Geothermal power from superhot geothermal fluid and magma reservoirs
AssigneeEnhancedGEO Holdings, LLC
InventorsGreg Lindberg, Kimberly C. Conner
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Abstract
System, method, and apparatus for harnessing geothermal power from superhot geothermal fluid (SHGF) and magma reservoirs. An exemplary embodiment is directed to a cased wellbore for use in generating superheated steam. The cased wellbore includes a first end at a surface, a second end at an underground reservoir of magma, and a fluid pathway extending from an inlet at the first end to the second end and then from the second end to an outlet at the first end. The fluid pathway is configured to receive saturated steam at the inlet and expel superheated steam from the outlet, and the saturated steam is transformed into superheated steam in the fluid pathway at the second end of the cased wellbore.
Claims25
A cased wellbore for generating superheated steam, the cased wellbore comprising:
- a first end at a surface;
- a second end at an underground reservoir of magma;
- a fluid pathway extending from an inlet at the first end to the second end and then from the second end to an outlet at the first end, wherein the fluid pathway is configured to receive saturated steam at the inlet and expel superheated steam from the outlet, and wherein the saturated steam is transformed into superheated steam in the fluid pathway at the second end of the cased wellbore;
- and
- a wellhead that includes:
- an aperture configured to receive a drill stem;
- a first connector configured to fluidically connect the inlet of the fluid pathway to a source of the saturated steam;
- and
- a second connector configured to fluidically connect the outlet of the fluid pathway to a system for generating power from superheated steam, wherein a first diameter of the inlet of the fluid pathway is greater than a second diameter of the outlet of the fluid pathway.
A system for power generation using superheated steam, the system comprising:
- a cased wellbore extending between a surface and an underground reservoir of magma, wherein the cased wellbore includes:
- a first end at the surface,
- a second end at the underground reservoir of magma,
- a fluid pathway extending from an inlet at the first end to the second end and then from the second end to an outlet at the first end, wherein the fluid pathway is configured to receive saturated steam at the inlet and expel superheated steam from the outlet, and wherein the saturated steam is transformed into superheated steam in the fluid pathway at the second end of the cased wellbore, and
- a wellhead that includes:
- an aperture configured to receive a drill stem;
- a first connector configured to fluidically connect the inlet of the fluid pathway to a source of the saturated steam;
- and
- a second connector configured to fluidically connect the outlet of the fluid pathway to a set of turbines, wherein a first diameter of the inlet of the fluid pathway is greater than a second diameter of the outlet of the fluid pathway;
- and
- the set of turbines configured to generate electricity from the superheated steam provided from the cased wellbore.
A method for generating superheated steam, the method comprising:
- receiving saturated steam from a steam source;
- conveying the saturated steam into a cased wellbore that extends from a surface to an underground reservoir of magma to expose the saturated steam to heat from the underground reservoir of magma, wherein the heat from the underground reservoir of magma converts the saturated steam to the superheated steam, wherein the wellbore comprises a wellhead that includes:
- an aperture configured to receive a drill stem;
- a first connector configured to fluidically connect an inlet of a fluid pathway to a source of the saturated steam;
- and
- a second connector configured to fluidically connect an outlet of the fluid pathway to a system for generating power from superheated steam, wherein a first diameter of the inlet of the fluid pathway is greater than a second diameter of the outlet of the fluid pathway;
- and
- conveying the superheated steam back towards the surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.