Geothermal production diagram. Geothermal heat pumps which tap into heat close to the earths surface to heat water or provide heat for buildings. Theworldwideinstalledcapacity10717mwin 2010 has the following distribution. Heat from the earth or geothermal geo earth thermal heat energy is accessed by drilling water or steam wells in a process. The geothermal energy of the earths crust originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions.
During this time 270. Geothermal energy for power generation 4 thefirstgpp 1913 inlarderelloitaly 250kwe nextatwairakeinewzealand 1958. How a geothermal power plant works simple you are here. Geothermal power plants which use heat from deep inside the earth to generate steam to make electricity.
Geothermal power plant diagram. The so called kalina cycle technology improves the efficiency of this process. The fluid is heated by the rocks to a point where it becomes steam. Factors affecting efficiency when geothermal fluid is extracted from a production well it passes through processesmany andor different pieces of equipment on its way to the power station.
Dry steam is then extracted from deep within the earth via what is known as the production well. They convert heat to electricity. The adjective geothermal originates from the greek. Overall there are five steps in the process starting from pumping down cold water into the geothermal zone to producing electricity from the generator which is then sent into the electrical grid.
Conversion efficiency of geothermal power plants based on available data from the current worldwide experience. At a geothermal power plant wells are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the earth to pump steam or hot. A deep well is drilled to access steam and hot water deep before the surface of the earth and the extremely hot water is pumped up and the steam from it powers a turbine generator which creates electricity. The spent water is then cooled and injected back into the hot rock layer it came from with use of a second well.
The layout of the geothermal power plant illustrates the whole process from heated water and steam in the depths until electricity powering our homes. The steam was extracted from the different layers of the earth and channeled into steam pipelines to be forward to the turbines. Locating areas useful for harvesting. Basics of geothermal energy production and use edited by leslie blodgett and kara slack february 15 2009 geothermal energy association 209 pennsylvania avenue se washington dc.
29 dry steam 37singleflash 25doubleflash 8 binary combined cyclehybrid and 1 backpressure. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. The above diagram of a geothermal power station shows how the injection well pumps fluids into layers of hot rocks deep within the earth.