Silica Scaling Mechanism at Cerro Prieto

Abstract

Many attempts have been made to install a binary power plant at Cerro Prieto, but solving the silica scaling problem was considered to be too expensive due to the cost of chemical inhibitors. Steam production at Cerro Prieto has declined severely and has obliged to shut down four turbines, decreasing the installed capacity and reducing energy generation levels and the projects profitability. Now the use of binary cycle technology seems to be a viable option and many attempts have been made to minimize silica scaling to use such type of power plants. Silica scaling mechanism at Cerro Prieto was studied as to take further measures to avoid scaling and be able to use the residual brine or exploit the reservoir directly without flashing units.