The Mexican Experience with Modular Power Plants: Generation and Brine Disposal

Abstract

Several years of operating well head power plants at Los Azufres have shown that this plants are a very practical and reliable tool to find the best design of the reinjection system. The article describes the arrangement for hot and cold reinjection used for three of those plants in northern Los Azufres. Several recommendations extracted from the mexican experience are presented with special emphasis on the practical aspects for handling the separated brine avoiding precipitation and silica scaling. The peculiarities of Los Azufres regarding the disposal of the brine are presented, warning about the danger of extrapolating this solution to other geothermal fields. Finaly, some statistics related with the operation of the well head power plants are indicated in tables, showing the amount of water reinjected every year.