The injection of CO2 to hypersaline geothermal brine: A case study for Tuzla region

Abstract

Scaling is a serious issue for geothermal power plants since it remarkably decreases the harvesting of energy. The reduction of pH by organic acids whose structure is close to CO2 for instance formic acid has been an effective solution for the minimization of scaling. Herein, the effect of CO2 injection on the formation of scaling particularly metal-silicates was investigated for the model case of Tuzla Geothermal Field (TGF) located in the northwest of Turkey. CO2 has an acidic character in aqueous systems because it leads to the formation of carbonic acid. The injection of 20.6 m3/s CO2 (approximately 88 ppm) to hypersaline brine of TGF is a promising green approach for both mitigation of scaling by reducing pH from 7.2 to 6.2 at the well-head and the minimization of potential corrosion compared to the use of formic acid (55 ppm).