Develop software to optimize power generation … – Conacyt News Agency (Press release) (Registration)

By Carmen Baez

Mexico City. February 25, 2016 (News Agency Conacyt) .- As part of the strategic projects of the Mexican Center for Innovation in Geothermal Energy (Cemie-Geo), Mahendra P. Verma, a researcher Geothermal Energy Management Institute (IIE) electrical research, develops a simulator vapor transport to support the design of pipeline networks and optimize the generation of electricity in a geothermal field.

image courtesy of IIE.

This is an automated web platform to calculate the characteristics (pressure, temperature, steam flow and other parameters) of fluid along the networks of steam pipelines to arrival at geothermal plants.

image courtesy of IIE. in an interview with the News Agency Conacyt, Mahendra Verma, who specializes in geochemistry of geothermal systems and numerical simulation of processes , said that one of the main problems in a geothermal field is that often steam is not profit generated entirely due to the complex management of these networks.

that fact has caused international community scientific deepen the understanding of the mechanisms vapor transport in the aforementioned systems.

according to Mahendra Verma, managing networks geothermal systems is complex due to the interconnection of pipelines steam among several wells and plants. The parameters pressure, flow and geographical location of wells are controlled by nature. In addition, the characteristics of the geothermal wells vary considerably from one to another, causing a loss of steam of about 10 percent in the geothermal fields.

“That percentage represents a considerable sum of money and resources. Therefore the simulator seeks to optimize the design and control of the operation of networks, ie, improve the efficiency of power generation from geothermal systems, “said researcher IIE.

GeoSteam. Net, the name given this simulator is the simulation of a virtual network design pipes a geothermal power plant, which will allow optimization of geothermal resources. This means saving money and time in the planning and construction of a network.

The research level II of the National Research System (SNI) said that with the use of this type of simulators can be determined, between other parameters, what kind of line is required for each system. Overall, the main objective of the project is to have an updated algorithm vapor transport based on conservation of mass, momentum and energy based on the steam tables internally consistent.

Another main objectives of this project is to understand the phenomena of vapor transport that occur in pipe networks geothermal systems, which will propose improvements in its design to ensure optimum use of steam in the field.

the project, which received an investment of more than 16 million pesos through the Conacyt-Sener Fund Energy Sustainability also includes the creation of an interface for coupling the numerical transport model steam with a telemetric system (web) for the continuous monitoring of network performance of geothermal plants.

” Thus the distribution of temperature, pressure and flow is calculated in real time. This information will be invaluable for production engineers timely decision-making, “he said researcher responsible for the project.

Currently, the GeoSteam.Net project is in the third of eight phases of development. Validation of this system will be in the geothermal field Los Azufres in the state of Michoacan with the support and collaboration of the Management Geotermoeléctricos Projects Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

Data Update

the research group of Dr. Verma also works on innovation of steam tables, ie tables with thermodynamic data of water internally consistent useful for modeling the thermal and mass transfer and physico-chemical processes during the generation of electric power.

He noted that the current information on the thermodynamic data of water (steam tables) contains values ​​not make a pact with the basic laws of thermodynamics, a situation that has caused simulators steam created to date may not work properly. Against this background, in the framework of this project improved the steam tables to avoid such problems

version. “For 10 years we have worked on the analysis of this issue will also be generated. The new steam tables, which are being built from experimental data, will be a cutting edge development will have a major impact on different branches of science and technology. it will be a milestone (a new reference) for science, “he said.

 

the Cemie-Geo aims to assist in the exploration and search of geothermal resources in the country through specialized infrastructure, technology and scientific research. According to the page Internet, Mexico is between the fourth and fifth production of electricity from geothermal fields.

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This work whose author is Conacyt News Agency is under license 4.0 Recognition International Creative Commons.

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