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US 12,624,682 B2Granted
Combined power generation using geothermal and solar energy
AssigneeNant Holdings IP, LLC
InventorPatrick Soon-Shiong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are presented for enhancing energy production and storage by integrating solar energy with geothermal processes. In certain embodiments, a hybrid geothermal/solar system increases energy yield from a closed loop geothermal system, stores heat in a wellbore, enhances power generation from geothermal brine, and/or facilitates carbon dioxide sequestration or conversion to fuel, all preferably utilizing solar energy as a supplemental heat source.
Claims19
A method of generating electrical energy, comprising:
- heating a working fluid in a closed loop geothermal system using solar energy;
- wherein the closed loop geothermal system comprises a closed loop working fluid circuit having (a) a topside portion that is thermally coupled to a power cycle and (b) a downhole portion that is thermally coupled to a hot formation;
- wherein the downhole portion is disposed within a wellbore to form an annular space between the wellbore and the downhole portion, and wherein the solar energy heats the working fluid in the downhole portion via a heat transfer fluid in the annular space;
- and
- extracting thermal energy from the working fluid using the power cycle to thereby generate electrical energy.
2 more elements
A method of processing a geothermal brine, comprising:
- producing from a formation a hot geothermal brine;
- heating a working fluid of a power cycle using heat content of the hot geothermal brine, thereby causing the hot geothermal brine to become a cooled geothermal brine;
- wherein the power cycle is thermally coupled to a topside portion of a closed loop working fluid circuit, wherein the closed loop working fluid circuit further comprises a downhole portion that is thermally coupled to a hot formation;
- wherein the downhole portion is disposed within a wellbore to form an annular space between the wellbore and the downhole portion, and wherein solar energy heats the working fluid in the downhole portion via a heat transfer fluid in the annular space;
- using solar energy to heat the hot geothermal brine and/or the working fluid to thereby increase power generation in the power cycle, and/or using the solar energy to heat the cooled geothermal brine to thereby evaporate water and concentrate a mineral in the cooled geothermal brine.
2 more elements
A hybrid geothermal/solar system, comprising:
- (a) a closed loop geothermal system thermally coupled to a power cycle, and a solar energy harvester that is thermally coupled to the closed loop geothermal system to increase energy yield from the closed loop geothermal system;
- or
- (b) a closed loop geothermal system thermally coupled to a heat storage wellbore, wherein a heat transfer fluid in the heat storage wellbore is heated by a solar energy harvester;
- (c) a geothermal system configured to produce a geothermal brine from a geothermal wellbore, wherein the geothermal system is thermally coupled to a power cycle with a working fluid, and wherein a solar energy harvester is configured to increase power in the power cycle and/or to heat a cooled geothermal brine to thereby evaporate water and concentrate a mineral in the geothermal brine;
- or
- (d) a carbon dioxide source that is configured to produce a concentrated carbon dioxide product and that is operationally coupled to a geothermal system and a solar energy harvester, wherein the carbon dioxide source is selected from the group consisting of a direct air capture unit, a decarbonization unit of a fossil fuel power plant, and an acid gas removal unit, wherein the geothermal/solar system is configured to use geothermal and solar energy to sequester the concentrated carbon dioxide product into a geological formation and/or to chemically convert the concentrated carbon dioxide product to a fuel product.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.