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Coatings in Geothermal Power Plants: An End-User Perspective

Thu, 04 March, 2021

As part of the Geo-Coat workshop, Kolbrún Ragna Ragnarsdóttir from ON power will present on "Benefits of using coatings in geothermal power plants from an end-user perspective: lessons learned".

Abstract:

With growing awareness of environmental issues, effectively harnessing renewable energy sources is more vital than ever. Wind, solar and hydropower dominate the renewable energy sector but harnessing geothermal energy as a resource is a sector that still has considerable potential to grow. One of the main bottlenecks for the geothermal sector is the high CAPEX cost involved.

Development and innovations for geothermal technology geared towards reducing the CAPEX and OPEX cost is therefore important to increase the geothermal sector. The Geo-Coat project aimed to do this through creating coatings that would protect sensitive areas of geothermal plant components, resulting in less damage and need for repair. The challenge is that power plant phases are vast and different for each site, depending on the chemical composition, pH value, temperature, geological settings and so on. Within the Geo-Coat project the main focus is; pipes and casings, turbine components, pump impellers and heat exchangers.

At Hellisheiði power plant, a simple case study was performed to see if the coatings developed and tested within the Geo-Coat project would withstand the harsh geothermal environment when compared to standardly used material. This lecture will go over the lessons learned from the end-user perspective and future milestones.

About the speaker:

Kolbrún Ragna Ragnarsdóttir is a Senior Project Manager in R&D at ON Power, one of the largest geothermal power companies in the world. She received her M.Sc. degree from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iceland in the field of geothermal corrosion (2013). Her expertise lies within mechanical engineering, geothermal energy, corrosion of metals in difficult environments and borehole technologies for deep geothermal wells (for example IDDP). She has been working in geothermal R&D for over a decade, received both international and national grants, and has contributed to numerous peer reviewed articles. Her focus has been on working towards a better connection between industry and academia in numerous research collaborations. She has been an active member of the geothermal and energy community in Iceland. This includes co-founding a company in 2014 and receiving funding from Startup Energy Reykjavik, being a board member of the Renewable Energy Cluster (energycluster.is) -  an association of energy and energy-related companies in Iceland, and member of the board of Women in Energy group that supports equality in the energy sector in Iceland.

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