Techno-economic optimization of a geothermal ORC with novel “Emeritus” heat rejection units in hot climates

Abstract The present work aims to investigate the potential advantages in using a novel wet and dry configuration for heat rejection units in ORC power plants. The reference case is a geothermal power plant that exploits a low temperature brine and uses a closed loop of cooling water to release the condensation heat to the ambient. In the calculations, the off-design operation of the whole plant is optimized from a techno-economic point of view with a realistic part-load behavior of the ORC and the use of experimentally validated correlations for the heat rejection section. The performance attainable with the novel LU-VE Emeritus ® unit equipped with a water spray system and adiabatic panels is compared with those achievable with the same unit in dry operation. Final results show a marked increase of electricity production as well as of revenues with Emeritus ® units with respect to a dry unit.