Overpressure protection in geothermal plants

Abstract

The protection of geothermal power plant, and steamfield piping and equipment, from overpressure due to well pressure and flow presents challenges that are uncommon in other types of industrial plant. Geothermal applications need to allow for well output, two-phase flow, cross-country piping elevation changes, and cold gas. The following topics are discussed in this paper: issues and solutions regarding safety valves and burst disks, valves and disk sizing and selection, location of safety devices, piping design considerations for
thrust loads, and containment of discharge fluid. The history of overpressure protection in New Zealand is also presented to provide context to the configurations found in different geothermal plants.