A PACIFIC-WIDE GEOTilERMAL RESEARCH LABOOA'ltRY:TIlE !'UNA GrorHERMAL RESEARCH FACILITY

Patrick Takahashi, Arthur Seki, and Bill Olen

university of Hawaii2540 Dole street

HonolUlu, Hawaii 96822

ibe Hawaii Geothermal Project (HGI?-A) well,located in the Kilauea volcano east riftzone, was drilled to a depth of 6450 feet in1976. It is considered to be one of the hot­test producing geothermal wells in theworld. This single well provides 52,800pounds per hour of 371 0 F and 160 pounds persquare inch-absolute (psia) stearn to a 3­megawatt power plant, while the separatedbrine is discharged in percolating ponds.About 50,000 pounds per hour of 368"F and 155psia brine is discharged.

Geothermal energy development has increasedsteadily in Hawaii since the completion ofB3P-A in 1976:

o a 3 megawatt power plant at B3P-Awas COl1illeted and has been oper­ating since 19B1:

o Hawaiian Electric Coopmy (HECO)has requested that their next in­crement in power production befran geothermal steam:

o three development consortia areactively, or in the process of,drilling geothermal explorationwells on the Big Island: and

o engineering work on the develop­ment of a 400 megawatt underseacable for energy transmission iscontinuing, with exploratory dis­cussions being initiated on otheralternatives such as hydrogen.

The pUrpose for establishing the Puna Geo­thermal Research Facility (PG,RF) is multi­fold. FGRF will provide a facility in Punafor high technology researtih, development,and dellDllstration in geothermal and relatedactivities: initiate an industrial park de­velopment: and examine multi pUrpose dehydra­tion and biomass applications related to geo­thermal energy utilization.

INTRODUCl'IQN

The Hawaii Geothermal Project (HGP) began in

1972 when the state legislature allocated$200,000 fot geothermal research to identifyand utilize geothermal resources in Hawaii.The initial effort, which was also funded bythe Ibtional Science Foundation, started inmid-1973 on the Island of Hawaii with theuniversity of Hawaii at Manoa (UJIII) and Hilacanp.tses conducting geophysical, geochemical,engineering, enVironmental, and socio­economic progtams.

Aftet the researchers identified a well sitein the Puna District on the east rift ofKilauea Volcano (see Figures 1 and 2), adrilling program was initiated in 1975 withfunding from the Energy Research and Develop­ment Agency, State, and County of Hawaii.

HGP-A well, named aftet the late lIgatin T.Abbott, Professor of Geology at UHM, was c0m­pleted to a depth of 6,450 feet in April

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Figure 1. Map of Hawaii

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1976. A bottanhole tenperature of ar;proxi-­mately 676°p makes HGP-A one of the hottesgeothermal wells in the world. Scientisthave conservatively predicted that the avail­able energy in the Kilauea east rift zone isin the order of about 50,000 meqawatt-years[121.

During 1976 and 1977, several sets of flowtests were conducted to gather data on watersource, solids content, and to make prelim­inary predictions of the reservoir's size,shape, and production capacity [12]. In or­der to obtain additional information on thecharacteristics and extent of the geothermalresources as well as to denDnstrate the fea­sibility of geothermal energy utilization,the OOP-A Wellhead Generator FeasibilityProject was then proposed. ibis project,funded in June 1978 by the U.S. Department ofEnergy (USOOE) and supported by the State,UHM, the county of Hawaii, and HawaiiElectric Light COnpany (HElm), was fordesign, construction, operation, and mainte­nance of a geothermal power plant at HGP-A[21.

construction was conpleted in June 1981, andafter some initial shakedown period, theplant started to generate electricity inearly 1982 [1,41. Since then, the powerplant has been on line 95 percent of the timegenerating ar;praximately 2.8 megawatt ofelectricity. Two-tenths of a megawatt areused in plant and the remaining power istransmitted to HELQ)' s electric grid as thefirst geothermal electricity in Hawaii. InAugust, 1983, the first scheduled routinemaintenance was conducted and the turbineshowed very little wear and scale buildup.ibe actual maintenance work was finished inhalf of the scheduled tillE. Geothermalenergy, thus, is technically viable in Hawaii.

To date, over $14 million has been spent toexplore, drill, and develop the OOP-A facil­ity. ApprOXimately $10 million has come fromvarious federal agencies, with the remainderfrom State, county of Hawaii, and HELQ) [91.

With the success of the HGP-A CJeathermalpower plant, several wells were drilled byprivate conpanies within a mile of the II;P-Asite (see Figure 2). Even though no datahave been released by these conpanies, allindications point to the availability of gao­thernal resources in these wells conparableto the OOP-A well. ibe privat"e conpanies arecurrently in the resource CQnfirmation phaseof building a power gener"ating facility toprovide electricity to HELCO by 1987 [Ill.

GEOI'HERMAL APPLICATIOOS PR<X;RAMS

ibe majority of the geothermal resources inthe world are used for non-electric pur­poses. !'lOst of these uses are in space heat­ing/cooling, agriculture/aquaculture, and in­dustrial processes. ibe leading user of geo-

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Figure 2. Geothermal Locations

thermal energy for space heating is Icelandwhere 75 percent of the population use geo­thermal heat in their homes. District heat­ing is also being seriously considered by asmany as 40 different sites in the U.S. Spacecooling has been successfully ar;plied in Newzealand and at the Oregon Institute of Tech­nology. Extensive agri-business related geo­thermal energy utilization occurs in thesoviet Union and in Hungary. Industrialar;plications can be seen in the wood andpaper processing plant in New Zealand and thediatomaceous earth drying plant in Iceland.some U.S. exal1ples are the onion dehydrationplant at Brady Hot Springs, Nevada and milkpasteurization at Klamath Falls, Oregon [7J.

ibe future development of geothermal energyis not without problems. For eXaJ11?le, thesilica in the liquid phase of the geothermalfluid makes the disposal extremely difficult[101. WOrk has been done in New Zealand toseek optimum temperature and pressure for re­injection. The Electric POWer ResearchInstitute will be testing a flash crystal­lizer separator this year in Imperialvalley. A similar: unit by Union Oil is alsoin operation at Salton Sea [Ill.

In addition, there is a great deal of heatwasted in using geothermal fluid only for

"electric generation. For eXaJ11?le, at HGP-A'approximately 50,000 pounds per hour of 368°Fand 155 psia geothermal water is disposed.This is about 17 million BTU per hour orequivalent to 3 barrels of oil per hour.With the private conpanies also developinggeothermal power plants, there will be an

abundance of geothermal water for direct heat .._..applications.

'ltle state with federal support has also em­barked on eXamining methods to transport thispotentially abundant energy to the island ofoahu where the vast majority of the state'spopulation and subsequent energy demand isneeded. One method is Via an underwaterelectric cable to transmit the surplus geo­thermal energy to Honolulu. Other energybridges include liquid fuels production andhydrogen.

THE PUNA GEOI'HERMAL RESEARCH PACILI'n

HGP-A is the only operating geothermal wellin Hawaii, making this site unique in gainingexpertise about the Hawaiian geothermal wellfluids and reservoir. In April 1984,Governor George Ariyoshi released $325,000 ofcapital inprovement funds to bUild a facilityto conduct geothermal applications researchon the grounds of the HGP-A wellsite (seePigure 3). A local engineering firm has beenselected to design and manage construction ofthe Puna Geothermal Research Facility(PGRP) • 'ltle PGRP should be installed andready for use in the swrmer of 1985.

'ltle design features include a wet chemistrylaboratory, a smaller laboratory room, and anoffice. An open area has been designated forgeothermal research in which high pressurebrine (160 psia) will be provided for variousexperiments. Low pressure steam and brine(15 psia) frOOl a small flash separator is ex­pected to be installed in the second phase of

this project. 'ltlis facility will be housedin a 40 foot by 50 foot pre-fabricatedbuilding. Electricity (120 volts and 240volts), running water, lights, drainage, san­itation, conpressed air, and telephone willalso be provided. Table 1 is an equipnentlist for PGRP.

PGRP thus will:

1) provide a facility in Puna for hightechnology research, development,and demonstration in geothermal andrelated activities; and

2) initiate an industrial park develop­ment.

Use of the facility will be directed by theHawaii Natural Energy Institute [flNEI) in co­operation with the University of Hawaii atHilo, with the sUppOrt of the County ofHawaii, which has also appropriated $26,500in cost-sharing funds, and the State Depart­ment of Planning and Economic Developnent(OPED), which will cost share capitalinprovement project monies as justified.

PGRP will enable vital research and develop­ment to be carried out in both geothermalelectrical and non-electrical applicationssuch as dehydration, agriculture, aqua­culture, by-product recovery, etc. 'ltle re­search program at PGRF will build on thepresently known results at various researchinstitutions throughout the world. A Ge0­thermal Research hlvisory Task Porce (Table2) has been formed, consisting of represent­atives from academia, a utility conpany, gov- ..

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1 proposed PGRF Site2 Wellhead3 Separator4 Caustic Tan~s.

5 Powet" P! ant6 H2S Abatemel'1t7 Cool ing To~r

8 Detention Por'ld9 Sett lingo Pond

10 Visitor" CenterFigure 3. IIGP-A WeITsite

errunent, private sector, and general COlllDU- ---.

nity, and has identified the following areaEas desirable for research emphasis:

1) Well and reservoir analysis ofKapoho Reservoir

2) Silica inhibition, extraction, andutili2ation

3) Sulfur removal and utilization4) Dehydration and food processing5) COld storage and ice making6) Geothermal water and gas chemistry

monitoring7) Effect of B2S on plant and animal

life8} Liquid-fuel-from-biomass and geo­

thermal heat process9) By-products from B;!S10) Hydrogen production stillUlation with

geothermal heat11) Geothermal brine reinjection

Table 1. Fquipment List for the l'\lnaGeothermal Research Facility

Available P?3Uipnent

Miscellaneous toolsTemperature sensorsPressure gaugesFlowmetersData acquisition system and controllerBorescopePunpsValvesTubingPortable data mnitor systemScaleMicroscopeHumidity meterSanple preparation equipmentpH meterLab bench with sink and hoodGas chromographMiscellaneous lab suppliesH2S continuous monitor with recordercentrifugeFilter systemDilution meterFlash separatorConpressor

!?ending P?3Uipment (From other proposals andprocurements)

Rankine engineAmmonia compressorHot-air d,;yer/geothermal heat exchangerosmotic-vacuum dryerActivated charcoal columnAtomic analY2er

'!he facility could initiate industrial parkor small business development utilizing thepotential electrical power and heat availablefrom the geothermal fluid. Table 3 is a BlDlI­mary of the kinds of applications anticipated

Table 2. Geothermal Research Advisory TaskForce

Robert Bethea, Big Island, HiloBill Olen, University of Hawaii, BiloDavid Hess, Big Island, FIlnaStuart Kearns, County of HawaiiDeane Kihara, Engineering Advisor, UBMRalph Masuda, County of MauiRod Moss, Geothermal developerRichard O'Cbnnell, Hawaiian Electric Co.sandy Siegel, Environmental Advisor, UBMM. Ray Smith, Tropical Agriculture

Advisor, UHMPatrick Takahashi, Olairman, UHMDonald 'lbomas, Geophysical Advisor, lJHI1Tak Yoshihara, Department of Planning I:i

Economic Development

from the waste effluent alone. As this areais suffering economically through the recentclosing of Puna sugar Conpany, which culti­vated 15,000 acres of land, the initiation ofpossible new industries is of especial inpor­tance. Some initial studies have been oon­ducted examining the use of geothermal energyin commercial/industrial applications inHawaii [3,5,6].

'lbe COllege of Engineering and IlNEI at theUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa are initiatingthe Fellows in Renewable Energy Engineering(FREE) program. '!his program involves cor­porate and foundation endowment of teachingand research positions to advance the devel­opment of renewable energy technologies. '!heposition and salary (provided by UBM) will beaugmented to draw top level researchers todevelop what is hoped to be the finest ofengineering faculty conducting research oncritical renewable energy engineering prob­lems in the most ideal of natural laborato­ries, Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industrieshas donated $250,000 specifically to support­a FREE researcher in geothermal energy.

'!he Pacific International center for HighTechnology Research (PICHTR), currentlyhoused at the College of Engineering, estab­lished renewable energy research as one ofthe three research focal points. At thePICHTR meeting held in Honolulu, Hawaii inAugust 1984, researchers from the UnitedStates, Taiwan, and Japan concluded that geo­thermal energy applications research would befruitful to all the participants and wasidentified as a high priority area of enpha­sis. Taiwan has subsequently followed up andhas recommended a joint effort [BI.

OJMMUNITY GrorHERMAL TECIIOOLOOY PRCGRAM (CGTP)

In addition to the mre traditional researchprojects to be conducted by university re­searchers, the COrmnmity Geothermal Tech­nology Program has been proposed to providethe opportunity for small businesses to usegeothermal energy for non-electric purposes.

Table 3. Potential Geotheonal lIpplicatior the PUna Geothermal Reseatch pacility [7)

ApPlication

Dtying of fish meal, ti1ltlerDtying of fatlll products at high rates, food canningSugat processing, extraction of saltsFreshwater by distillationDrying and curing light aggregate cement slabs,

saline solutions for intravenous injectionDehydrated potato ptocessing, dtying otganic matetials,

seaweed, grass, vegetables, etc.Dtying fish stock, intense deicing opetationsMilk pasteurization, space heatingReftigeration by low tenp!taturePoultty processing, animal husbandtyPoultty hatching, btooding, DIlshroorn gtowing, balneologyPapaya double dippingsoil warmingBiodegtadation, fermentation, deicingFish hatching, farming

op °C

320 160284 140266 130248 120230 110

212 100

194 90176 BOl5B 70140 60122 50120 49104 40

86 3068 20

'l11e following is a SUll1llaty of the keyfeatures of the program.

1) Objective: '!be Conmunity GeothermalTechnology Ptogram will ptovidestattet grants to individuals andsmall businesses which would like tomake use of the Puna Geothermal Re­seatch Facility (PGRF). As neces­saty or requested, university facul­ty menbers will be assigned to as­sist grantees conduct teseatch atPGRP. By providing financial suI;rport and guidance throughout theproject, uses of geothermal ener:gyperceived as iJrpottant by the co~

DUnity would be encouraged.

2) Grant Awards: Grants will beawarded upon the review and approvalof a written proposal by a reviewboard consisting of representativesfrom the university, State Ener:gyDivision, "peer· reviewers fran theHilo/Puna communities who ar:e famil­iat with the needs and desires ofthe businesses and residents of thearea, and contributing sponsors.Grants shall not exceed $10,000, andmay be awarded in any smaller amount.

3) Proposals: A request for proposalshall be publicized periodically.'!be review board 'shall pr:ovideguidelines keeping paperwor:k as s~pIe as possible and limiting thelength to a few pages. A formatsimilar to the one errployed by theUSIlOE in its Appropriate EnergyTechnology Small Grants Programwould be used, requiring informationon the qualifications of the pr(rposer, a description of the work tobe done, a detailed bUdget andschedule, a brief narrative on the

irrportance of the project to thecommunity, and other pertinent in­formation.

4) Eligibility: Any individual, non-profit organization, communitygroup, small business, nativeHawaiian organi:1;ation, or farmer iseligible for the program. Prefer­ence will be given to those livingor working in geothermal districts.

S) COordination and Assistance: To en­sure the quality of the work andfacilitate the solution to any prob­lems encountered by the grantee, whomay be inexperienced at submittingproposals and performing work undera grant, a me1ltler of the Univer:aityof Hawaii faculty could be asked toassist each grantee to provideguidance and technical assistance.

'!be groundwork has been established by theState Department of Planning and EconanicDevelopment and IlNEI to formulate a CGTPeffort to maximize COI1IIlInity use of PGRF.'!be State Energy Division of DPED, IlNEI, andthe COunty of Hawaii have collectively CO~

mitted $234,990, would like to secure another:$75,000 from private ClJIltWlies, and has re­quested funds fran the USOOE to acceleratethe transfer:ence of information and tech­nology to industty.

'!be program calls for individuals and smallbusinesses in the community to submit grantsto CGl'P to use the br:ine and facility atHGP-A to examine uses of the fluid. Asnecessaty or requested, UHM faculty menDerswill be assigned to assist the award win­ners. Grants will be reviewed by the Ge(rthermal Research Advisory Task Porce and willnot exceed $10,000. A request for proposalwill be publiched and workshops prOViding

assistance with proposal developnent will be -_ 13]held. A sinple formatted proposal will brused, lXXlSisting of information on the quali-fication of the proposer, description of thework to be done, a detailed budget and sche-dule, and the illpJrtance of the project tothe community. .

'!brough these means, ideas illpJrtant to local [4]small businesses would be represented in theresearch program at PGRF. It is anticipatedthat the "seed" grants from ro:rP would resultin new or expanded business o:wortunities inthe district, with a resultant increase injobs. '!be potential for geothermal heat-related activities would encourage the effi- [5]clent use of the region's substantial geo-thermal resources, as well as making furthergeothermal development more attractive.

Reinforcing the research priority list men-tioned earlier, the Island of Hawaii business [6]and agricultural CQITIlIUlity have also identi-fied projects of inportance. These includecold storage, ice naking, arid food process-ing. '!be Rma area is predominantly agricul-tural, with cOIll1ll!rcial fishing also of someinp>rtance, so projects in these fields ex-cite the most COIlIllllIity interest. HCMever,the awards would not necessarily be limited [7]to these subjects. It is hoped that CGTPwill spawn a variety of proposals, includingsome in subjects which may have been over-looked by the established research COIlIllllIity. ( 8)

~

A sum exceeding $30 million has thus far beenexpended to develop geothermal energy inHawaii. Very little of this amount has gonetowar:ds a~lications. (9)

One of the main purposes of PGRF is to devel-op means by which waste and nuisance can beconverted into worth. A second objective isto involve the cOl\lllunity help themselves [10]build the kinds of industries they mostdesire. I'GRF could be the model from whichsimilar natural energy laboratories can beestablished for other technologies.

Chen, B.H., L.P. Lopez, R. King, J.Fujii, and M. Tanaka, ·Utili­zation of Geothermal Energy inTropical Fruit Processing,"Department of Planning and Econo­mic Deve1opnent, State of Hawaii,October, 1982.

Olen, B.H., L.P. Lopez, J.T. Kuwada,and R.J. Farr:ington, "ProgressReport on HGP-A wellhead Genera­tor Feasibility Project,· Ge0­thermal Resources Council Trans­actions, No.4, 1980, ~. 491 494.

Hirai, W.A. & Associates, "Feasi­bility of an Ice-Making and COldStorage Facility Using GeothermalWaste Heat in Puna District, Is­land of Hawaii,· OCtober 1982.

Hurrme, J., M. Tanaka, M. Yokota, andA. Furumoto, ·Engineer:ing andEconomic Analysis for: the Utili­zation of GeOther:nal Fluids in acane sugar Processing PlantFinal Report,· Puna Sugar CO. ­AMFAC, Inc., July 1979.

Lund, G.W. ·Direct Use of Geother:nalResources,· unpublished manu-script, 1984.

"Proceedings - Technical PlanningMeeting," Pacific Inter:nationalcenter for High Technology Re­search, University of Hawaii atManoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, August15-16, 1984.

·State Energy Resources COOrdinator1982 Annual Report,· Departmentof Planning and Economic Develop­ment, State of Hawaii, 1983.

ThOlllaS, D. "A Geochemical case Studyof the HGP-A well: 1976 - 1982,·Proceeding of the Pacific Ge0­thermal COnference and Fourth NewZealand GeOthermal WOrkshop,1982, pp. 273-278.

[1]

[2]

Chen, B.H., and L.P. Lopez, ·FinalReport on HGP-A wellhead Gener:a­tor Feasibility Project,· ~thermal Resources COuncil Trans­actions, No.6, 1982, pp. 335-337.

Olen, B.H., L.P. Lopez, R.J.Farrington, J.T. Kuwada, and R.T.Uenura, "HGP-A Wellhead GeneratorFeasibility Project," GeOthernalResources Council Transactions,No.3, 1979, pp. 103-106.

[11]

[12]

Uenura, R., Hawaiian Electric c0m-pany, per:sonal cOlllllllnication,1984.

Yuen, P.C., B.H. Olen, D.H. Kihara,A.S. Seki, and P.K. Takahashi,"HGP-A Reservoir Engineering,·Hawaii GeOthermal Project,Univer:sity of Hawaii at Manoa,SeptenDer 1978.