PDF Publication Title:
Text from PDF Page: 021
14 Geothermal Energy—Clean Power From the Earth’s Heat� The Geysers, California—World’s Largest Producer of Geothermal Electricity� The Geysers, a vapor-dominated hydrothermal system in northern California, has grown into the world’s largest geothermal electrical development. At its peak in the late 1980s, about 2,100 megawatts of generating capacity were in operation. For comparison, 2,100 megawatts is roughly the equivalent of twice the electrical energy that can be generated by the turbines of Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona. Despite its name, there never were true geysers (periodi- cally spouting hot springs) in the area; the surface features before drilling were restricted to weak steam vents, warm springs, and mudpots, whose unimpressive character belied the huge resource below. Indeed, The Geysers is an unusual geothermal field in that its wells produce nearly pure steam, with no accompanying water. It took decades for people to recognize the huge energy potential of The Geysers. The surface geother- mal features were known to settlers in the region by the mid-1800s, but it was not until 1924 that the first produc- tion wells were drilled and a few kilowatts of electrical power were generated for use at a local resort. During the 1950s, wells were drilled as deep as 300 meters, and the main steam reservoir was thus discovered. At that time, however, few people had any idea that the steam reservoir could be developed to the extent that it was by the 1980s. Accordingly, development proceeded cautiously, from the first powerplant of 12 megawatts electric in 1960 to a total installed capacity of 82 megawatts by 1970. Major growth during the 1970s brought the electrical capacity to 943 megawatts by 1980, and even faster growth during the 1980s pushed capacity to over 2,000 megawatts by the end of the decade. Twenty-six individual powerplants had been constructed by 1990, ranging from 12 to 119 megawatts. More than 600 wells had been drilled by 1994, some as deep as 3.2 kilometers, and capital investment by then was more than $4 billion. Located in mountainous, sparsely inhabited terrain approximately 120 kilometers north of San Francisco, the production area at The Geysers geothermal field is distrib- uted over nearly 80 square kilometers and is surrounded by an area 10 times as large in which the amount of heat flow- ing upward through the Earth’s crust is anomalously high. The Geysers is located southwest of and adjacent to the Clear Lake volcanic field, whose most recent volcanic erup- tions occurred only a few thousand years ago. Accordingly, it is likely that The Geysers geothermal field is sustained by hot or molten rock at depths of 5 to 10 kilometers. As a result of the rapid development at The Geysers during the 1980s and some subsequent but slower develop- ment, there has been a decline in the rate of steam produc- tion (and electrical generation) due to loss of pressure in production wells. Steam production peaked in 1988, and has declined since then. Most of the geothermal energy of this system remains intact, stored in hot, rocks that constitute the hydrothermal reservoir. A team of private industry and governmental agencies has devised a clever and effective solution to miti- gate the decline of steam pressure in production wells and thereby extend the useful life of the resource. The solution also addresses how best to dispose of increasing volumes of wastewater from nearby communities. Simply put, the wastewater of treated sewage is injected underground through appropriately positioned wells. As it flows toward the intake zones of production wells, this wastewater is heated by contact with hot rocks. Production wells then tap the natural steam augmented by vaporized wastewater. By 1997, a 50-kilometer-long pipeline began deliver- ing about 30 million liters of wastewater a day for injection into the southern part of The Geysers geothermal field. This quickly resulted in the recovery of 75 megawatts of generating output that had been “lost” to the preinjection pressure decline. This initial injection experiment is considered so suc- cessful that construction of a second pipeline is on schedule to deliver another 40 million liters a day by late 2003, to the central part of the field. Together, these two sources of “make-up” water will replace nearly all of the geothermal fluid being lost to electricity production. The injection program is expected to maintain total electrical output from The Geysers at about 1,000 megawatts for at least two more decades, and possibly much longer. The Geysers injection project shows how once-troublesome wastewater can pro- duce electricity by one of the world’s most Earth-friendly means. Industry, sanitation districts, the public, and the environment all win.PDF Image | Geothermal Energy 1249 USGS
PDF Search Title:
Geothermal Energy 1249 USGSOriginal File Name Searched:
c1249.pdfDIY PDF Search: Google It | Yahoo | Bing
NFT (Non Fungible Token): Buy our tech, design, development or system NFT and become part of our tech NFT network... More Info
IT XR Project Redstone NFT Available for Sale: NFT for high tech turbine design with one part 3D printed counter-rotating energy turbine. Be part of the future with this NFT. Can be bought and sold but only one design NFT exists. Royalties go to the developer (Infinity) to keep enhancing design and applications... More Info
Infinity Turbine IT XR Project Redstone Design: NFT for sale... NFT for high tech turbine design with one part 3D printed counter-rotating energy turbine. Includes all rights to this turbine design, including license for Fluid Handling Block I and II for the turbine assembly and housing. The NFT includes the blueprints (cad/cam), revenue streams, and all future development of the IT XR Project Redstone... More Info
Infinity Turbine ROT Radial Outflow Turbine 24 Design and Worldwide Rights: NFT for sale... NFT for the ROT 24 energy turbine. Be part of the future with this NFT. This design can be bought and sold but only one design NFT exists. You may manufacture the unit, or get the revenues from its sale from Infinity Turbine. Royalties go to the developer (Infinity) to keep enhancing design and applications... More Info
Infinity Supercritical CO2 10 Liter Extractor Design and Worldwide Rights: The Infinity Supercritical 10L CO2 extractor is for botanical oil extraction, which is rich in terpenes and can produce shelf ready full spectrum oil. With over 5 years of development, this industry leader mature extractor machine has been sold since 2015 and is part of many profitable businesses. The process can also be used for electrowinning, e-waste recycling, and lithium battery recycling, gold mining electronic wastes, precious metals. CO2 can also be used in a reverse fuel cell with nafion to make a gas-to-liquids fuel, such as methanol, ethanol and butanol or ethylene. Supercritical CO2 has also been used for treating nafion to make it more effective catalyst. This NFT is for the purchase of worldwide rights which includes the design. More Info
NFT (Non Fungible Token): Buy our tech, design, development or system NFT and become part of our tech NFT network... More Info
Infinity Turbine Products: Special for this month, any plans are $10,000 for complete Cad/Cam blueprints. License is for one build. Try before you buy a production license. May pay by Bitcoin or other Crypto. Products Page... More Info
CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@infinityturbine.com (Standard Web Page)