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Title: Vapor-liquid equilibrium of chlorides in aqueous systems to high temperatures: Application to the Geysers geothermal field

Conference ·
OSTI ID:10178409

Measurements have been made of the partitioning of chlorides including HCl, NaCl, NH4Cl, MgCl2, and CaCl2 over wide ranges of solution ionic strength at temperatures to 350 °C. Thermodynamic distribution constants KD have been determined from analyses of the concentrations of species in the coexisting phases using activity coefficients available or estimated from published measurements. These results indicate that it is unlikely that HCl, the single most volatile chloride species at all temperatures considered, is solely responsible for all chloride found in the vapor phase due to the low solution pH required to give the observed levels in steam. Noting that sodium is not found in appreciable levels in steam from the high-temperature reservoir in the northwest Geysers and that ammonia is present in significant amounts as a noncondensible gas, it is shown that a slightly acidic ammonium chloride brine is capable of producing steam having some of the characteristics observed in produced steam from the northwest Geysers.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
10178409
Report Number(s):
CONF-941043-5; ON: DE94017854
Resource Relation:
Conference: 1994 annual meeting of the Geothermal Resources Council: restructuring the geothermal industry, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 2-5 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English