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Selected Energy Conversion Activities

Goal: Reduce Cost of Geothermal Electricity by at Least 1

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Selected Energy Conversion Activities

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    1. Selected Energy Conversion Activities Gerry Nix March 16, 2004

    3. Cost Reduction Targets Binary Plants – Better Cycles (NREL, INEEL) Enhanced Heat Transfer (NREL, INEEL) Better Materials (NREL, BNL, INEEL) Innovative Components (NREL, INEEL) Better Instruments (INEEL, BNL) Additional Revenues (BNL, LLNL)

    4. Investment in Energy Conversion Has Multiple Benefits For a Given Field Capacity and Fixed PPA Improved Power Plant Conversion Efficiency Reduces the Well-Field Size (# of Wells) Improved Power Plant Conversion Efficiency Increases the Life of the Field Improved Power Plant Conversion Efficiency May Reduce the Power Plant Investment

    6. Air-Cooled Condenser Enhancement R&D Objectives To reduce cost of geothermal electricity by 0.5 ¢/kWh Improve air-cooled heat exchanger designs in collaboration with industry partners: INEEL/McElroy, NREL/ Super Radiator Coils Relevance 85-90% of geothermal heat is rejected; condensers at binary-cycle air-cooled plants Condensers make up 20-30% of plant cost Plant power increases ~1% for every 1ŗF drop in condenser temperature

    7. Air-Cooled Condenser Enhancement R&D NREL-tabbed fins, INEEL-vortex generators Enhance airside heat transfer through renewal of the boundary layer and through flow control

    8. Approach Combination of experiment and theory Flow visualization Computational Fluid Dynamics Small scale laboratory testing Analysis Build representative multi-row bundles and test at an independent testing agency Present results to an expert review panel Focus R&D efforts per panel recommendations, with emphasis on field testing

    9. Status INEEL work with vortex generators shows promise – circular fins NREL work with tabbed flat plate fins shows sufficient promise that Super Radiator Coils is investigating tooling up to produce a commercial product NREL tabbed circular fin work underway Larger test bundles being fabricated Expert Panel Review May or June Art Bergles, retired expert, especially vortex generators Wolfgang Becker, retired GEA design expert Richard Campbell, TIC – geothermal plant designer

    10. Advanced Cycles Analysis Objective To identify and evaluate the cost-performance potential of new low-temperature power generation cycles Approach Literature search and industry input Perform initial screening and narrow down to 2 concepts Analyze cost and performance using EES and/or ASPEN at two resource temperatures Compare results to binary cycle

    11. Advanced Cycles Analysis Potential Concepts Sub-atmospheric flash New vapor compression cycles New absorber cycles Other concepts revealed in literature search and suggested by industry

    12. Small Scale Verification Plants DOE-GO has an upcoming solicitation Exergy Kalina Cycle Plant Cancelled NREL Mixed Working Fluid Binary Plant – 1 MW @ Empire Energy – Bids Being Evaluated DOE Assumes a Significant Portion of the Risk for These Advanced Test Beds

    13. Materials Research - A Team Approach

    14. Relevance Polymer corrosion barrier coatings: Prevent corrosion of geothermal plant equipment Reduce maintenance expenses Objective

    15. Approach Apply materials science to develop formulations Field test coupons, coated tubing and piping, heat exchangers, and other process equipment in a variety of geothermal environments Completely different coatings developed and tested for high and low temperature applications Laboratory and field analysis of exposed coatings Formulation and application development in collaboration with industry partners

    16. High-performance Coating Materials: Developing anti-corrosion, anti-fouling, and wear resistant nanocomposite coatings for carbon steel heat exchangers and well head pipes at hydrothermal temperature of ?300°C. Synthesizing novel types of organometallic (OMP) polymer for use as thin coating ( < 2 micron thick) for aluminum-finned condensers. Evaluating the usefulness of 600°C-heat stable-NASA-developed polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymer as room temperature-curable coating in geothermal environment.

    17. Accomplishments Extensive testing at Mammoth, Geysers, Cove Fort, Puna Commercialized by Curran International R&D 100, FLC awards Extending formulations

    18. Future Work Evaluate coating for condensers in accelerated exposure tests at Mammoth with new apparatus Start long term tests at Puna in injection brine stream Perform long term testing of operating geothermal equipment in new geothermal environments

    19. ESR&T Summary It is Possible to Reduce COE by 1¢/kWh Opportunities Exist for Quick Returns, 5 to 7 yrs to Implementation Program is on the Way to Success, ala Direct Contact Condenser, PPS All Activities are in Partnership with Industry Proper Technical Areas are Targeted Cost-Effective R&D Underway, guided by Extensive Systems Analyses

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