Optimal design of binary cycle power plants for water-dominated, medium-temperature geothermal fields

Exploitation of lower temperature, water-dominated geothermal fields is analyzed, and a methodology for optimizing geothermal binary plants is discussed. The geothermal fluid inlet temperatures considered are in the 110-160 degrees C range, while the return temperature of the brine is assumed to be between 70 and 100 degrees C. The analysis shows that the brine specific consumption, ranging from 20 to 120 kg s(-1) for each net MW produced, and the efficiency of the plants, ranging from 20% to 45% in terms of Second Law efficiency, are dictated mainly by the combination of the brine inlet temperature, the brine rejection temperature and the energy conversion cycle being used. For given operating conditions and with correct matching between working fluid and energy conversion cycle, it is possible to obtain very similar performances in a number of different cases. It is shown that optimization of the plant can yield improvements of up to 30-40% in terms of reduction of brine specific consumption compared to conventional design. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.