Economic and Environmental Feasibility of Energy Extraction from brine of a Geothermal Wellhead Plant
Student: Damaris Wacera Njoroge
Year: 2023
Supervisors: Einar Jón Ásbjörnsson, Hlynur Stefánsson
Abstract:
The need for sustainability in energy development has resulted in the push for development of sound systems that can support the needs of the population while maintaining environmental impacts at minimal. This paper describes the utilisation of separated brine for further electricity production, catering for environmental and economic factors. The paper investigates the environmental impact potential through the development of life cycle assessment for geothermal development: drilling, construction and operation phases for two alternatives; double flash and flash binary plants. The economic analysis involves the computation of exergy efficiency and profitability analysis for the two alternative plants. The environmental analysis uses of Life Cycle Assessment modelling to establish the environmental impact potential associated with exergy destruction. Exergy efficiency in both options increases by 75% and 87% for the double flash and the flash binary plant, respectively. The double flash system has an ROI of 0.32 and an EROI of 0.99. The flash binary has a ROI of 0.28 and an EROI of 0.84. The energy payback ratio is 8 years for the double flash and 9.6 years for the flash binary. The study assigns the factors associated with the alternatives and specifically the components that can be enhanced for cost and environmental impacts improvement.