THERE are two main methods of utilizing geothermal energy: through direct heat usage and electricity generation.
Direct heat usage, the simplest and most commonly used form, exploits wells deep into the earth with water pipelines. The hot water is used for melting ice on the road or maintaining the heating system in residential areas. Generating electricity with geothermal energy is similar to the direct use method, but the temperature requirement is a lot higher (> 150 degrees C), so that the steam can push the turbine to produce electricity.
How does heat from the core of the earth become electricity that powers our lives?
Pipes are sunk into holes up to three kilometers deep in order to reach the geothermal steam from the reservoir. Geothermal fluids and steam surge upwards through the production well and pass through a separator; from here, the hot steam is diverted to the scrubbers and strainers, while the geothermal fluids are returned to the reservoir through the use of injection wells.
The steam is “cleaned” until it is as much as 99% pure. Next destination: the giant turbine at the power plant. Powered by the surging steam, the turbine runs the generator that produces electricity.
Additional steam from the turbine is converted into liquid using a condenser, cooled in the cooling tower and then released into a discharge tank before it is returned underground through the reinjection well. Meanwhile, the electricity produced by the generator is “converted into usable forms” of 220 volts or 110 volts through the transformer.
The converted power reaches consumers in their homes, offices and everywhere else via the transmission lines. (Source: Joel Gaborni)
