Use of Geothermal Energy for Drying and Cooling Purposes

Abstract

Indonesia has the world’s largest potential of geothermal resources. However, only a small portion of these resources have been utilized to supply Indonesia’s growing energy needs. Some of geothermal power generation facilities can provide excess heat for the main power generation system but some have untapped steam from small wells. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility to utilize dry steam or hot water from the geothermal power plant for drying and cooling of locally produce crops and, which could help to increase value of the surrounding farms. Steam or hot water available from geothermal power plant will be combined with active and passive solar utilization methods.
In the drying applications, geothermal energy may be used to dry several crops available in the area such as coffee berries, tea, rough rice or even fish from the nearby lake. In the cooling system, the possibility to combine the already tested nocturnal cooling system and steam powered absorption or adsorption cooling will be discussed and their economic benefit of both the drying and cooling system will also be presented.