Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Science & Technology: German Technology Controls Geothermal Well Pumps

Softing Delivers Gateway Solution for Geothermal Power Plant Application (Control)

(Courtesy Softing Industrial Automation GmbH)
The country of Nicaragua is heavily investing in renewable energy projects. One of these projects is the geothermal power plant in the Cordillera de Maribios mountain range, a 70-km-long active volcano chain lining the Pacific’s Ring of Fire. The US-based company Ram Power executed the project.

The geothermal brine is extracted at well pump stations that are miles away from the central control building. The process application that controls each well pump is designed as a self-contained Control-In-the-Field (CIF) system. The CIF concept is at the heart of FOUNDATION Fieldbus technology and does not require the use of a PLC/DCS system.