A new technique may help prevent “short-circuits” that can halt geothermal power plant production, potentially improving its efficiency. Enhanced geothermal systems have cold water injected into hot dry rock deep underground. It travels through fractures in the rock and heats up. Production wells pump the heated liquid to the surface where a power plant turns it into electricity. Wide fractures may let large volumes of water move too quickly to sufficiently heat up before reaching the wells, impacting the power plant’s efficiency and compromising the project’s economics. Scientists have found a way to solve the problem that could provide as much as an extra heat extraction of 101% over 50 years of production.
www.psu.edu/news/research/story/no-shortcuts-new-approach-may-help-extract-more-heat-geothermal-reservoirs/