Combined Cycle Power Plants from Gas Turbines and Geothermal Source Integration

Geothermal power plants have difficulties due to the low conversion efficiencies achievable. geothermal integrated combined cycle proposed and analyzed in this paper is a way to achieve high efficiency. In the proposed cycle the geothermal fluid energy is added, through suitable heat exchangers, to that of exhaust gases for generating a steam cycle. The proposed cycle maintains the geothermal fluid segregated from ambient and these can be positive on the environmental point of view. Many systems configurations, based on this possibility, can be taken into account to get the best thermodynamic result. The performed analysis examines different possible sharings between the heat coming from geothermal and exhaust gases, and gives the resulting system efficiencies. Various pressures of the geothermal steam and water dominated sources are also taken into account. As a result the analysis shows that the integrated plant power output is largely greater than the total power obtained by summing the gas turbine and the traditional geothermal plant power output, considered separately.