Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Italy: Enel Announces Award for Mercury and Sulphurized Hydrogen Reduction System for Geothermal Power Plants

Geothermal: Innovation Comes from an Alliance between Business and Research (News Release)

A winner has been chosen for the challenge launched by Enel Green Power to identify innovative solutions to use at geothermal plants. The winner of the 15,000-euro prize is Luigia Lona, a researcher-entrepreneur with “an innate instinct to search for solutions”.

“An innate instinct to search for solutions” and the belief that “true, effective innovation comes from the close relationship between research, application and business”. These are the two key factors that inspired Luigia Lona to participate in and win the challenge launched by Enel Green Power to make Mercury and Sulferized Hydrogen Reduction (AMIS) systems in EGP geothermal plants more effective.

The winning idea involved a change in the last stage of the AMIS cycle, where soda is used to regulate the level of acidity in the liquid solution coming from the H2S reduction process. Specifically, the change involves halving the entry of soda in the scrubber and introducing a system that allows for the optimisation of the quantity of soda consumed for different sections.