Geothermal Energy

VISVESWARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
RAJARAJESHWARI COLLAGE OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL
Geothermal Energy
Project guide : Dr. R. Shankar Reddy

Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering
Rajarajeshwari Collage of Engineering
Index
• Introduction
• What is Geothermal Energy
• History
• Applications
• Types
• Uses of Geothermal Energy
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
• Future of Geothermal Energy
• Conclusion
• References
Introduction
• Geothermal energy is the earth’s natural heat available inside
the earth.
• This thermal energy contained in the rock and fluid that filled
up fractures and pores in the earth’s crust can profitably be
used for various purposes.
• Geothermal energy is an enormous, underused heat and power
resource that is clean (emits little or no greenhouse gases),
reliable (average system availability of 95%), and homegrown
(making us less dependent on foreign oil).
What is geothermal energy?
• Geothermal energy is defined as heat from the Earth.

• It is a clean, renewable resource that provides energy in and
around the world in a variety of applications and resources.
History
• History says that the first use of geothermal energy occurred more
than 10,000 years ago in North America by American Paleo-Indians.
People used water from hot springs for cooking, bathing and
cleaning.
• The first industrial use of geothermal energy began near Pisa, Italy
in late 18th century. Steam coming from natural vents (and from
drilled holes) was used to extract boric acid from the hot pools that
are now known as the Larderello fields.
• In 1904, Italian scientist Piero Ginori Conti invented the first
geothermal electric power plant in which steam was used to generate
the power.
• With the above experiment, the first geothermal plant in USA started
in 1922 with a capacity of 250 kilowatts. It produced little output
and due to technical glitch had to be shut down.
Applications
1. Space/District Heating: Schemes utilizing geothermal heat
provide over 80% of the central heating needs of Reykjavik
city in Iceland and are employed in many towns in USA,
Poland and Hungary.
2. Agriculture and Aquaculture: In temperate and colder
climates, greatly improved plant and fish growth can be
achieved by heating soils, greenhouses and fish ponds using
geothermal heat.
3. Power Generation: With over 8000 MW of installed capacity,

geothermal electric power generation is a well-proven
technology that has been especially successful in countries and
islands that have a high reliance on imported fossil fuels
(World Bank Group, 2004).
Applications
The structure of the earth
• The heat contained within the earth would cover our
present world energy need for 30 million years. When you
look at the temperature in and on Earth you can see that
99% of the planet has a temperature over 1000°C, while
only 0.1% of the earth is cooler than 100°C.
Geothermal Energy Found
• Some visible features of geothermal energy are volcanoes, hot
springs, geysers, and fumaroles.
• But you cannot see most geothermal energy. Usually
geothermal energy is deep underground.
• Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source that does
little damage to the environment.
• Geothermal steam and hot water do contain naturally
occurring traces of hydrogen sulfide (a gas that smells like
rotten eggs) and other gases and chemicals that can be harmful
in high concentrations.
Uses of geothermal energy
• Industrial processes
• Geothermal prawn farming
• Horticulture
• Crop and timber drying
Types
Liquid-dominated plants
Liquid-dominated reservoirs (LDRs) are more common with
temperatures greater than 200 °C (392 °F) and are found near
young volcanoes surrounding the Pacific Ocean and in rift
zones and hot spots.
Thermal energy
Lower temperature sources produce the energy equivalent of
100M BBL per year. Sources with temperatures from 30-150
C are used without conversion to electricity for as district
heating, greenhouses, fisheries, mineral recovery, industrial
process heating and bathing in 75 countries.
Types
Enhanced geothermal
• Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) actively inject water into
wells to be heated and pumped back out.
• The water is injected under high pressure to expand existing
rock fissures to enable the water to freely flow in and out.
Advantages
• It is a renewable source of energy.
• By far, it is non-polluting and environment friendly.
• There is no wastage or generation of by-products.
• Geothermal energy can be used directly. In ancient times,
people used this source of energy for heating homes,
cooking, etc.
Disadvantages
• Only few sites have the potential of Geothermal Energy.

• Most of the sites, where geothermal energy is produced, are far
from markets or cities, where it needs to be consumed.
• Total generation potential of this source is too small.
• There is always a danger of eruption of volcano.
Energy Source: Geothermal
• Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth.

Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter.
The geothermal energy of the Earth's crustoriginates from the original
formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials. The most
common current way of capturing the geothermal energy is to tap into
naturally occurring hydrothermal convection systems containing
pressurized hot water or steam.
• The land needed for geothermal power plants is smaller per megawatt than
for almost any other type of power plant. Geothermal energy can only be
used in areas where the earth's crust is thin and the steam or hot water
sources are close to the surface.
• Sometimes the hot water that is pumped to the surface contains pollutants
such as sulphur, which must be removed before using in a power plant.
• Geothermal power plants do not have to use an intermediate technology to
produce steam to power the turbine generators.
•
Global Status and Potential
• Geothermal energy is used widely in Iceland, the Philippines,

Italy, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Japan and China.
Iceland relies on geysers as its primary source of heat.
• The United States is the world's largest producer of geothermal
electricity with 2,800 MW in service.
Future Of Geothermal Energy
• The future of geothermal energy depends on three factors: it’s

demand, supply and it’s competitiveness among other
renewable resources in terms of cost, availability, reliability
etc.
Conclusion
• Geothermal energy is limited in extent as extracting the heat

usually exceeds the replenishment rate
• Hot, dry rock (HDR) is widespread and offers new resources
in areas where geyser activity is unknown
• Direct low-temperature heat transfer for home systems is
practical as long as low maintenance is designed into the
system
• Sources of high temperature water or steam are limited and the
cost of extraction, maintenance, and operation will remain
high in comparison with other sources of energy
Thanks…

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What is geothermal energy?

What are some applications of geothermal energy?

VISVESWARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

RAJARAJESHWARI COLLAGE OF ENGINEERING

Project guide : Dr. R. Shankar Reddy

• Geothermal energy is defined as heat from the Earth.

3. Power Generation: With over 8000 MW of installed capacity,

• Only few sites have the potential of Geothermal Energy.

• Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth.

• Geothermal energy is used widely in Iceland, the Philippines,

• The future of geothermal energy depends on three factors: it’s

• Geothermal energy is limited in extent as extracting the heat

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