| Title | The Thermodynamic and Cost Benefits of a Floating Cooling Geothermal Binary Cycle Power Plant at Heber, California |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pines, H. S.; Pope, W. L.; Green, M. A.; Doyle, P. A.; Silvester, L. F.; Fulton, R. L. |
| Year | 1978 |
| Conference | Geothermal Resources Council Transactions |
| Keywords | USA; California; Imperial; Heber |
| Abstract | The application of the floating cooling concepts to evaporating heat rejection systems is studied as a method of improving the performance of geothermal powerplants operating upon medium temperatures hydrothermal resources. The LBL thermodynamic process computer code GEOTHM is used in the case study of a 50MWe isobutane binary cycle power plant at Heber, California. It is shown that operating a fixed capacity plants in the floating cooling mode can generate significantly more electrical energy at a higher thermodynamic efficiency and reduced bus bar cost for approximately the same capital investment. Floating cooling is also shown to minimize the adverse influence on plant performance due to a declining resource temperature. |