MSc defence by Damaris Wacera Njoroge

Damaris Wacera Njoroge from Kenya, MSc Fellow in MSc Sustainable Energy Engineering at Reykjavík University will defend her MSc project on Friday 2nd of June at 08:30-10:00 at RU in room M208.  

The title of the project is:
Economic and Environmental Feasibility of Energy Extraction from Brine of a Geothermal Wellhead Plant

Damaris's supervisors are:
Einar Jón Ásbjörnsson, Assistant Professor, Reykjavík University, Iceland
Hlynur Stefánsson, Professor, Reykjavík University, Iceland

Her external examiner is Þórður Víkingur Friðgeirsson, assistant professor at RU

Abstract
The need for sustainability in energy development has resulted in the push for development of sound systems that can support the needs of the population while maintaining environmental impacts at minimal. This paper describes the utilisation of separated brine for further electricity production, catering for environmental and economic factors. The paper investigates the environmental impact potential through the development of life cycle assessment for geothermal development: drilling, construction and operation phases for two alternatives; double flash and flash binary plants. The economic analysis involves the computation of exergy efficiency and profitability analysis for the two alternative plants. The environmental analysis uses of Life Cycle Assessment modelling to establish the environmental impact potential associated with exergy destruction. Exergy efficiency in both options increases by 75% and 87% for the double flash and the flash binary plant, respectively. The double flash system has an ROI of 0.32 and an EROI of 0.99. The flash binary has a ROI of 0.28 and an EROI of 0.84. The energy payback ratio is 8 years for the double flash and 9.6 years for the flash binary. The study assigns the factors associated with the alternatives and specifically the components that can be enhanced for cost and environmental impacts improvement.