Thermal-Economic Modularization of Small, Organic Rankine Cycle Power Plants for Mid-Enthalpy Geothermal Fields

Yodha Y. Nusiaputra, Hans-Joachim Wiemer and Dietmar Kuhn
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Yodha Y. Nusiaputra: Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe 76021, Germany
Hans-Joachim Wiemer: Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe 76021, Germany
Dietmar Kuhn: Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe 76021, Germany

Energies, 2014, vol. 7, issue 7, 1-20

Abstract: The costs of the surface infrastructure in mid-enthalpy geothermal power systems, especially in remote areas, could be reduced by using small, modular Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plants. Thermal-economic criteria have been devised to standardize ORC plant dimensions for such applications. We designed a modular ORC to utilize various wellhead temperatures (120–170 °C), mass flow rates and ambient temperatures (?10–40 °C). A control strategy was developed using steady-state optimization, in order to maximize net power production at off-design conditions. Optimum component sizes were determined using specific investment cost (SIC) minimization and mean cashflow (MCF) maximization for three different climate scenarios. Minimizing SIC did not yield significant benefits, but MCF proved to be a much better optimization function.

Keywords: modularization; geothermal; Organic Rankine Cycle; specific investment cost; mean cash flow (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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