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US 4,492,083 AGranted
Geothermal salinity control system
AssigneeMagma Power Company
InventorsBarkman C. McCabe, Edward Zajac
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMagma Power Company
InventorsBarkman C. McCabe, Edward Zajac
Estimating the term…
Highly saline geothermal brine, such as that produced from the lower geothermal reserve of the Salton Sea geothermal field, is diluted with non-geothermal water of much lower salinity in a mixing zone proximate the high temperature end of a geothermal power plant, and preferably down in the production well just above the production zone, so as to reduce the chloride salt content of the production brine to a level that is at or below the saturated level at reinjection temperatures, thereby preventing any material chloride salt scaling at any location in the plant through reinjection. The permanent cemented-in production casing in the well is protected against the corrosive effects of the hot production brine by means of a removable production liner that is generally coextensive with the casing. Said mixing zone is provided in the lower portion of the liner, and the liner establishes an annulus between it and the casing through which said non-geothermal water flows downwardly to the mixing zone so as to exclude the production brine from contact with the casing.
The method of reducing mineral scaling and corrosion in a geothermal energy system having a production well that provides access to an underground source of high temperature, highly saline geothermal brine and heat extraction means connected to said production well to receive said brine from said well, which comprises mixing non-geothermal water with said geothermal brine at a location in said system upstream of said heat extraction means, said non-geothermal water being much less saline than said geothermal brine.
The method of reducing mineral scaling and corrosion in a geothermal energy system having a production well that provides access to an underground source of high temperature, highly saline geothermal brine and heat extraction means connected to said production well to receive said brine from said well, which comprises mixing non-geothermal water with said geothermal brine at a location in said system upstream of said heat extraction means, said non-geothermal water being much less saline than said geothermal brine,
The method of reducing mineral scaling and corrosion in a geothermal energy system having a production well that provides access to an underground source of high temperature, highly saline geothermal brine and heat extraction means connected to said production well to receive said brine from said well, which comprises mixing non-geothermal water with said geothermal brine at a location in said system upstream of said heat extraction means, said non-geothermal water being much less saline than said geothermal brine, said upstream location in the system being down in said production well above said geothermal source,
In a geothermal energy system having a production well that provides access to an underground source of high temperature, highly saline geothermal brine and heat extraction means connected to said production well to receive said brine from said well, a system for reducing mineral scaling and corrosion which comprises:
In a geothermal energy system having a production well that provides to an underground source of high temperature, highly saline geothermal brine and heat extraction means connected to said production well to receive said brine from said well, a system for reducing mineral scaling and corrosion which comprises:
In a geothermal energy system having a production well that provides access to an underground source of high temperature, highly saline geothermal brine and heat extraction means connected to said production well to receive said brine from said well, a system for reducing mineral scaling and corrosion which comprises:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.