System and method to reduce the temperature of geothermal water to increase the capacity and efficiency while decreasing the costs associated with a geothermal power plant construction

Abstract

The system and method to reduce the temperature of geothermal water to increase the capacity and efficiency while decreasing the costs associated with a geothermal power plant construction uses a high efficiency steam turbine. The steam turbine lowers the high temperature geothermal resource so it can be used in parallel with an innovative low temperature Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) geothermal power plant to increase the efficiency and capacity while at the same time to reduce the costs associated with constructing the power plant because of logistics, labor and material.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates generally to geothermal power generation, and more particularly to a system and method to reduce increase the capacity and efficiency while decreasing costs associated with geothermal power generation.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]There are two kinds of basic geothermal power plants in operation today. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), also known as Binary cycle, and Single Flash Steam power plants are very famous in geothermal power generation applications. Producing more electricity and more thermal energy are the main goals from the geothermal power plants.[0003]The best way to currently increase the overall output from a single resource is to “bottom cycle” the primary technology with additional equipment that can operate within the geothermal conditions to produce additional power from a single resource.[0004]Currently there are geothermal resources within the earth's soil that are at temperatures that range from 100° F. t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The present invention operates in the 40% system electrical efficiency range from a single geothermal resource, reduces the number of geothermal wells needed to produce the same electrical power output as current conventional systems do, and allows low temperature ORC equipment to operate in a high temperature environment. As technology in the low temperature ORC process is improved, these efficiencies will increase as well which will help make geothermal power production a viable alternative to other power producing technologies.

[0012]On the liquid side of the flash tank, the reduced temperature hot water is transported by piping to the inlet of the evaporator of the ORC equipment where it is then used to expand or “boil” a working fluid inside the ORC machine that expands the liquid across the turbine section and produces electrical energy. This fluid is then cooled down in the condensing side of the ORC machine and re-injected back into the geothermal reservoir to complete the cycle. By operating a geothermal power plant using this method many benefits can be realized over current operational methods.

[0013]ORC technology does not allow electrical power generation through thermal conversion at temperatures above 325° F. and therefore limits the application to areas that only contain low temperature resources. This method allows high and low temperature resources to be developed from an ORC geothermal power plant which ensures the maximum amount of energy that can be extracted from the geothermal reservoir is employed for power generation.

[0015]By maximizing the energy extraction using high efficiency methods such as this, the need to install additional piping from many geothermal wells is eliminated. A single well can now produce as much electrical power as four wells of the exact same temperature and pressure. This method greatly reduces construction costs associated with well drilling and installation of long runs of piping and electrical distribution wiring.

Problems solved by technology

All of the prior inventions address similar topics but none of them address a method of reducing high temperature geothermal resources to enable low temperature ORC technology to be used, nor do they address the cost savings associated with generating additional electrical power from a single resource (well) as opposed to constructing multiple small power plants to generate the same amount of power.

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