Energy Recovery in the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field Fluid Transportation Network

Abstract

An analysis of energy recovery in the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF) fluid transportation network was performed to determine the potential for energy utilization improvement. Six areas of opportunity were considered. Four of them involve diverse alternatives for energy recovery in the steam gathering network, one for energy recovery from the separated water, and one to reduce heat losses from the pipelines and fittings. The analysis shows a potential for installing 71.6 MWe of additional power which represents an increase of 9.9 % over the field installed capacity of 720 MWe. In addition, it is possible to gain an equivalent of 11.2 MWe by reducing heat losses from the steam transportation pipeline networks and fittings. Hence, by maintaining the same rate of fluid and energy extraction and the same number of producing wells, it is possible to increase the field energy utilization by 83 MWe or 11.5 % of the present installed capacity.