comprising the power plant, permitting longer lifetime and fewer maintenance costs and efforts.
The reason behind not achieving a capacity factor of one in the geothermal technology is the parasitic load, which occurs as a result
of using large pumps to circulate the geothermal fluid into the plant and disposing the outlet geothermal water from the turbine to
the reinjection wells.
3.6.15.3 Levelized Cost

The ability to compare the cost of generating power using different conversion technologies is crucial for developing investment
strategies, inducement policies, and budgets. One standard method for doing this is using levelized cost analysis. Levilzed cost is a
method to compare the several conversion technologies based upon the expenses of produced power to assist the decision maker
to improve investment plans, inducement policies and the finances required in the power production process. The levelized cost
Table 14 Expenses of the different stages in the geothermal power

plant development
Development stage Expenses ($ per kW installed)
Exploration 14
Permitting 50
Steam gathering 250
Exploration drilling 169
Production drilling 1367
Plant and construction 1700
Transmission 100
Total 3650
Source: Reproduced from Cross J, Freeman J. 2008 Geothermal technologies market

report, energy efficiency & renewable energy; 2008.
can be calculated properly by considering the following parameters; the expected operational lifetime, electricity generated, the
expenses of building the unit, fuel expenses, the expense for funding, operation, and maintenance expenses. The levelized cost can
be identified as follows:
P
½ðIn þ Mn þ Fn Þ=ð1 þ r Þn
LCOE ¼ P ð11Þ
ðEn =ð1 þ r Þn Þ
where In is the investment spending per year n, Mn is the operation and maintenance expenses per year n, Fn is the fuel spending
per year n, En is the amount of electricity produced per year n, r is the discount rate, n is the operational life of the power producing
system.
Table 15 shows the predicted levelized cost of energy (LCOE), capacity factor, fixed and variable operation and maintenance,
levelized capital cost and the transmission investments for new generation techniques in the United States for the plants that are
expecting to operate in 2022. From the table we can indicate that the geothermal plants have the highest capacity factor with 0.91,
the highest levelized capital cost with 30.9 USD/MWh and the lowest LCOE with 45 USD/MWh compared to all other power
generation resources including other renewable sources.
3.6.15.4 Energy Returned on Energy Invested

Energy must be invested to obtain energy whether this energy will be utilized for electricity production, space heating, or even
utilized in heating greenhouse. From here the term Energy retuned over energy invested (EROI) or (EROIE) arises. EROI is the ratio
between the energy obtained or paid back, and the energy invested energy used to develop the obtained energy such as extracting
resources. Table 16 shows a comparison between the EROI values for a variety of power generating technologies. However, the
values obtained from Table 16 cannot apply to all geothermal power plants as a result of alterations in the individual location
features as some sites are extremely favorable for specific technologies and need less energy to develop. The EROI of the geo-
thermal power plants lies between 4.5 for binary cycle land and even reached 31.9 for the flash steam plant. The results are
comparable with other power generating technologies.
3.6.15.5 Employment in Geothermal Energy Industry

The development in producing energy through geothermal technology has the potential to create and provide various green jobs
around the world. A typical 50 MW geothermal power plant may provide at least 697 job positions including jobs for individuals
with a different range of skills through the power station development cycle. Table 17 shows the stages of development in any
geothermal power plant and the number of jobs that can be created. The plant design and construction stages provide the highest
number of jobs among the other stages. The lowest stages are both the start-up and the operation and maintenance stages [62].
Table 18 shows some jobs created worldwide due to the developing of industries in 2016, employment in a geothermal industry
estimated to be around 160 thousand of jobs around the world [63].
Table 15 Predicted levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for new generation resources in the United States, for plants starting service in 2022 LCOE
unit is ($/MWh)
Plant type Capacity Levelized Fixed O and M Variable O and M Transmission Total
factor capital cost including fuel investment system
LCOE
Dispatchable technologies
Advanced coal with carbon capture 0.85 97.2 9.2 31.9 1.2 139.5
and storage (CCS)
Conventional combined cycle 0.87 13.9 1.4 41.5 1.2 58.1
Advanced combined cycle 0.87 15.8 1.3 38.9 1.2 57.2
Advanced CC with CCS 0.87 29.2 4.3 50.1 1.2 84.8
Conventional combustion turbine 0.3 40.9 6.5 59.9 3.4 110.8
Advanced combustion turbine 0.3 25.8 2.5 63.0 3.4 94.7
Advanced nuclear 0.9 78.0 12.4 11.3 1.1 102.8
Geothermal 0.91 30.9 12.6 0.0 1.4 45.0
Biomass 0.83 44.9 14.9 35.0 1.2 96.1
Non-dispatchable technologies
Wind 0.4 48.5 13.2 0.0 2.8 64.5
Wind offshore 0.45 134.0 19.3 0.0 4.8 158.1
Solar PV 0.25 70.7 9.9 0.0 4.1 84.7
Solar thermal 0.20 186.6 43.3 0.0 6.0 235.9
Hydroelectric 0.58 57.5 3.6 4.9 1.9 67.8
Source: Reproduced from U.S. Energy Information Administration. Levelized cost and levelized avoided cost of new generation resources. Annual energy outlook; 2016.
Table 16 Energy retuned over energy invested (EROI) values for geothermal power plants and other technologies
Technology Size (MW) Capacity factor (%) Lifetime (Years) EROI
Hybrid gas/binary 3.44 95 20–25 12.40

Geopressure flash steam plant 25 87 25 17.6
Geopressure binary turbine plant 33 92 25 14.0
Liquid dominated steam 100 70 25 7.0
Vapor dominated steam 100 77.5 25 22.6
Flash steam plant 420–120 99.9 20 31.9
Enhanced binary 1.75 80 30 4.5
Coal 719 85.6 50 30
Gas plant 820 85.6 35 28
Hydro 90 34.2 100 50
Nuclear 1340 91.3 60 75
Oil plant Numerous N/A N/A 7
Solar PV Numerous N/A N/A 6.8
Wind 0.5–2.5 22–50 20–30 19.8
Source: Reproduced from Kampa KB. An energy return on investment for a geothermal power plant on the texas gulf coast [Master's thesis]. Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin;
1 May 2013.
Table 17 Stages of development and number of employment

that could be afforded in a 50 MW geothermal power plant
Stage of development No. of jobs
Start-up 10–13
Exploration 11–22
Drilling 91–116
Plant design and construction 383–489
Operation and maintenance 10–25
Power plant system manufacturing 192–197
Total 697–862
Source: Reproduced from Dan Jennejohn B, Pritchett J, Capuano L, et al. Green

jobs through geothermal energy green jobs through geothermal energy of
GEA for their valuable input and support; 2010.
Table 18 Jobs created worldwide due to the developing of various

industries in 2016
Industry Jobs worldwide (thousands)
Liquid biofuels 1678

Solar heating/cooling 939
Biogas 382
Solar photovoltaic (PV) 2772
Geothermal energy 160
Concentrated solar power 14
Wind power 507
Solid biomass 822
Total 8079
Source: Reproduced from IRENA. Renewable energy and jobs – annual review; 2016.
3.6.15.6 Economics of Direct Use of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal direct use projects might be more complicated to discuss compared to power production because of the numerous
application that could be applied. Discussion in this section includes the direct use projects, such as industrial facility, greenhouse
heating, district energy systems for heating and cooling. However, the discussion is not considering heating and cooling for single
residence application or swimming and bathing projects. Economics of the project greatly relies on geothermal source features
such as temperature, chemistry, and mass flow rate of the geothermal water in the reservoir. These features can identify the
suitable project, its size and the components needed for developing the geothermal unit. One of those features is the distance
between the geothermal resource and the geothermal power plant, which can significantly influence the economics of the
transport. For instance, the huge district energy projects can extend the distance between the wells and the project by several
kilometers. Another feature is the heat peak demand of the project and whether the proposed geothermal project will satisfy all the
heat demand, or the demand will be shared with another energy source, such as coal or propane burner for peak demands. Sharing
the heat demand with another source might be more economical in some situations. This can be interpreted by the fact that the
peak load is a temporary load probably will last for few hours per year and using a backup system in these circumstances would
save costs of increasing the number of the production wells and the size of the distribution pipes. Selection of the project
equipment is a very crucial stage that would influence the project economics. For example, HEs, a necessary equipment in the
majority of the geothermal direct use application should be anticorrosive to resist the corrosive action of the geothermal water.
Piping material selection is also important, particularly in the large district energy projects. In some direct use geothermal
application, constructing the geothermal part of the project is insignificant compared to the whole project, and the geothermal unit
usually comprises of tubes, pumps, and HEs. Nevertheless, the geothermal water delivery piping system which transfers the
thermal energy to the project could share up to 60% of the total cost of the project. The piping system fitting can range from 300
USD per meter up to 9000 USD per meter in extremely developed city areas [9].
3.6.16 Case Study
This case study deals with a novel integrated system which is mainly powered by renewable energy represented in the geothermal
energy. This multigeneration system consists of a single flash geothermal cycle, single-effect absorption cooling system, drying
system, hot water system and heat pump system. The goal of this integrated system is to generate five output commodities;
refrigeration for industry, space heating for residential application, hot water for domestic use, drying food, and finally producing
electric power. The system is evaluated using first and second laws of thermodynamics. The influence of varying geothermal water
mass flow rate, geothermal vapor quality of the geothermal water entering the integrated system and the ambient temperature on
energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the integrated system and its subsystems are examined. Moreover, the exergy destruction rate
of each component of the system is calculated and rearranged from the highest to lowest.
3.6.16.1 System Description

The schematic diagram shown in Fig. 29 is depicting an integrated energy system that is utilizing geothermal energy for the
multigeneration purpose, all the informations utilized were adapted from a geothermal power plant that is currently operating
(the Cerro Prieto geothermal field) [64]. The goal of the proposed system is to afford refrigeration by the absorption chiller, space
heating using a heat pump system, hot water, dried product, and electricity production. The comprehensive description of each
cycle is specified below.
A steam turbine 1 is linked to the geothermal production well. The water-steam mixture enters the system at state point 1, after
that it enters a flashing chamber to upsurge the proportion of the steam that could reach the first steam turbine. The mixture
transfers from the flashing chambers to reach the separator at state 2 to discrete the steam from the mixture and supply it to turbine
1 at a temperature of 506K and 3000 kPa. The expanded steam will leave steam turbine 1 at 403K and 300 kPa. The separated
brine will be supplied to HE1 to increase the temperature of the air entering the dryer and to exchange heat with hot water in the
water heating process. The steam leaving steam turbine 1 is separated into two streams. The first stream will feed a low-pressure
turbine with steam at 403 K and 300 kPa after that it will pass through condenser 4 and will be sent directly to a reinjection
geothermal well. The second stream will supply the required heat to the absorption chiller generator at state 5 to separate the
ammonia from the rich mixture. The concentrated ammonia vapor (usually 99.9% pure) abandons the generator at state 25 and
enters condenser 2 so that the heat could be removed to the environment. The expansion valve 2 will be used to reduce the
pressure and the temperature of the concentrated ammonia vapor before it goes through the evaporator 2 where the heat will be
captured from the space that needed to be cooled to afford the essential cooling effect. The weak solution will leave from state 32
at elevated temperature and will enter HE 2 so that it can exchange heat with the strong solution leaving from the absorber
resulting in an increase in the temperature of strong solution before it arrives the absorption generator.
The heat pump system is utilizing isobutane as a working fluid. The ambient air will pass through evaporator 1 which will rise
the temperature of the heat pump working fluid and will cause a decrease in the temperature of the ambient air. The compressor in
the heat pump cycle will increase the temperature and pressure of the isobutane until it becomes superheated. The superheated
refrigerant will enter condenser 1 at state 22 and leaves condenser 1 at state 23 supplying the hot air accommodations needed for
space heating. The refrigerant will go through the expansion valve 1 for temperature and pressure reduction. After the ambient air
being cooled by the heat pump refrigerant, it will be subjected to a simple heating process by exchanging heat with the geothermal
brine leaving from the separator at state 9. The heating process aims at lessening the relative humidity of the air, which will enable
it to be provided to the dryer as a hot and dried air. The relatively high temperature and low relative humidity air will enter the
dryer after leaving HE 1 at state 17 and leaving the dryer at state 19 with less temperature and higher relative humidity after gaining
moisture and losing heat to the product that required drying. The geothermal brine will be used in the hot water generation
process by entering the water heater at state 10 and leaving at state 11 while the water that required heating will enter the water
heater at state 12 and leaves at state 13.
Steam 5
Steam
turbine turbine
11
Generator
Space heating 12
Hot
Heater
water 4 37
13
23 22
Condenser 4
Compressor
Condenser 1 5
EV 1
Generator
Evaporator 1 10 38
24
21 Condenser 2
16 25
product
Dry
14 15 20 31
HE 1
32
Fan 17 HE 2
19
30
Dryer
33
18 3
Product 9 EV 3 26
Pump
EV 2
34
27
29
10
Absorber
Cooling
28
effect
Separator
6
EV 4
2 35
Evaporator 2
Flashing Condenser 3
chamber
1
From Production
To reinjection well 36 To reinjection
well well
To reinjection
well
Fig. 29 Multigeneration integrated system based on geothermal energy for producing cooling, space heating, hot water, drying, and electricity
production.
3.6.16.2 Energy and Exergy Analyses

Thermodynamics first law is utilized to accomplish an energy evaluation for the geothermal integrated system constituents. The
general energy balance equation utilized for all constituents can be determined by the following equation:
X X
_ W
Q _ þ _ in hin
m _ out hout ¼ 0
m ð12Þ
Thermodynamics second law is implemented to perform an exergy analysis so that the exergy rate, exergy destruction, and
exergy efficiency for each component in the integrated system can be determined. The physical exergy at each state can be
determined as below:
exi ¼ hi h0 T0 ðsi s0 Þ
The general exergy balance equation utilized for each part of the system can be identified as follows:
X X
m_ in ex in _ Qi Ex
_ out ex out þ Ex
m _ Wi Ex
_ di ¼ 0 ð13Þ
The exergy rate generated from the heat can be determined as follows:

Ex _ i 1 T0
_ Qi ¼ Q ð14Þ
Tsi
Exergy destruction assists in providing a comprehensive investigation for the different system parts by recognizing the irre-
versibilities inside the system. Moreover, a substantial reduction in those values will significantly enhance the system performance.
Exergy destruction rate could be calculated by Eq. (13) or by identifying the entropy generation of the different constituents of the
system and multiply it by the ambient temperature as shown in the following equation:
_ di ¼ T0 s_gen
Ex ð15Þ
i
3.6.16.3 Geothermal Integrated System Balance Equations

The power generated by steam turbine 1 and steam turbine 2 is determined in the equations below:
_ st;1 ¼ m
W _ 3 ðh3 h4 Þ ð16Þ
_ st;2 ¼ m
W _ 5 ðh5 h37 Þ ð17Þ
The exergy destruction rate of steam turbine 1 and 2 can be calculated utilizing the following balance equations:
_ 3 ex3 ¼ m
m _ st;1 þEx_ dst
_ 4 ex4 þ W ð18Þ
1
_ 5 ex5 ¼ m
m _ st;2 þEx_ dst
_ 37 ex37 þ W ð19Þ
2
The amount of the heat supplied for the domestic water heating processes can be identified as
_ hw ¼ m
Q _ 13 ðh13 h12 Þ ð20Þ
3.6.16.3.1 Absorption cooling system balance equations

The heat provided the absorption chiller generator can be determined as
_ Gen ¼ m
Q _ 5 ðh5 h6 Þ ð21Þ
The outlet state of the generator could be found by using energy and exergy balances below:
_ Gen þ m
Q _ 31 h31 ¼ m
_ 25 h25 þ m
_ 32 h32 ð22Þ

_ Gen 1 T0 þ m
Q _ 25 ex 25 þ m
_ 31 ex31 ¼ m _ 32 ex 32 þEx_ dGen ð23Þ
TsGen
The evaporator cooling effect may be achieved from the energy and exergy equations as described below:
_ eva2 ¼ m
Q _ 28 ðh28 h27 Þ ð24Þ

_ eva2 1 T0 þ m
Q _ 28 ex28 þEx_ deva2
_ 27 ex 27 ¼ m ð25Þ
Tseva2
3.6.16.3.2 Heat pump system

The compressor inlet work can be calculated by the energy balance equation as follows:
_ comp ¼ m
W _ 22 ðh22 h21 Þ ð26Þ
The compressor exergy destruction rate could be obtained using the following equation:
_ comp þ m
W _ 21 ex21 ¼ m
_ 22 ex22 þEx_ dcomp ð27Þ
The output heat rate required for the space heating can be achieved from condenser 2 and is determined as follows:
_ cond ¼ m
Q _ 22 ðh22 h23 Þ ð28Þ
1
The exergy destruction rate in condenser 2 can be calculated by the equation below:

m_ 22 ex 22 ¼ m _ cond1 1 T0 þEx_ d
_ 23 ex 23 þ Q ð29Þ
cond1
Tscond1
3.6.16.3.3 Drying process

The enthalpies, exergies of the flows and the exergy destruction rate are identified by the energy and exergy balances equations as
follows:
m _ wa18 hwa18 þ m
_ 17 h17 þ m _ pr 18 hpr 18 ¼ m
_ wa20 hwa20 þ m
_ pr 20 hpr 20 þ m _ L;dry
_ 19 h19 þ Q ð30Þ
_ d;drying ¼ m
Ex _ 17 ex17 þ m
_ wa18 ex wa18 þ m
_ pr 18 expr 18 m
_ wa20 exwa20 m
_ pr 20 expr 20
!
m _ L;dry 1 T0
_ 19 ex19 Q ð31Þ
Tsdry
3.6.16.3.4 Energy efficiencies

Energy efficiency can be defined as the beneficial energy output divided by the total energy input. The energy efficiencies of the
steam turbine 1, water heater, steam turbine 2, and dryer may be identified as follows:
W_ st;1
Zst1 ¼ ð32Þ
_ 3 h3 m
m _ 4 h4
W_ st;2
Zst2 ¼ ð33Þ
_ 5 h5 m
m _ 37 h37
_ 20 h20
m
Zdry ¼ ð34Þ
_ 17 h17 m
m _ 19 h19
_ 13 h13 m
m _ 12 h12
Zhw ¼ ð35Þ
_ 10 h10 m
m _ 11 h11
For the absorption cooling system, the coefficient of performance can be determined as below:
_ 28 h28 m
m _ 27 h27
COPen;AbC ¼ ð36Þ
m_ 5 h5 m
_ 6 h6
for the heat pump system, the coefficient of performance can be obtained as follows:
_ cond1
Q
COPen; Hp ¼ ð37Þ
_ comp
W
The integrated system energy efficiency can be calculated as follows:
W _ st; 1 þ W
_ net ¼ W _ st; 2 W
_ comp W
_ p; 1 W
_F
W _ eva; 2 þ Q
_ net þ Q _ cond1 þ ðm_ 13 h13 m_ 12 h12 Þ þ m_ 20 h20
Zsys ¼ ð38Þ
ðm_ 1 h1 ðm _ 38 h38 þ m_ 36 h36 þ m_ 11 h11 Þ
3.6.16.3.5 Exergy efficiencies

Exergy efficiency is the beneficial exergy output divided by the total exergy input. The exergy efficiencies of the steam turbine 1,
water heater, steam turbine 2, and dryer can be identified as follows:
W _ st;1
cst;1 ¼ ð39Þ
_ 3 ex 3 m
m _ 4 ex4
W_ st;2
cst;2 ¼ ð40Þ
_ 5 ex 5 m
m _ 37 ex37
m_ 20 ex 20
cdryer ¼ ð41Þ
_ 17 ex 17 m
m _ 17 ex 19
_ 13 ex13 m
m _ 12 ex12
chw ¼ ð42Þ
_ 10 ex10 m
m _ 11 ex11
The exergetic coefficient of performance of the absorption cooling system can be identified from the following equation:

_ 28 h28 m
ðm _ 27 h27 Þ 1 Ts T0
COPex; AbC ¼ eva; 2
ð43Þ
_ 5 ex5 m
m _ 6 ex6
The exergetic coefficient of performance of the heat pump system can be obtained from the following equation:

_ cond 1 T0
Q 1 Tscond
COPex;Hp ¼ ð44Þ
1
_
W comp
The overall exergy efficiency of the integrated system can be determined using the following equation:
W _ Qeva; 2 þ Ex
_ net þ Ex _ Qcond1 þ ðm_ 13 ex13 m_ 12 ex12 Þþm _ 20 ex 20
csys ¼ ð45Þ
ðm _ 38 ex38 þ m
_ 1 ex 1 ðm _ 36 ex 36 þ m_ 11 ex 11 Þ
3.6.16.4 Results and Discussion

The influence of varying vapor quality of the geothermal production well, mass flow rate of the geothermal water on the
performance of the integrated system is studied. Moreover, the effects of changing the ambient temperature on the overall system
and sub-systems performance and exergy destruction rates of main constituents are investigated. Eventually, exergy destruction
rates of each constituent in the integrated system are investigated. Table 19 shows the most significant findings from the system.
Table 20 shows the thermodynamic properties for each state in the integrated geothermal system.
Fig. 30 demonstrates the effect of varying the vapor quality of the production well on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the
integrated system. Principally, when the amount of the vapor inside the inlet geothermal water increases it will consequently
augment the mass flow rate of the steam arriving at steam turbine 1 and steam turbine 2 as shown in Fig. 31, where the steam
turbine 1 output power increased from 9.4 to 14.43 MW when the geothermal water vapor quality increased from 0.45 to 0.8.
Moreover, steam turbine 2 output power rises from 2.6 to 4 MW at the same range of variation of the geothermal water vapor
quality. Furthermore, the growth in the mass flow rate of the steam will accordingly increase the amount of heat that could be
supplied to the absorption chiller. As a result, the cooling capacity of the absorption cooling system will increase from 1.6 to 2.6
MW when the geothermal vapor quality increased from 0.45 to 0.8 as shown in Fig. 32. However, increasing the vapor quality of
the production well will reduce the amount of the brine that could be separated from the separator and will affect negatively the
performance of the essential components of the integrated system that are using the brine to operate. For instance, increasing the
vapor quality from 0.45 to 0.8 will result in a reduction of heat that could be utilized for heating water process significantly from
14.2 MW to 234 kW as represented in Fig. 32. The previous illustrations on the trend of performance of the most important and
beneficial components in the system can interpret the reason behind the deterioration of the energy efficiency of the integrated
system from 28.2 to 16.27% and the decline of the exergetic efficiency from 41.8 to 15% when varying the vapor quality from 0.45
to 0.8 as shown in Fig. 29.
Fig. 33 demonstrate the effect of changing geothermal inlet mass flow rate on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated
geothermal system and the inlet energy and exergy to the integrated system. Typically, increasing the mass flow rate of the geothermal
water entering the integrated system will lead to an increase in the inlet energy and exergy that could be utilized for producing the
useful outputs from the integrated system as shown in Fig. 33. The inlet energy rate entering the integrated system increased from
61.23 to 571.5 MW, and the inlet exergy rate to the system increased from 22 to 206 MW when increasing the inlet geothermal water
mass flow rate from 30 to 280 kg/s. The overall integrated system energy efficiency rose from 25.8 to 26.8%, while the exergy
efficiency increased from 15.5 to 64% when increasing the inlet geothermal water mass flow rate from 30 to 28 kg/s. Moreover,
increasing the inlet geothermal water mass flow rate from 30 to 280 kg/s resulted in increasing the output power of the first steam
turbine from 5 to 65.3 MW and the output power of the second steam turbine from 1.4 to 15.6 MW as shown in Fig. 34. Furthermore,
increasing the inlet geothermal water mass flow rate from 30 to 280 kg/s will consequently cause an increment in the cooling capacity
of the absorption chiller from 890 kW to 9.99 MW. In addition, rising the inlet geothermal water mass flow rate from 30 to 280 kg/s
Table 19 Results of work output and efficiencies of some critical

component in the integrated geothermal system
Part Value
W_ st; 1 10.04 (MW)

W_ st; 2 2.8 (MW)
Coefficient of performance (COP)en,Abc 0.6773
COPex,Abc 0.2529
Q_ Gen 2.6 (MW)
Q_ evap2
1.8 (MW)
COPen,Hp 2.029
COPex,Hp 0.1826
Zdryer 59.2%
Cdryer 42%
System energy efficiency 26.32%
System exergy efficiency 37.46%
Table 20 Thermodynamic properties at each state for the integrated geothermal system
State no. Fluid/phase _ (kg/s)

m T (K) P (kPa) h (kJ/kg) s (kJ/kg K) Quality X [ ] ex (kJ/kg)
1 Water/mixture 50 573.2 6000 2232 5.024 0.5 738.7

2 Water/mixture 50 507 3000 2232 5.059 0.6818 728.4
3 Water/steam 34.09 507 3000 2803 6.186 1 963.5
4 Water/steam 34.09 403.2 300 2509 6.487 0.9 578.9
5 Water/steam 17.05 403.2 300 2509 6.487 0.9 578.9
6 Water/steam 17.05 323.6 300 2354 7.331 0.9 172.7
7 – – – – – – – –
8 – – – – – – – –
9 Water/liquid 15.91 507 3000 1008 2.645 0 223.8
10 Water/liquid 15.91 507 3000 934.6 2.645 0 150.4
11 Water/liquid 15.91 318.2 3000 188.4 0.6385 0 2.596
12 Water/liquid 30 278 101.3 20.49 0.07399 – 2.987
13 Water/liquid 30 372.5 101.3 416.1 1.303 32.29
14 Air 3 298.2 101.3 63.68 5.838 0.3528
15 Air 3 298.7 101.3 65.39 5.844 0.3715
16 Air 3 290.2 101.3 45.8 5.777 0.006366
17 Air 3 368.2 101.3 434.9 7.001 66.33
18 – 2.77 303.2 101.3 233 0.49592 6.943
19 Air 3 323.2 101.3 202.9 6.292 26.22
20 – 2.6 333.2 101.3 371.2 1.901 18.403
21 Isobutane 0.3 290.6 255 443.5 1.841 0.6 45.42
22 Isobutane 0.3 333.2 855 634.2 2.344 1 86.39
23 Isobutane 0.3 293.2 855 247.6 1.164 51.6
24 Isobutane 0.3 275.4 2.5 247.6 1.173 0.12 48.91
25 Ammonia/water vapor 1.665 388.2 1555 1510 4.778 1 279.1
26 Ammonia/water vapor 1.665 313.2 1555 190.3 0.6588 0.9999 187.2
27 Ammonia/water vapor 1.665 261.2 250 190.3 0.7519 0.999 159.5
28 Ammonia/water 1.665 269.2 250 1262 4.7 0.9999 54.03
29 Ammonia/water 1.999 308.2 250 72.67 0.3897 0.4 4.479
30 Ammonia/water 1 313.2 1550 49.57 0.4591 0.4 6.888
31 Ammonia/water 2.5 339.7 1550 70 0.8195 0.4 19
32 Ammonia/water 0.8348 393.2 1550 353.2 1.552 0.3 83.81
33 Ammonia/water 0.8348 320.5 1550 17.34 0.5039 0.3 25.76
34 Ammonia/water 0.3333 313.2 250 17.34 0.5086 0.3 24.36
35 Water/mixture 17.05 319 10 2354 7.428 0.9039 143.9
36 Water/liquid 17.05 319 10 191.8 0.6493 0 2.815
37 Water/mixture 17.05 319 10 2345 7.399 0.9 143.2
38 Water/liquid 17.05 319 10 191.8 0.6493 0 2.815
will accordingly cause a significant growth of heat that could be provided for heating water process from 5.96 to 72.45 MW as shown
in Fig. 35.
Fig. 36 shows the effect of varying the ambient temperature on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system and
the exergy efficiencies of subsystems. Energy efficiency does not affect by varying the ambient temperature as the ambient
temperature is not inherent in any of the energy performance calculations. Varying the ambient temperature can lead to an increase
or a decrease in the performance of any thermodynamic system. In the introduced system increasing the ambient temperature
cause growth in the system exergetic efficiency from 35.4 to 40.19% by increasing the ambient temperature from 278 to 318K
respectively. The increase in the exergy efficiency of the integrated system can be interpreted by the decline in the inlet exergy
supplied to the system since it is mainly depending on the ambient temperature in its calculation, with almost the same values of
the beneficial outputs obtained from the integrated geothermal system. Furthermore all the exergy efficiencies of the subsystems
witness deterioration. For example, the exergetic efficiency of steam turbine 1 reduced from 77.8 to 75.4%, the exergetic efficiency
of the steam turbine 2 decreased very slightly from 39.3 to 36.12%. Furthermore, the exergetic efficiency of the dryer increased
from 44 to 78%. However, the exergetic efficiency of water heater system declined from 54 to 8.5%.
Fig. 37 depicts the influence of rising the ambient temperature on the exergy destruction rate of some vital constituents in the
integrated system. For instance, the exergy destruction rate of the steam turbine 1 and steam turbine 2 are increased from 2.8 to 3.2
MW and from 4.32 to 4.941 MW, respectively when the ambient temperature increased from 278 to 318 K. The absorption chiller
generator, and dryer exergy destruction rate rose from 0.18 to 0.212 MW and from 0.009 to 0.098 MW, respectively, for the same
variation range mentioned above. Finally, water heater system destruction rate grew from 1.37 to 1.57 MW. The obtained results of
the different exergy destruction rates of the main components of the integrated system disclose the significant effect of varying the
0.5
sys sys
0.4
0.3

0.2
0.1
0
0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75
Vapor quality of the geothermal well
Fig. 30 Influence of varying inlet geothermal water vapor quality (X1) on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system.
16
wst,1 wst,2
14
12
10
W (MW)
2
0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75
Fig. 31 Effect of changing inlet geothermal water vapor quality (X1) on the output power of steam turbine 1 and steam turbine 2.
ambient temperature on the integrated system performance, and the fact that the exergetic analysis provides a better assessment of
the system performance compared to energy analysis which fully neglects the effect of ambient temperature on the system
performance. Identifying the cause of the exergy destruction in each part and trying to diminish it can enhance the system
performance. Fig. 38 displays multiple exergy destruction rates for some main elements in the integrated geothermal system. Steam
turbine 2 recorded the highest exergy destruction rate followed by steam turbine 1. The exergy destruction rate of the water heater
possessed the third rank followed by the HE 2 and flashing chamber. However, the absorption chiller generator recorded the
lowest exergy destruction rate. Thus, the efforts required to be made to mitigate these exergy destruction rates in an environmental
and cost effective way.
3.6.16.5 Final Remarks

An integrated geothermal system is evaluated thermodynamically utilizing energetic and exergetic methods. The integrated system
energetic and exergetic efficiencies, heat losses and exergy destruction rate for each system component are studied and identified.
15
Qhw Qabc
12
Q (MW)
0
0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8

Fig. 32 Influence of varying inlet geothermal water vapor quality (X1) on the cooling capacity of the absorption chiller and the amount of heat
that could be utilized in water heating process.
0.7 600
Inlet exergy rate sys Ψsys
0.6 Inlet energy rate

500
0.5
400
Power (MW)
0.4
Ψ
300
0.3
200
0.2
100
0.1
0 0
40 80 120 160 200 240 280
Geothermal mass flowrate (kg/s)
_ 1 ) on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system and the
Fig. 33 Effect of changing inlet geothermal water mass flow rate (m
inlet energy and exergy to the integrated system.
Moreover, a full parametric study is conducted on the integrated system to detect the influence of varying the operating and
ambient conditions on energetic and exergetic efficiencies of system components and the overall integrated system. In this regard,
the following principal results are achieved:
• The integrated system energetic and exergetic efficiencies are calculated to be 26.23 and 37.46% respectively.
• The energetic and exergetic coefficients of performance of the absorption chiller system are found to be 0.678 and 0.2532
respectively.
• The energetic and exergetic coefficients of performance of the heat pump system are found to be 2.029 and 0.18
correspondingly.
• The maximum exergy destruction rate occurs in the steam turbine 2 with 4.63 MW.
• The overall energetic efficiency of the integrated system is found to be around two and half times more compared to the
geothermal cycle energy efficiency that is dedicated to produce only electricity.
60
wst,1 wst,2
50
40
W (MW)
30
20
10
0
40 80 120 160 200 240 280
_ 1 ) on the output power of steam turbine 1 and steam turbine 2.
Fig. 34 Influence of varying inlet geothermal water mass flow rate (m
80
QAbc Qhw
70
60
50
Q (MW)
40
30
20
10
0
40 80 120 160 200 240 280
_ 1 ) on the cooling capacity of the absorption chiller and the amount of heat
Fig. 35 Influence of varying inlet geothermal water mass flow rate (m
that could be utilized in water heating process.
3.6.17 Future Directions
The development of the geothermal technology can be achieved through adopting the innovations of the technology usage which
include the following:
• Adding bottoming binary cycles to the flash power plants.

• Extensive utilization of the low temperature geothermal resources in binary cycles.
• Innovative techniques to improve the geothermal reservoirs.
• Integrating geothermal energy systems with other energy resources for multigeneration purposes.
Designing all of the future geothermal projects based on combined geothermal power plants (flash-binary) and combining the
existing geothermal flash plants whether, it was single, double or triple flash stages with binary cycles will increase the thermal energy
0.8 42
40
System inlet exergy rate (MW)

0.6
38
Ψ 0.4
36
0.2
ηsys
s Ψsys
Ψ s Ψdryer
dr e 34
Ψ hwt
hwt Ψgen Ψst,1
st,1 Inlet exergy
0 32
278 288 298 308 318
Ambient temperature To (K)
Fig. 36 Effect of altering the ambient temperature on the energy and exergy efficiencies of some components in the system and for the overall
integrated system.
Exdst,1 Exdgen Exdhwt

4
Exdst,2 Exddryer Exdeva,2
Exergy destruction rate (MW)
0
278 288 298 308 318
Ambient temperature To (K)
Fig. 37 Effect of varying the ambient temperature on the exergy destruction rate of some components in the integrated geothermal system.
recovery leading to a better utilization of the geothermal water obtained from the geothermal reservoirs. The most significant privilege
of the low temperature resources is the wide availability, if these resources are extensively used in the binary cycles power plants, it will
lead to the establishment of vast binary cycle plants and a promising future for the geothermal power production development. For
instance, the 250 kW ORC plant in Chena hot springs, Alaska, which generates electricity utilizing low temperature geothermal resource
at 751C [16]. EGS is considered by many researchers as one of the crucial techniques to expand the geothermal development by
creating feasible geothermal reservoirs that can be used in power production, this ambitious technique suggests that the subsequent
requirements be fulfilled:
• Recognize and utilize the natural fracture networks hosted inside the basement rocks.
• Improve the reservoir conductivity/connectivity through substantial stimulation techniques to promote the formation of large
fractured rock volumes and associated heat exchange areas.
• Establish an adequate heat remove system by founding multiproduction/injection wells to secure system sustainability.
• Increase the mass flow rate of the geothermal water pumped into the reservoirs to increase the produced power.
5 4.63
4.5
4
Exergy destruction rate (MW)
3.5
3.06
3
2.5
2
1.47
1.5
0.97
1
0.35 0.51
0.5 0.1994
0
Water heater Evaporator 2 Flash chamber Heat exchanger Steam turbine Steam turbine Absorption
2 1 2 chiller
generator
Fig. 38 Exergy destruction rate of selected components in the integrated geothermal system.
To mitigate the failure risk in any future EGS project the following points should be considered, geo-mechanical evaluation of
the site stress field and fracture trend, adequate expertise and knowledge regarding well drilling and designing the project and
estimation/reduction of any induced seismic.
Using the geothermal heat for multigeneration purposes can cause a significant development in the geothermal energy utili-
zation. The multigeneration geothermal projects can secure various jobs in different industrial applications powered by geo-
thermal energy. Geothermal heat can provide all the necessary commodities for any community to survive, such as generating
electricity, heating/cooling space, providing hot water, and can be utilized in numerous industrial applications, which likely will
motivate the decision makers to direct more funds toward establishing new cities, near geothermal sites, and accelerate the
community growth in the these rural areas, creating self-sufficient geothermal cities. Moreover, generating multiple useful outputs
from the same geothermal energy system will substantially increase system efficiency by recovering any waste thermal energy.
3.6.18 Concluding Remarks
Geothermal energy is showing great potentials as one of the promising renewable energy sources since it can be utilized as a base-
load energy system that provides the electricity grid with a constant supply of electricity regardless the weather condition. The
current chapter discusses the multiple usages of the geothermal energy, whether they are direct or indirect usages. The possibility of
producing heating, cooling, electricity and generating fuels such as hydrogen in a clean way is presented. Besides, the effect of
integrating different energy systems with geothermal energy system and utilizing geothermal energy for multigeneration purposes
is highlighted. This chapter also demonstrates sources and resources of the geothermal heat and the chemical composition of the
geothermal water. Moreover, the environmental impacts resulting from the utilization of the geothermal energy are illustrated.
Additionally, some economic considerations regarding the use of the geothermal energy are emphasized. A case study is provided
with comprehensive energy and exergy analysis accompanied with a parametric study to investigate the effect of integrating the
geothermal system with other systems to provide multiple useful outputs. Future directions for developing geothermal industry are
also discussed.
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3.

6 Geothermal Energy Production

3.6.1 Introduction 254

252 Comprehensive Energy Systems, Volume 3 doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-809597-3.00313-8

3.6.14.6 Subsidence 287

Nomenclature h Speciﬁc enthalpy (kJ/kg)

Subscripts hp Heat pump

Abbreviations GWHP Ground water heat pump

Fossil fuels, 78%

3.6.2 Importance of Geothermal Energy

3.6.3 History of Geothermal Energy

Table 1 Life cycle analysis showing carbon dioxide

Comparison of life cycle emissions, tons of carbon dioxide

Source: Reproduced from Meier PJ. Life-cycle assessment of electricity gen-

3.6.4 Geothermal Sources

Planned capacity additions (MW)

Crustal stretching can Mountain building can

3.6.4.1 Classiﬁcation of Geothermal Resources

1. Hot water produced from oil and gas ﬁelds.

3.6.4.1.1 Hot water produced from oil and gas ﬁelds

Mean heat flow (mW m−2)

3.6.4.1.2 Magma bodies

3.6.4.1.3 Conductive sedimentary systems

3.6.4.1.4 Hydrothermal convective systems

3.6.4.1.5 Geo-pressured systems

3.6.4.1.6 Radiogenic resources

3.6.4.1.7 Enhanced geothermal systems

• Class 1 (less than 1001C).

• Class 4 (1901C to less than 2301C).

3.6.4.2 Chemistry of Geothermal Fluids

Table 2 Classiﬁcation of geothermal resources based on enthalpy and temperature levels

[21] [22] [23] [24] [25]

Low enthalpy/temperature o90 o125 o100 r150 r190

Hþ 1.008 0.25 H2S 34.082 –

Table 4 Analyzed geothermal water samples from different geothermal systems

Location pHa B HCO3 Ca K Na Mg Cl SO4 SiO2

3.6.5 Utilization of Geothermal Energy

3.6.5.1 Geothermal Heat Pumps and Space Conditioning

3.6.5.2 Greenhouse and Soil Warming

Space Green Others

204°C Flash and

Binary Onion and

geothermal Lumber garlic

The heating process of the greenhouses may be accomplished in multiple ways:

Thermal geothermal water tank

Geothermal production well Installed heating arrangement

• Heating greenhouse surfaces by utilizing hot water.

3.6.5.3 Aquaculture Heating

High or moderate temperature

3.6.5.4 Agriculture Drying

3.6.5.5 Industrial Uses

Hot air out for drying

Fig. 13 Geothermal heat exchanger utilized in the drying process.

3.6.5.6 Bathing and Swimming

3.6.5.7 Snow Melting and Deicing

3.6.5.8 Other Uses

3.6.5.9 Electricity Production

3.6.6 Geothermal Power Production

3.6.6.1 Thermodynamic Limits of Geothermal Energy Conversion

Power Heat Cooling Fuels Integrated