Geothermal Materials Development. Annual report FY 1991

Advances in the development of new materials, the commercial availabilities of which are essential for the attainment of Hydrothermal Category Level I and II Objectives, continue to be made in the Geothermal Materials Development Project. Many successes have already been accrued and the results used commercially. In FY 1991, utility company sponsored ``full cost`` recovery programs based upon materials technology developed in this project were initiated on topics such as condensing heat exchangers, high temperature composites for utility vaults used in district heating systems, and corrosion resistant coatings for use in oil-fired electric generating processes. In FY 1991 the DOE/GD-sponsored R&D project was focused on reducing well drilling, fluid transport and energy conversion costs. Specific activities being performed included lightweight CO{sub 2}- resistant well cements, chemical systems for lost circulation control, thermally conductive and scale resistant protective linear systems, corrosion mitigation in process components at The Geysers, and elastomer-metal bonding systems needed for use in high temperature well drilling and safety related applications.