NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION- Energy is the key input to drive and improve the life cycle. Primarily it is gift of nature to mankind in various forms. The consumption of energy is directly proportional to the progress of mankind. With ever growing population, improvement in living standard of the humanity, industrialization of developing countries, the global demand is expected to increase rather significantly in the near feature. The primary source of energy is fossil fuel, however finiteness of fossil fuel reserves and large scale environmental degradation caused by their wide scale use, particularly global warming, urban air pollution and acid rains, strongly suggest the use of NON-CONVENTIONAL energy resources

Irrespective of Conventional and Non-Conventional, here we get a pictorial view of Percentages of energy Resources consumption

An energy resource is a naturally-occurring form of energy. Total energy consumption in present world is as follows:- Energy resources are mainly of two types, they are as follows > CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES > NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES

CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES: - An energy resource that is not replaced or is replaced very slowly by natural processes. Primary examples of conventional energy resources are the fossil fuels--oil, natural gas, and coal. Fossil fuels are continually produced by the decay of plant and animal matter, but the rate of their production is extremely slow, very much slower than the rate at which we use them. Any conventional energy resources that we use are not replaced in a reasonable amount of time and are not available to us again. NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES: - A n energy resource that is replaced rapidly by natural processes. Some examples of non- conventional energy resources are sunlight, hydropower, geothermal and wood. When you use some sunlight to warm your back, more is made almost immediately available. Water above the dam is continually replaced by rainfall. If you chop down a tree, it takes awhile for the forest to grow enough to replace that wood. let us get through a vivid picture of GEO-THERMAL ENERGY.

What is “GEO-THERMAL ENERGY”? Geo-Thermal energy is defined as heat from the earth. It is a clean, renewable resource that provides energy around the world in a variety of applications and resources. The heat continuously flowing from the earth’s interior, which travels primarily by conduction, is estimated to be equivalent to 42 million megawatts (MW) of power, and is expected to remain so for billions of years to come, ensuring an inexhaustible source of energy.

HISTORY:-The consumption of geo-thermal energy had started from 14 th century. In the 20th century, demand for electricity led to the consideration of geothermal power as a generating source. Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator on 4 July 1904.In later years Russia and U.S.A. had made further improvements in Geo-Thermal Production. Global geothermal electric capacity: - Upper red line is installed capacity; lower green line is realized production.

HOW GEO-THERMAL ENERGY IS EXTRACTED FROM EARTH:-A geo-thermal system requires heat, permeability, and water. The heat from the earth ’ s core continuously flows outward. Sometimes the heat, as magma, reaches the surface as lava, but it usually remains below the Earth ’ s crust, heating nearby rock and water-some times to levels as, hot as700 o F.when water is heated by the earth ’ s heat hot water or steam can be trapped in permeable and porous rocks under a layer of impermeable rock and a geo-thermal reservoir can form. This hot geo-thermal water can manifest itself on the surface as hot springs or geysers, but most of it stays deep underground, trapped in cracks and porous rocks. This natural collection of hot water is called a geo-thermal reservoir from which geo- thermal energy is extracted.

Diagram representing the GENERATION of GEO-THERMAL ENERGY

HOW DOES A GEO-THERMAL POWER PLANT WORKS:- There are four commercial types of geo-thermal power plants: A: Flash power plants B: Dry steam power plants C: Binary power plants D: Flash/Binary combined power plants

Flash power plant: Geo-thermally heated water under pressure is separated in a surface vessel (called a steam separator) into steam and hot water. The steam is delivered to the turbine, and the turbine powers a generator. The liquid is injected back into the reservoir.

Dry steam power plant: Steam is produced directly from the geo-thermal reservoir to run the turbines that power the generator, and no separation is necessary because wells only produce steam.

Binary power plant:-Recent advances in Geo-thermal technology have made possible the economic production of electricity from Geo-thermal resources lower than 150 o c(320 o F).Known as binary geo-thermal plants, the facilities that makes this possible reduce geo-thermal energy’s already low emission rate to zero. Binary plants typically use an Organic Rankin Cycle System. The Geo- thermal water heats another liquid, such as isobutene or other organic fluids such as pentafluoropropane, which boils at a lower temperature than water. The two liquids are kept completely separate through the use of a heat exchanger, which boils at a lower temperature than water. The two liquids are kept separately through the use of a heat exchanger, which transfers the heat energy from the geo-thermal water to the working fluid. The secondary fluid expands into gaseous vapour.The force of the expanding vapor, like steam, turns the turbines that power the generators. All of the produced geo-thermal water is injected back into the reservoir.

Pictorial representation of BINARY CYCLE POWER PLANT

Flash/Binary power plant:-This type of plant, which uses a combination of flash and binary technology, has been used effectively to take advantage of the benefits of both technologies. In this type of plant, the portion of the geo- thermal water which “flashes” to steam under reduced pressure is converted to electricity with a back pressure steam turbine and the low pressure steam exiting the back pressure turbine is condensed in a binary system.

Geothermal energy is a domestic energy resource with cost, reliability and environmental advantages over conventional energy sources. It contributes both to energy supply, with electrical power generation and direct-heat uses. Applications:-Beginning with an overview of geothermal energy and the state of the art, leading international experts in the field cover the main applications of geothermal energy, including: > power generation from high enthalpy resources. > direct heat applications in agriculture, aqua and food industries. > seawater desalination for coastal deserts and islands. > As emission of gases by geothermal is less harmful than fossil fuels it provides benefit to mankind by improved air

Direct use of geo-thermal heat: - Lower temperature geothermal resources are found in many regions of the world. They can provide useful energy for heating the buildings by a system of pipes called a loop, which is buried in the shallow ground near the building. A fluid (usually water or a mixture of water and antifreeze) circulates through the pipes to absorb or relinquish heat within the ground.

Defects:- The major defect in using geothermal power is CAPTIAL.Geothermal power projects are characterized by high capital investment for exploration, drilling wells and installation of plant. Geothermal development may include land subsidence and increased micro seismic activity which may effect environment However such adverse factors need to be balanced against the more obvious advantages of geothermal over fossil fuels

. Conclusion:-With reference to increased technology and for industrialization, usage of fossil fuels and non-conventional resources is essential. As fossil fuels are the one of the important cause for the environmental pollution like depletion of ozone layer, acid rains, global warming etc so, demand for use of NON- CONVENTIONAL energy sources in developed and developing countries had increased at a rapid and accelerating rate for reducing the environmental pollution References:>Thain, Ian A, "A Brief History of the Wairakei Geothermal Power Project Technology >Dickson, Mary H.; Fanelli, Mario, What is Geothermal Energy? > >Turcotte, D. L.; Schubert, G.Geodynamics. >Bertani, Ruggero, "Geothermal Energy: An Overview on Resources and Potential” >Tiwari, G.N.Ghosal, Renewable Energy Resources

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