Sealed well direct expansion heating and cooling system
OwnerB. Ryland Wiggsinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sealed well direct expansion geothermal heat exchange unit, whose sealed well can be placed in ground and/or in water, consisting of a conventional direct expansion, or other heat pump, system wherein the exterior refrigerant heat exchange lines are placed within an insulated and sealed container, which container is supplied with a circulating heat conductive liquid from and to a sub-surface sealed well encasement, which container liquid may be supplemented with heat from a solar heating system, and which unit's hot refrigerant vapor line may be supplementary cooled by means of condensate water evaporative cooling.
Claims12
A geothermal heat exchange system comprising:
- a refrigerant liquid line and a refrigerant vapor line;
- a refrigerant heat exchange line having a first end portion connected to the refrigerant liquid line and a second end portion connected to the refrigerant vapor line;
- a liquid container containing a heat conductive liquid up to a liquid level, the refrigerant heat exchange line positioned within the container below the liquid level and in thermal contact with the heat conductive liquid;
- the refrigerant liquid line, the refrigerant vapor line, and the refrigerant heat exchange line adapted to circulate refrigerant into and out of the liquid container;
- a liquid casement having a top portion, a bottom portion, and an inner diameter, at least the bottom portion of the casement in thermal contact with sub-surface material proximate the casement;
- a liquid supply pipe extending from the bottom portion of the casement, out of the casement, and into the liquid container, the liquid supply pipe having an outer diameter that is smaller than the inner diameter of the casement;
- a liquid return pipe extending from the liquid container to the top portion of the casement;
- and
- a liquid pump operatively connected to the liquid supply pipe and to the liquid return pipe, the liquid pump, the liquid supply pipe, and the liquid return pipe operative to circulate the heat conductive liquid from the bottom portion of the casement, into the liquid container, around the refrigerant heat exchange line, out of the liquid container, and to the top portion of the casement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.