| Title | The Steamfield Process Design and Optimisation Tool (SPDOT) |
|---|---|
| Authors | C. Umanzor, S.J. Zarrouk |
| Year | 2022 |
| Conference | New Zealand Geothermal Workshop |
| Keywords | Steamfield design and optimisation, Primary Separation, Steam Purity, Pipelines Sizing, Condensate Drain Pots. |
| Abstract | The Geothermal Institute has been developing a tool for process design and optimisation of geothermal steam gathering systems by integrating a compilation of several geothermal practitioners` published theories and field experiences over the past eight decades. The tool aims to solve the typical challenges identified in geothermal steamfields worldwide, such as flow capacity bottlenecks, excessive pressure drop and steam quality and purity problems. The tool is fundamentally an arrangement of logically interconnected mathematical blocks representing the different elements and components of a steamfield configuration, such as primary separators, pipe sections, condensate drain pots, scrubbers, and demisters. The program calculates a range of physical and thermofluids processes for each standalone block, including pressure drop, heat transfer, condensate generation, mineral dilution, and thermodynamic properties. The recalculated geothermal fluid properties become inputs for the subsequent block, and the iteration continues until the analysis of the entire system is achieved. We provide the results of a few optimisation exercises in a steam line to improve the steam quality and purity upstream of the turbine inlet. |