Geothermal conversion plant-an engineer's perspective

Geothermal heat from the earth is converted to electricity via Carnot limited cycles, typically a steam or an organic Rankine type cycle. The conversion efficiency is inherently low because of the relatively low geothermal source temperature. It is a challenge to engineers to optimize geothermal conversion cycles to gain full cost-competitiveness compared to fossil-fueled electricity generation cycles. This presentation describes practical engineering and advanced techniques with potential to significantly reduce the cost of electricity produced from geothermal energy.