U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Geothermal Technologies Program

R&D Successes

R&D 100 Awards

State Energy Program

R&D 100 Awards

Advanced Direct Contact Condenser Wins R&D 100 Award in 1999

Photo of Desikhan Bharathan.

NREL's Desikhan Bharathan receives his R&D 100 Award.

  • The advanced direct-contact condenser (ADCC) that uses sophisticated geometric shapes to provide optimal surface area for condensing spent steam.

  • The technology has been employed at Unit #11 at The Geysers, where it has improved production efficiency by 5%, has cut the chemical cost for emission abatement in half, and total power generation potential by 17%.

  • ADCC also can be used for fossil-fuel power plants and for food processing or any other industrial process in which steam is condensed.

  • Also won a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer.

Geothermal Well Cement Wins R&D 100 Award in 2000

Photo of Dr. Sugama.

Dr. Sugama wins R&D 100 Award.

  • The harsh, hostile environment of a geothermal well rapidly degrades conventional cements that are supposed to keep the well intact.

  • Dr. Toshifumi Sugama of the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory developed a high-performance cement that increases useful well life by a factor of 20 or more.

  • This new cement means savings of $150,000 per well per year over a 20-year lifetime of the well!


Silica Recovery from Geothermal Brine R&D 100 Award in 2001

Photo of Mow Lin, Brookhaven chemist, one of the inventors of the silica recovery process.

Brookhaven chemist Mow Lin, one of the inventors of the silica recovery process.

  • Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Caithness Operating Company won a 2001 R&D 100 Award for developing a technology to recover commercial-quality silica from geothermal brine, a byproduct of geothermal energy production. Retrieving this valuable product from brine, which is generally disposed of as waste, results lower maintenance costs and in cheaper energy production.

  • The notably pure (~99.9%) recovered silica — much purer than most silica on the market today — can be used for new commercial applications, such as in nanoscale materials, sub-micron electronic circuits, and fiber optics.

  • Silica is used widely as a drying agent for products such as salt; a polishing agent for commodities such as toothpaste; as a filler, extender or reinforcer for plastics, paper, paint and rubber; and as a catalyst for refining oil.

PPS Coating Technology Wins R&D 100 Award in 2002

Photo of pipes with PPS coating.

PPS coating on the left and a failed coating on the right.

  • Polyphenylenesulfide (PPS) is a revolutionary material developed by Brookhaven National Laboratory and tested by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and won a 2002 R&D 100 award and a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer.

  • The coating prevents corrosion and inhibits buildup of scale from mineral-rich geothermal brines and caustic industrial fluids, reducing maintenance and capital expenditures.

  • The PPS system can be exposed to production geothermal fluid at 350°F, and has been successfully transferred for commercialization to Curran International, an established company with experience using epoxy and phenolic coatings.


Acoustic Telemetry Device Wins R&D 100 Award in 2003

Photo of an Acoustic Telemetry Device.

Acoustic Telemetry Device quickly and reliably transmits data to the surface of a geothermal well to improve drilling, increase production, and lower well costs.

  • Advantages compared to existing techniques are a ten-fold improvement in data rates and no blocking of fluid flow path.

  • Acoustic telemetry technology uses the well-drilling tubing as the data transmission medium and sound waves as the data carrier.

  • Developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories in cooperation with Extreme Engineering, Ltd.


The Low Emissions Atmospheric Metering Separator Wins R&D 100 Award in 2003

Photo of the Low Emissions Atmospheric Metering System (LEAMS).

The Low Emissions Atmospheric Metering Separator (LEAMS) helps geothermal power plants achieve "clean energy" status.

  • The technology's primary use is to safely contain and clean atmospheric vented steam of polluting solids, liquids, and noxious gases. Currently, no atmospheric cyclone separator can perform all these functions as well under a single system.

  • Developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories in cooperation with Drill Cool Systems, Inc., and Two-Phase Engineering and Research.


State Energy Program

Funding Awards for State Geothermal Projects

  • 2003 State Energy Program Special Projects

    Five geothermal energy projects worth $294,085 were funded to support information sharing among states with direct-use geothermal resources and update their assessments of geothermal energy resources. The awards were made in August 2003 as part of the fiscal year (FY) 2003 Special Projects under the State Energy Program (SEP).