| Title | Thermal Performance of the Los Humeros Geothermal Field Fluid Transportation Network |
|---|---|
| Authors | Garcia-Gutierrez, Alfonso; Martinez-Estrella, Juan I.; Ovando-Castelar, Rosember; Vazquez-Sandoval, Abelardo; Rosales-Lopez, Cesar |
| Year | 2013 |
| Conference | Geothermal Resources Council Transactions |
| Keywords | Los Humeros; transportation network; thermal performance; efficiency; heat and mass losses |
| Abstract | The thermal performance at the Los Humeros geothermal field (LHGF) fluid transportation network was evaluated in terms of the mass, energy and exergy flows at selected points of the network, as well as the mass and heat losses from the pipelines, fittings, condensate drains and steam separators. Thermal efficiencies of the transportation sub-processes and overall steam field (wellhead to power plant inlet) processes were also evaluated. The 1st law efficiency between wellheads and the wells flow measuring orifice plates was found to be 100%, while the corresponding 2nd law efficiency was 91.4%. The transportation network, comprised between the wells flow measuring orifice plates and the power plant steam delivery points, showed 1st law and 2nd law efficiencies of 93.5% and 90.5%, respectively. For the overall steam field, 1st law efficiency was 93.5% whereas 2nd law efficiency was 82.7%. This evaluation excluded the existing power plants. |