Self-Superheating: A new paradigm for geothermal power plant design

In this paper, a new thermodynamic concept for improving the Single-Flash and the Double-Flash cycles in geothermal power plants is presented. This process, named Self-Superheating, uses a part of the heat contained in the geothermal fluid at the well-head to increase the temperature of the steam that enters the turbines. When optimal separator temperature is used, the results of this novel process are an increase of the specific output (approximately 5%) of the geothermal power plant and a reduction (approximately 20–40%) of the liquid content in the last stages of the turbines. The optimal separator temperature for the cycles using Self-Superheating is about 5 °C lower than the optimal separator temperature of the Single-Flash and Double-Flash cycles. The simple but fundamental process of Self-Superheating opens the route for more complex thermodynamic cycles in geothermal power plants.