162 Geothermal Power Plants: Principles, Applications, Case Studies and Environmental Impact

Table 8.3 Turbine size comparisons for several working fluids.(1)

Fluid Formula Molar mass Relative exit area(2)

Ammonia NH3 17.03 1.0 (1.0)

Propane C3H8 44.09 2.3 (1.9)
i-Butane i-C4H10 58.12 4.1 (4.9)
n-Butane C4H10 58.12 5.5 (6.3)
i-Pentane i-C5H12 72.15 12.2 (n.a.)
n-Pentane C5H12 72.15 14.6 (n.a.)

Turbine inlet temperature 5 400 K, saturated, except superheated for NH3 and C3H8; condensing
(1)

temperature 5 320 K. (2)Numbers in parentheses are from Ref. [13].

Table 8.4 Environmental and health properties of some candidate working fluids [14].

Fluid Formula Toxicity Flammability ODP GWP

R-12 CCl2F2 non-toxic non-flam. 1.0 4,500

R-114 C2Cl2F4 non-toxic non-flam. 0.7 5,850
Propane C3H8 low very high 0 3
i-Butane i-C4H10 low very high 0 3
n-Butane C4H10 low very high 0 3
i-Pentane i-C5H12 low very high 0 3
n-Pentane C5H12 low very high 0 3
Ammonia NH3 toxic lower 0 0
Water H2O non-toxic non-flam. 0 -

differences between the two approaches. However, the main result is the ranking
of the working fluids by relative sizes of the turbines, and in this respect, the two
approaches are in agreement. By way of comparison, steam would have a relative exit
area of about 120.

8.3.3 Health, safety, and environmental considerations

Lastly, the environmental, safety and health properties of potential working fluids
must be considered. These include flammability, toxicity, ozone depletion potential
(ODP), and global warming potential (GWP). Table 8.4 summarizes these properties
for the fluids in Table 8.1, plus two chlorofluorocarbons that used to be considered
candidate working fluids.
The ODP is normalized at 1.0 for refrigerants R-11 and R-12, which are the worst
in this regard. The GWP is normalized at 1.0 for carbon dioxide. Owing to their
very high ODP and GWP, both R-12 and R-114 have been banned from use by the
Copenhagen Amendment (effective as of 1994) to the Montreal Protocol (signed in
1987, effective as of 1989). The original binary plant at Paratunka in Russia that was
installed in 1967 used R-12 as its working fluid.
The contribution of the hydrocarbons to global warming comes about mainly
through the carbon dioxide that is a byproduct of their decomposition. All of the hydro-
carbon candidate fluids obviously are flammable and necessitate appropriate fire protec-
tion equipment on site, over and above the usual requirements for any power plant.