A digital twin for simulating geochemical processes in geothermal power plants

The MALEG project involves the development of artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency of geothermal energy production. A digital twin of the geothermal power plant (a cyber-physical system with sensors and actuators) and a digital twin of the hydrogeochemical processes (process simulation) within the thermal water cycle have been established.

In terms of the geochemical digital twin, energy production in geothermal power plants is linked to the fundamental hydrochemical conditions of the fluid. Changes in pressure, temperature or pH can alter the chemical equilibrium of the extracted thermal water, potentially leading to uncontrolled processes such as mineral precipitation, outgassing and corrosion. To better map these processes, a digital twin has been developed and applied to several geothermal power plants. The simulations are automatically calculated, transferred and evaluated. This enables the new geochemical equilibrium conditions to be determined and interpreted directly as the power plant parameters change. Combined with the cyber-physical system, these process simulations form the basis for implementing artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency of geothermal power plants.