The bi-annual (hybrid) meeting of the GeoHex project was held on June 6, 2023 at the office of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Grenoble, France. This was the last physical meeting before the end of the project. In this meeting, consortium members presented their work updates completed during the last six months, and discussed the key performance indicator (KPI) achievements and deviations.
The consortium members who participated in the meeting included Dr Mahfuza Ahmed, Dr M A Hye Chowdhury and Mashiyat Durjoy from Technovative Solutions Limited (TVS); David Martelo, Arunima Nair, Paul Shiladitya and Namrata Kale from TWI; Baldur Geir Gunnarsson from IceTec; Gifty Oppong Boakye and Halldór Pálsson from University of Iceland; Zoé Minvielle from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA); Kolbrún Ragna Ragnarsdóttir, Sæmundur Guðlaugsson from Orka Náttúrunnar; Per Kjellgren from FlowPhys AS (FPS); John Defensor from Quantum Leap JMB Mkt.; Paolo Taddei Pardelli from SPIKE Renewables; and Elena Laura Geambazu from the University Politehnica of Bucharest.
Discussion points and demonstrations:
A mini binary power plant (mini Organic Rankine Cycle- ORC plant) has been developed by ENOGIA, France, also one of the project partners. After initial tests at ENOGIA, the mini ORC plant was sent and installed at the CEA, a partner and also the host of this bi-annual meeting. Currently, CEA is working on the mini ORC plant by evaluating the GeoHex enabled (or novel GeoHex materials coated heat exchangers; GeoHex project has developed novel coating materials for the heat exchanger surfaces to improve heat transfer performance, scaling, and corrosion) and standard heat exchangers and comparing the heat transfer performances of the heat exchangers with and without GeoHex coating materials. Zoé Minvielle from CEA demonstrated the mini ORC (10 kW capacity) to the consortium members. Currently, the experiment is running to evaluate the GeoHex-enabled heat exchangers.
TVS performed a boiling experiment at the University of Iceland, captured bubble images/videos of the organic fluid R134a, and successfully analysed the bubble images/videos. The results of this work are used to simulate the bubble dynamics within the project and can be used beyond Geothermal energy. The developed Image processing algorithm is also a module in the knowledge-based Decision Support System (KBDSS) that TVS is developing, and users can evaluate their bubble videos/images to evaluate the bubble parameters.
Dr Mahfuza Ahmed, Collaborative Research Leader at Technovative Solutions Limited mentioned about the meeting and the demonstrations,
"TVS has benefited in many ways from this meeting. In-person communications with the TVS tasks' dependent partners were beneficial for the upcoming deliverables. Physical demonstration of the mini ORC plant helped a lot to understand the details of the orientation of the different types of plate and tubular type heat exchangers, the evaluation of their performance, turbine position, heat transfer fluid, and working fluid cycles, all now can be visualized, this will help the TVS to be implemented or already implemented work more efficiently."
About TVS demonstration, Dr Mahfuza added,
"DSS received a lot of interest and praise from the consortium members; consortium partners found the DSS very useful, especially in using the sustainability module and the financial tool to calculate the levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)."
Contribution of TVS in the GeoHex project
For the GeoHex project, TVS is developing a Knowledge-Based Decision Support System (KBDSS), which evaluates the economic and environmental Impact of the GeoHex materials. Users will be able to evaluate the economic impact that includes Capex with breakdown, levelized cost of energy (LCOE), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), return on investment (ROI); and Environmental Impact (carbon footprint and others) of Geohex materials if used in heat exchangers instead of standard or service oriented architecture (SOA) materials in the existing binary, Flash Geothermal power plants or beyond.