William Harvey

Flash steam geothermal energy conversion systems: Single-, double-, and triple-flash and combined-cycle plants

Flash steam plants, harnessing two-phase produced geofluids to drive condensing steam turbines or combined steam turbine/binary cycles, provide a reliable and economical method to harness higher-temperature geothermal resources. This chapter describes characteristics and trends in flash steam plant technology, spanning cycle designs and equipment such as separators, turbines, and cooling systems. Methods to harvest additional value from constituents of flashed streams such as noncondensable gases and separated brine are presented, such as combined cycles, cogeneration, and coproduction. The chapter illustrates these advances with examples from recent projects, describing design considerations, constraints, and solutions for site-specific challenges. Recent innovations and anticipated advances still under development are described.