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US 4,094,356 AGranted
Geothermal heat recovery system
OwnerWhewell Frank Ash, Frank Robert Ashinventors
Life of this patent
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OwnerWhewell Frank Ash, Frank Robert Ashinventors
Estimating the term…
A system for recovering heat from a geothermal well includes a quantity of heavy drilling mud filling the bottom of the geothermal well. A hollow heat absorber is disposed within the drilling mud in the well bottom. The heat absorber is supplied with a working fluid such as freon through a supply pipe extending from the top of the well, the pressure head of the working fluid at the heat absorber being commensurate with the depth of the well. A high pressure gas delivery pipe extends from the heat absorber to the top of the well, and is connected to a heat exchanger disposed within a water boiler. The outlet of the heat exchanger is connected to a working fluid supply tank, which is connected in turn to the upper end of the supply pipe. A thermostatic valve interposed between the supply tank and the supply pipe controls the amount of working fluid entering the heat absorber in accordance with the temperature and heat demands of the water boiler. The amount of working fluid in the heat absorber is computed to fill the absorber to the proper height for efficient heat transfer. The working fluid vaporizes in the heat absorber at a pressure equal to the pressure head of the supply pipe, and the pressure and temperature of that vapor causes the vapor to rise at a very high rate and disperse its latent heat into the water boiler.
A geothermal heat recovery device, comprising a heat absorber containing a variable quantity of working fluid, said heat absorber being disposed within a hot zone of a geothermal well, a gas delivery pipe extending from said heat absorber out of said well, heat exchanger means connected to said gas delivery pipe for condensing the gas from said delivery pipe to liquid and conducting heat therefrom, reserve tank means connected to the output of said heat exchanger means for storing a reserve quantity of said working fluid, a supply pipe extending from said reserve tank means down said well to said heat absorber to supply said working fluid thereto, said supply pipe being substantially full of said working fluid in liquid phase to create a substantial pressure head in said heat absorber, insulation means surrounding said supply pipe for the entire portion thereof within said well for limiting the heating and expansion of and preventing vaporization of said working fluid within said supply pipe, and thermostatic valve means including a sensing element operatively associated with the operating temperature of said heat means interposed between said reserve tank means and said supply pipe for selectively controlling the feed rate of said working fluid to said heat absorber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.