Daily Happy Thoughts

Did You Know That….

…the geothermal field we have in the Philippines is dominated by two-phase fluid?

For those of you who are not familiar with this term, two-phase fluid is a term referring to a mixture of fluid having 2 states, i.e. liquid and gas.

In contrast to the “dry” steamfield in other countries, ours in the Philippines consists of a mixture of about 60-80% liquid (which we call brine, partly due to its mineral content), and just about 20-40% steam. Now in order to harness this steam component, the two-phase fluid extracted from geothermal wells must be made to pass through a separator vessel, where the 2 components of the mixture are separated through the cyclone effect.

This is what a separator vessel looks like (actually, this is a pair of them).

I do hope this hasn’t gotten your nose bleeding guys. Just a lil’ trivia for you.

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Geothermal power (from the Greek words geo, meaning earth, and therme, meaning heat) is energy generated by heat stored beneath the Earth’s surface or the collection of absorbed heat in the atmosphere and oceans. Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal generator on 4 July 1904, at the Larderello dry steam field in Italy. The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located in The Geysers, a geothermal field in California. As of 2007, geothermal power supplies less than 1% of the world’s energy.

Geothermal energy offers a number of advantages over traditional fossil fuel based sources. From an environmental standpoint, the energy harnessed is clean and safe for the surrounding environment. It is also sustainable because the hot water used in the geothermal process can be re-injected into the ground to produce more steam. In addition, geothermal power plants are unaffected by changing weather conditions. Geothermal power plants work continually, day and night, making them base load power plants. From an economic view, geothermal energy is extremely price competitive in some areas and reduces reliance on fossil fuels and their inherent price unpredictability.

The picture above is a view of our very own Palinpinon I Geothermal Facility located in Southern Negros, a world-class example of compact geothermal field development.

According to the International Geothermal Association (IGA), worldwide, the Philippines ranks second to the United States in producing geothermal energy. As of the end of 2003, the US has a capacity of 2020 megawatts of geothermal power, while the Philippines can generate 1930 megawatts. (Mexico is third with 953 MW according to IGA). Early statistics from the Institute for Green Resources and Environment stated that Philippine geothermal energy provides 16% of the country’s electricity. More recent statistics from the IGA show that combined energy from geothermal power plants in the islands of Luzon, Leyte, Negros and Mindanao account for approximately 27% of the country’s electricity generation. Leyte is one of the islands in the Philippines where the first geothermal power plant started operations in July 1977.

Source: Wikipedia

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