Tue, 11 March, 2025
Although the EU-funded GEOPRO project has finished, technology engineering company and project coordinator, TWI, is still working to enhance the operation of geothermal power plants through the continuing development of flow loops.
The GEOPRO project sought to optimise geothermal processes through the creation of improved thermodynamic models. This included the design and commissioning of a flow loop comprising a closed system of pipes, pumps and instrumentation. This allowed TWI to carry out a wide range of tests in geothermal-type conditions on behalf of the GEOPRO project consortium.
Speaking on the work to enhance the understanding of geofluids, project lead Namrata Kale from TWI said, “Multiphase fluids, comprising vapour and brine, constitute an integral component of numerous geothermal systems. The interactions between these fluid phases tend to affect the physical and chemical properties of the fluid, thereby resulting in operational challenges such as pressure fluctuations, cavitation, mineral scaling, corrosion and overall transport efficiency.”
By using the high pressure flow loop to generate data it is possible to target advances in the understanding and modelling of geofluid characteristics, and now there are plans to perform further experiments with the flow loop as part of PhD research work being undertaken at TWI’s headquarters near Cambridge, UK.
GEOPRO already tested optimal flow regimes under relevant conditions using the flow loop that was designed and constructed thanks to EU funding. These experiments were able to demonstrate the capability to measure various parameters under multi-phase flow conditions, including their impact on the flow processes of geothermal fluids.
TWI’s Namrata Kale continued, “These flow-loop tests serve as proof-of-concept, demonstrating some of the invaluable capabilities of the flow loop for geothermal energy research and development.”
The creation of the flow loop for geothermal applications was just part of the wider work of GEOPRO, which also delivered progress related to geothermal well modelling and research on IDDP-2 wells, with findings published in peer-reviewed journals.
The GEOPRO project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 851816