Publications

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

Solar Two was a collaborative, cost-shared project between 11 U. S. industry and utility partners and the U. S. Department of Energy to validate molten-salt power tower technology. The Solar Two plant, located east of Barstow, CA, comprised 1926 heliostats, a receiver, a thermal storage system, a steam generation system, and steam-turbine power block. Molten nitrate salt was used as the heat transfer fluid and storage media. The steam generator powered a 10-MWe (megawatt electric), conventional Rankine cycle turbine. Solar Two operated from June 1996 to April 1999. The major objective of the test and evaluation phase of the project was to validate the technical characteristics of a molten salt power tower. This report describes the significant results from the test and evaluation activities, the operating experience of each major system, and overall plant performance. Tests were conducted to measure the power output (MW) of the each major system, the efficiencies of the heliostat, receiver, thermal storage, and electric power generation systems and the daily energy collected, daily thermal-to-electric conversion, and daily parasitic energy consumption. Also included are detailed test and evaluation reports.

This proposal provides the rationale for an advanced system called Diagnostics-while-drilling (DWD) and describes its benefits, preliminary configuration, and essential characteristics. The central concept is a closed data circuit in which downhole sensors collect information and send it to the surface via a high-speed data link, where it is combined with surface measurements and processed through drilling advisory software. The driller then uses this information to adjust the drilling process, sending control signals back downhole with real-time knowledge of their effects on performance. The report presents background of related previous work, and defines a Program Plan for US Department of Energy (DOE), university, and industry cooperation.

The goal of this document is to estimate the potential impact of proposed new Diagnostics-While-Drilling technology on the cost of electricity (COE) produced with geothermal energy. A cost model that predicts the COE was developed and exercised over the range of conditions found for geothermal plants in flashed-steam, binary, and enhanced-reservoir (e.g., Hot Dry Rock) applications. The calculations were repeated assuming that DWD technology is available to reduce well costs and improve well productivity. The results indicate that DWD technology would reduce the geothermal COE by 2--31%, depending on well depth, well productivity, and the type of geothermal reservoir. For instance, for a typical 50-MW, flashed-steam geothermal power plant employing 3-MW wells, 6,000-ft deep, the model predicts an electricity cost of 4.9 cents/kwh. With the DWD technology envisioned, the electricity cost could be reduced by nearly 20%, to less than 4 cents/kwh. Such a reduction in the cost of electricity would give geothermal power a competitive edge over other types of power at many locations across the US and around the world. It is thus believed that DWD technology could significantly expand the role of geothermal energy in providing efficient, environment-friendly electric generating capacity.