PNNL’s introduction of a metal-organic heat carrier, or MOHC, in the biphasic fluid may help improve thermodynamic efficiency of the heat recovery process. This image represents the molecular makeup of one of several MOHCs.

Advanced heat recovery method makes most of low-temp "hot rock" resources

A new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources holds promise for generating virtually pollution-free electrical energy. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will determine if their innovative approach can safely and economically extract and convert heat from vast untapped geothermal resources.

The goal is to enable power generation from low-temperature geothermal resources at an economical cost. In addition to being a clean energy source without any greenhouse gas emissions, geothermal is also a steady and dependable source of power.

“By the end of the calendar year, we plan to have a functioning bench-top prototype generating electricity,” predicted PNNL Laboratory Fellow Pete McGrail. “If successful, enhanced geothermal systems like this could become an important energy source.” A technical and economic analysis conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that enhanced geothermal systems could provide 10 percent of the nation’s overall electrical generating capacity by 2050.

Click to watch PNNL's Pete McGrail describe the process.

PNNL’s conversion system will take advantage of the rapid expansion and contraction capabilities of a new liquid developed by PNNL researchers called biphasic fluid. When exposed to heat brought to the surface from water circulating in moderately hot, underground rock, the thermal-cycling of the biphasic fluid will power a turbine to generate electricity.

To aid in efficiency, scientists have added nanostructured metal-organic heat carriers, or MOHCs, which boost the power generation capacity to near that of a conventional steam cycle. McGrail cited PNNL’s nanotechnology and molecular engineering expertise as an important factor in the development, noting that the advancement was an outgrowth of research already underway at the lab.

“Some novel research on nanomaterials used to capture carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels actually led us to this discovery,” said McGrail. “Scientific breakthroughs can come from some very unintuitive connections.”

PNNL is receiving $1.2 million as one of 21 DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy grants through the Geothermal Technologies Program.

Some of the research was conducted in EMSL, DOE’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory on the PNNL campus.

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07.23.09
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Industry News

Contracts

• Landis+Gyr Signs Advanced Metering Contract in Sacramento
  Landis+Gyr announced a contract with Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to supply all of the planned 620,000 smart meters for use in the deployment of SMUD’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). 07/24/09
  
  
• Itron Wins Contract in Belgium for Gas Smart Payment Meters
  Itron, Inc. announced that Contigea S.A., its Belgian subsidiary based in Brussels, has been awarded a contract to supply EANDIS with 40,000 gas smart payment meters over a period of three to five years. 07/23/09
  
  
• GE Energy and New Zealand Utility Kick Off Smart Grid Project
  GE Energy and central Canterbury electricity network Orion New Zealand Limited announced the implementation of the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers. 07/22/09

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Philips Acquires Teletrol Systems
  Philips announced that it has acquired Teletrol Systems Inc., a supplier of integrated solutions for simultaneous multi-site management of lighting and energy usage. 07/20/09

Personnel

• Eric Allyn Joins Welch Allyn Board of Directors
  Eric Allyn, great grandson of one of the company’s founders, William Noah Allyn, has spent most of his professional career working for the company, beginning with his first summer job as a college student in 1982. 07/13/09

[ Industry News Archives ]

NEMA News

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• NEMA Updates ANSI C136 Series of Lighting Standards
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• NEMA Publishes Four Arc Welding Standards
  These standards join ANSI/IEC 60974-1, which was published in April 2009. Each adopts an IEC 60974 document as an American National Standard and includes U.S. differences, as identified by the NEMA-administered ANSI Accredited Standards Committee W1. 07/16/09
  
  
• NEMA Publishes ANSI/NEMA WC 70-2009/ICEA S-95-658-2009 Power Cables Rated 2000 Volts or Less for the Distribution of Electrical Energy
  WC 70-2009/S-95-658 contains all construction requirements for the manufacturing of wire and cables, both single conductor and multiple conductor, as well as production and qualification testing requirements. 07/15/09

Market Comments by Tom Robinson Sentiment shifts these days pretty easily, and right now it is that the US recession is ending or is over. Probably consensus is that the recovery will be sluggish and unsure but a recovery nonetheless. read more...

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