Wed, 20 January, 2021
The Geo-Coat project has shown positive results based upon a series of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) studies performed on the Hellisheiði geothermal plant (Reykjavik, Iceland) as a case study.
A comparative analysis was made for the geothermal energy production process and components with and without the addition of the Geo-Coat technology. Geo-Coat has created innovative anti-corrosion, anti-erosion and anti-scaling coatings that can be deposited on substrate materials for geothermal components including pipes and casings, turbines, impellers and heat exchangers.
The life cycle assessment (LCA), performed by TVS, investigated the corrosion, erosion-corrosion, scaling, mechanical and tribological and cost performance results for coated components as compared to the current state-of-the-art (SOA) wrought alloys. The aim was to demonstrate improved component performance during the lifetime of a geothermal power plant.
The study looked into the environmental impacts as part of the cradle-to-gate LCA analyses for 1MW installed capacity at the Hellisheiði power plant.
The results demonstrated 15 characterisation indicators including global warming, mineral extraction, non-renewable energy, aquatic impacts (such as acidification), the amount of carcinogens released, respiratory effects, toxicity, ozone layer depletion and ionisation. The LCA also showed 4 endpoint indicators; human health, ecosystem quality, climate change and resources.
The assessment found that the Geo-Coat coatings outperformed the SOA systems on all of the indicators for all of the components, including a 75% improvement in the climate impact, 74% in resources, 48% in human health, and a 9% improvement in ecosystem quality footprint savings.
This study clearly demonstrated that Geo-Coat was the best candidate technology for geothermal components to be employed in future geothermal power systems, providing safer, sustainable technologies with a lower environmental footprint.
Article Courtesy - TVS team