Geothermal (地热) Energy
1 Since heat naturally moves from hotter regions to cooler ones, the heat from the earth"s center flows outwards towards the suce. In this way, it transfers to the next layer of rock. If the temperature is high enough, some of this rock melts and forms magma (岩浆). The magma ascends in its turn towards the earth"s suce. It often remains well below the earth"s suce, creating vast areas of hot rock. In such regions, there are deep cracks, which allow rainwater to descend underground. Some of the heated rainwater travels back up to the earth"s suce where it will appear as a hot spring. However, if this ascending hot water reaches a layer of impermeable (不可渗透的) rock, it remains trapped, forming a geothermal reservoir. If geothermal reservoirs are close enough to the suce, they can be reached by drilling wells. Hot water and steam shoot up the wells naturally, and can be used to produce electricity in geothermal power plants.
2 A few geothermal power plants depend on dry-steam reservoirs which produce steam but little or no water. In these cases, the steam is piped up directly to provide the power to spin a turbine generator. The first geothermal power plant, constructed at Lardarello in Italy, was of this type, and is still producing electricity today.
3 Most currently operating geothermal power plants are either "flash" steam plants or binary (双重的) plants. Flash plants produce mainly hot water ranging in temperature from 300° to 700° Fahrenheit. This water is passed through one or two separators where, released from the pressure of the underground reservoir, it "flashes" or boils into steam. Again, the force of this steam provides the energy to spin the turbine and produce electricity. The geothermal water and steam are then reinjected directly back down into the earth to maintain the volume and pressure of the reservoir. Gradually they will be reheated and can then be used again.
4 A reservoir with temperatures below 300° Fahrenheit is not hot enough to flash steam but it can still be used to generate electricity in a binary fluid. The steam from this is used to power the turbines. As in the flash steam plant, the geothermal water is recycled back into the reservoir. Geothermal (地热) EnergyA geothermal reservoir is formed when hot water is trapped under ______.
A. the energy to turn a turbine
B. impermeable rock
C. one or two separators
D. turbine operator
E. little or no water
F. hot springs