DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES FACILITATING THE TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES: OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLICATION OF REACTIVE HYDRO-STEAM TURBINES FOR LOW-POTENTIAL HEAT RESOURCES

The study discusses the opportunities for producing geothermal energy, which is a renewable resource providing a continuous supply of heat from the Earth's interior.Unlike fossil fuels, which are non-renewable and cause environmental degradation, geothermal energy is of great interest to researchers, particularly in the context of sustainable development principles.The authors demonstrate the advantages of a new hydro-steam turbine (HST) using the heat of water from geothermal springs and heating boilers for power generation.The HST is designed as a Segner wheel with a steam-water mixture flowing out of a Laval nozzle, the resulting reactive force driving the turbine rotor and the power generator.The features of the HST thermodynamic process are analyzed in the form of a case study describing the design of a 20 kW plant and providing the technical specifications of the installation for a heating boiler plant: hot water flow rate of 7 kg/s, temperature of 130C, and inlet pressure of 0.6 MPa.The authors present the thermal schemes of the HST in two variants (at a boiler house and as a part of a geothermal power plant).The study concludes that the main advantages of the HST are the absence of elements subject to erosion under the action of steam and water flow and the simplicity of the design increasing the availability of geothermal energy for power generation.Among the limitations of the HST is its low economic efficiency narrowing down its application to conditions where geothermal fields are available for local power supply.