Analysis of the Combined Heat and Power Plant Neustadt-Glewe

Abstract

The first geothermal power plant in Germany is an extension of an existing heating plant. It was connected to the mains in November 2003. Since May 2004 the plant is in stable operation. However, the plant works permanently at part load since neither the temperature nor the available mass flow rate reach the design values.
The plant provides data to analyze a low temperature organic Rankine cycle (brine temperature is below 100 ?C). A first check-up shows that despite part load the tuning of the process itself has turned out well. Remaining uncertainties concerning the specific heat capacity of the brine as well as the flow conditions in the geothermal loop prevent proper assessment of overall plant performance for the time being. These uncertainties will be cleared up by further measurements as well as by accompanying numerical modeling of the plant in the future.