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Power

Creeping Lava Now Threatens Major Hawaiian Power Plant (gizmodo.com) 68

Posted by BeauHD from the steady-as-she-goes dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Molten lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has entered the grounds of Puna Geothermal Venture, a geothermal power plant that provides about 25 percent of the Big Island's power. The 38 Megawatt Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) power plant, which is located in the east rift zone of the Kilauea volcano, was shut down soon after the eruptions began on May 3. Yesterday, lava from Fissure 22 came to within 820 feet (250 meters) of the plant's nearest well pad before stalling, as Reuters reports. Overnight, workers managed to cap the 11th and final well at the facility in anticipation of the lava eventually reaching the facility, and to prevent the uncontrollable release of toxic gases. Mercifully, the lava flow stopped at a ridge near the PGV plant, but as the events of the past two weeks have shown, Mount Kilauea is in an extremely volatile state. The HCCD said Fissure 22 is producing most of the lava feeding the flows, so the situation near the power plant remains precarious.
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Creeping Lava Now Threatens Major Hawaiian Power Plant More

Creeping Lava Now Threatens Major Hawaiian Power Plant

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  • To be expected (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mal-2 ( 675116 ) on Tuesday May 22, 2018 @04:42PM (#56655362) Homepage Journal

    Geothermal power always has the liability that it sits on geologically active ground. Sure the lava will go some other direction most of the time, but the law of averages says it's always going to be a risk.

    • Geothermal power always has the liability that it sits on geologically active ground. Sure the lava will go some other direction most of the time, but the law of averages says it's always going to be a risk.

      It's not even the law of averages - it's inevitable if there is lava flowing. Lava flows downhill, it then solidifies and "downhill" is redefined relative to the point from which it flows for the next eruption. Very rarely do volcanic islands form with a moving hotspot powerful enough to ensure an island forms and that it only grows on one side.

  • Emergency Power Ship (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    How about it Tesla? Batteries, ready to spread solar power plant, multiplicity of connector types on a ship, always ready go in the case of a emergency. Cities are hard to keep safe if the water pressure drops enough for a week or more.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Solandri ( 704621 )

      How about it Tesla? Batteries, ready to spread solar power plant, multiplicity of connector types on a ship, always ready go in the case of a emergency.

      Geothermal has a capacity factor of about 0.7. So the 38 MW the plant is rated for generates on average (38MW)*(0.7) = 26.6 MW.

      Solar at Hawaii's location [nrel.gov] (96704 zip code) has a capacity factor of about 0.124 (this takes into account night, seasons, movement of the sun, weather, maintenance, etc). So generating 26.6 MW would require (26.6 MW)/(0.124) =

      • Your link shows new panamax as 366 m long, so you could put 3 MW of panels on each one of those, with all of the maintenance area under the deck, I feel like this would still be pretty awesome setup, to have but yeah rediculous.

        Because it would still be 100 of those to meet this capacity, even if you could do these for $3 M each, it would be a $300 M fleet.

        I think a diesel tanker is more reasonable for about $6M you would have a much easier time strapping a 7 * 3MW diesel gene-sets, that can be bought comme

      • Solar at Hawaii's location [nrel.gov] (96704 zip code) has a capacity factor of about 0.124

        Different areas of Hawaii have dramatically different capacity factors. Some of the cloudiest and wettest places on earth are just over a mountain range from some of the clearest and driest. Just on the Big Island, Hilo has rain almost every day, while just 20 miles away is the Pohakuloa Plateau, in the rain shadow of Mauna Kea, which is arid desert.

      • Re:Emergency Power Ship (Score:4, Insightful)

        by K. S. Kyosuke ( 729550 ) on Tuesday May 22, 2018 @09:06PM (#56656508)

        Solar at Hawaii's location [nrel.gov] (96704 zip code) has a capacity factor of about 0.124 (this takes into account night, seasons, movement of the sun, weather, maintenance, etc).

        Of course, when you intentionally pick one of the worst places on the island [hawaii.edu], naturally you get such a mediocre result.

      • On the other hand, "Akademik Lomonosov" powership has twice the needed capacity (2x 32 MW reactors).

      • Geothermal has a capacity factor of about 0.7. So the 38 MW the plant is rated for generates on average (38MW)*(0.7) = 26.6 MW.

        Probably because people at night need less power and hence the plan is not running with full load during that time.
        No idea why people throw the "dreaded CF" around when they have no clue what it means and what can calculate from it.

  • I misread it as "creeping Java", and thought it was about a software boondoggle for power plant infrastructure control.

    Here's a fun conspiracy: the PHB's are trying to hide their software flub but triggering a volcano to cover it up: literally and figuratively. Kind of a HI version of Office Space.

  • Um, Why hasn't a concerted effort been made to build a berm uphill from the power plant to divert the lava?

    • Um, Why hasn't a concerted effort been made to build a berm uphill from the power plant to divert the lava?

      Well, I'm guessing it's an environmental concern.... :)

      Actually, I don't think a berm would be fully effective. Lava does flow down hill, but it is pretty viscous and solidifies as it cools so it tends to fill up channels it's flowing in over time. So if the berm was slowing down the flow enough, it could pretty quickly get topped, making the effort useless..

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Then there is the legal system. Lava flowing naturally is an act of god. Lava flowing after diversion is someone's fault.

    • Re:Bulldozer? (Score:4, Informative)

      by painandgreed ( 692585 ) on Tuesday May 22, 2018 @06:58PM (#56656052)

      Um, Why hasn't a concerted effort been made to build a berm uphill from the power plant to divert the lava?

      Soon after the eruption started, there was an article that discussed this and the answer is probably that it wouldn't do any good. Lava is more like a wall of rock coming at you than a wave of water. It will push through or over most anything in its way. The amount of work needed to build a berm that would have a suitable enough chance to divert the lava flow is probably not possible in the time given or worth the effort needed.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sphealey ( 2855 )

      http://www.civilbeat.org/2018/... [civilbeat.org]
      Lava erupting from the Kilauea volcano has reached the property of a geothermal power plant where toxic gas lurks in underground wells, the head of the state emergency management agency said Monday.

      So far, a berm has halted the advance of the lava at about 200 to 300 meters from the wells of Puna Geothermal Venture.

    • Should obviously do what Tommy Lee Jones did. Use concrete highway barriers to build a wall held up by firetrucks and people to stop the lava, then use controlled demolition on a skyscraper to reroute the lava into the ocean. Doesn't anyone pay attention to history?

    • Hmmm...someone watched the movie Volcano too many times.

      The lava in Hawaii can run over any obstacle...including its own walls. These are the "breakouts" you may hear about...when the lava pours over the solidified wall it built earlier. Creating a dirt or rock berm is not going to stop the lava flows.

  • Much useful information at Civil Beat (Score:4, Informative)

    by sphealey ( 2855 ) on Tuesday May 22, 2018 @07:51PM (#56656274)

    Much useful information in this article at Hawaii Civil Beat: http://www.civilbeat.org/2018/... [civilbeat.org]

    Short quote (there's a lot more at the link):

    Over the past two weeks, 10 wells have been quenched, and capped with a heavy steel plate. The work required removing the massive wellhead valves tested to resist 3,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, something that will now be accomplished by a column of water more than a mile high to resist lava entry into the well underground.

    That’s the working theory anyway, and company and government emergency management officials consulted experts worldwide from New Zealand to California to Iceland on the best response to imminent lava inundation.

    The trouble is, “to our knowledge, no one’s faced this before,” Travis said.

    The last wellhead – Well 14 – stymied all efforts Monday to quench and cap the well. More than a mile of cold water was not enough. Ditto more than a mile of denser salt water.

    “Something has happened down there in the last two weeks that won’t let it (quench),” Travis said.

    Drilling mud, a highly complex and heavyweight chemical compound used extensively in oilfield drilling, is the next line of attack. Travis was confident the mud would work because it hardens and thickens under heat and pressure, he said.

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