Binary Geothermal Power Plants

The book first defines what a binary power plant is, its features and challenges, followed by an overview on the geographic distribution of the existing binary units in the World, tracing the history, the present installed capacity and sizes and the future growth scenarios for this technology.Followed by a section dedicated to Geothermal Energy as a whole, with an insight in its technical, environmental and socio-economic aspects and analyzing the so-called conventional and unconventional geothermal systems. Next, the main technologies for the electric power generation from geothermal energy are presented, followed by statistical highlights of type, size and geographic allocation of geothermal power plants in the World. A major portion of the book is devoted to Binary Technology, describing the key components and their design and construction, followed by chapters dedicated to the Organic Rankine Cycle principle and optimization, history and advancements and to the Kalina Cycle. A key aspect of this book is its focus on technical, environmental and feasibility-related issues and it includes some representative case studies.