Alternative organic fluid to enhance the performance of Aluto Langano geothermal power plant in Ethiopia

This study aims at proposing a possible alternative solution to reactivate and maximize the energy potential of the Aluto Langano power plant in Ethiopia by performing thermodynamic analysis of the system for different working conditions and parameters. Detailed data from the plant has been collected. Modeling of the plant has been performed by using Matlab. A detailed sensitivity analysis has been performed by using different operating parameters (i.e. condenser pressure and working fluids), and a new production well has been also been introduced to upgrade the performance of the plant. The original plant used isopentane as a working fluid, and had a gross output of 4.648 MW under the current condition of the production wells. The simulation results indicate that the power outputs will increase for both n-butane and isobutane by 4.782 MW and 4.889 MW respectively. Therefore using butane as a working fluid would make the power plant more efficient and economical.