Power generation process
AssigneeSaltkraft ApS
InventorSteen Søndergaard Nissen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for generating power from a warm saline steam (1) obtained from geothermal sources. The process involves extracting a warm saline stream (1) from an underground geothermal formation (2), reducing the temperature of the saline stream (1) by passing the stream through a thermal power unit (5) in which thermal energy present in the stream is extracted. The process also involves converting latent osmotic energy present in the stream into electricity by passing the stream through an osmotic power unit (7) comprising a semi-permeable membrane (8). The output stream (13) derived from passage through the osmotic power unit is injected into a second, different underground formation.
Claims19
A process for the generation of power, the process comprising the steps of:
- extracting a warm saline stream from a first underground formation, the first underground formation being a geothermal formation,
- converting latent osmotic energy present in said stream into electricity by passage through an osmotic power unit in which said stream is passed over one side of a semi-permeable membrane which permits the passage of water but not the passage of salts, a low salinity stream derived from an aqueous feed stream being passed over another side of said membrane, and
- reducing a temperature of said warm saline stream before said stream enters the osmotic unit by passage through a thermal power unit in which thermal energy present in said stream is extracted,
- and wherein an output stream derived from said warm saline stream after passage through the osmotic power unit is injected into a second, different, underground formation wherein the second underground formation is an aquifer, the aquifer being a water-bearing stratum comprising permeable rock, sand, silt and/or gravel.
A power generation system comprising:
- a first inlet connection to a warm saline stream extracted from a first underground formation;
- an osmotic power unit arranged to generate electricity using a difference in salinity between a high-salinity input stream and a low-salinity input stream,
- a thermal power unit arranged to extract thermal energy from the warm saline stream thereby producing a cooled output stream;
- and
- a first outlet connection to a second, different underground formation, the second underground formation being an aquifer, the aquifer being a water-bearing stratum comprising permeable rock, sand, silt and/or gravel,
- and wherein the system is arranged such that the cooled output stream of the thermal power unit is passed to the osmotic power unit for use as the high-salinity input stream, and a waste stream derived from the high-salinity input stream following passage through the osmotic power unit is passed to the second underground formation via the first outlet.
A process for the generation of power, the process comprising the steps of:
- extracting a warm saline stream from a first underground formation, the first underground formation being a geothermal formation,
- converting latent osmotic energy present in said stream into electricity by passage through an osmotic power unit in which said stream is passed over one side of a semi-permeable membrane which permits the passage of water but not the passage of salts, a low salinity stream derived from an aqueous feed stream being passed over another side of said membrane, and
- reducing a temperature of said warm saline stream before said stream enters the osmotic unit by passage through a thermal power unit in which thermal energy present in said stream is extracted,
- and wherein an output stream derived from said warm saline stream after passage through the osmotic power unit is injected into a second, different, underground formation;
- and
- wherein the first underground formation is located in a first region, said first region extending between a first depth and a second depth, and the second underground formation is located in a second region, said second region extending between a third depth and a fourth depth, and the first depth is different to the third depth, and/or the second depth is different to the fourth depth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.