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US 9,181,930 B2Granted
Methods and systems for electric power generation using geothermal field enhancements
AssigneeSkibo Systems LLC
InventorPaul M. Klemencic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods for increasing the enthalpy of a geothermal brine, methods for recovering heat enthalpy stored in a geothermal brine, and methods for the production of a heated brine from a natural geothermal reservoir are provided. The methods may be incorporated into a geosolar electric power generation project to provide a steady and flexible source of renewable energy from a geothermal heat source in combination with solar insolation.
Claims49
A method for increasing the enthalpy of a natural geothermal brine, the method comprising:
- injecting a sub-critical heated injection fluid into a naturally occurring geothermal reservoir containing a natural geothermal brine via one or more injection wells, wherein the naturally occurring geothermal reservoir has a temperature gradient higher than a normal thermal gradient of the Earth and stores natural geothermal heat within the natural geothermal brine, wherein the enthalpy of a first portion of the natural geothermal brine is increased by the heated injection fluid to create a hot zone in the geothermal reservoir with the increased enthalpy geothermal brine contained within boundaries of the hot zone;
- storing the heat provided by the heated injection fluid primarily within the increased enthalpy geothermal brine in the hot zone, wherein the increased enthalpy geothermal brine stores both the heat provided by the heated injection fluid and a first portion of the natural geothermal heat;
- maintaining a temperature differential between the hot zone created in the geothermal reservoir and a colder geothermal heat recovery zone of the geothermal reservoir fluidly connected with the hot zone, wherein the geothermal heat recovery zone contains a second portion of the natural geothermal brine not heated by the heated injection fluid and stores a second portion of the natural geothermal heat within the second portion of the natural geothermal brine;
- and
- containing heat provided by the heated injection fluid within the hot zone using at least one of the following methods:
- interrupting or reversing an outward migration of heated fluids from the hot zone by recovering at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the hot zone via one or more hot zone production wells, wherein the hot zone production wells are configured to operate independently from the injection wells and are capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir,
- periodically reversing the outward migration of the heated fluids from the hot zone by converting the injection wells into hot zone production wells and using the converted hot zone production wells to recover at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the hot zone, wherein the converted hot zone production wells are capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir, and
- using one or more fresh geothermal brine production wells located outside the boundaries of the hot zone to create an inward flow of the natural geothermal brine toward the hot zone from a surrounding portion of the geothermal reservoir, and using the hot zone production wells located at a periphery of the hot zone to create an outward flow of at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the injection wells toward the periphery of the hot zone.
5 more elements
A method for the staged production of hot zones in a geothermal reservoir, the method comprising:
- injecting a heated injection fluid into a first zone in a naturally occurring geothermal reservoir containing a natural geothermal brine via one or more first injection wells, wherein the naturally occurring geothermal reservoir has a temperature gradient higher than a normal thermal gradient of the Earth and stores natural geothermal heat within the natural geothermal brine, wherein the enthalpy of a first portion of the natural geothermal brine is increased to create a first hot zone in the geothermal reservoir;
- subsequently injecting a heated injection fluid into a second zone, outside of the first zone, in the geothermal reservoir via one or more second injection wells, wherein the enthalpy of at least a portion of the geothermal brine is increased to create a second hot zone in the geothermal reservoir;
- storing the heat provided by the heated injection fluid primarily within the heated geothermal brine in the hot zones, wherein the heated geothermal brine stores both the heat provided by the heated injection fluid and a first portion of the natural geothermal heat;
- maintaining a temperature differential between the hot zones of the geothermal reservoir and a colder zone of the geothermal reservoir fluidly connected with the hot zones, wherein the colder zone contains a second portion of the natural geothermal brine not heated by the heated injection fluid and stores a second portion of the natural geothermal heat within the second portion of the natural geothermal brine;
- and
- containing heat provided by the heated injection fluid within the hot zones using at least one of the following methods:
- interrupting or reversing an outward migration of heated fluids from the hot zones by recovering at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the hot zones via one or more hot zone production wells, wherein the hot zone production wells are configured to operate independently from the injection wells and are capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir,
- periodically reversing the outward migration of the heated fluids from the hot zones by converting the injection wells into hot zone production wells and using the converted hot zone production wells to recover at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the hot zones, wherein the converted hot zone production wells are capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir, and
- using one or more fresh geothermal brine production wells located outside boundaries of the hot zones to create an inward flow of the natural geothermal brine toward the hot zones from a surrounding portion of the geothermal reservoir, and using the hot zone production wells located at a periphery of the hot zone to create an outward flow of at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the injection wells toward the periphery of the hot zones.
6 more elements
A system for increasing the enthalpy of a geothermal brine, the system comprising:
- a naturally occurring geothermal reservoir containing a natural geothermal brine, wherein the naturally occurring geothermal reservoir has a temperature gradient higher than a normal thermal gradient of the Earth and stores natural geothermal heat within the natural geothermal brine, the geothermal reservoir comprising a hot zone and a colder zone fluidly connected with the hot zone, wherein the geothermal reservoir is configured to maintain a temperature differential between the hot zone and the colder zone;
- at least one hot zone injection well configured to inject a sub-critical heated injection fluid into the geothermal reservoir to create the hot zone in the geothermal reservoir, wherein the geothermal reservoir is configured to store heat provided by the heated injection fluid primarily within the geothermal brine in the hot zone, wherein the geothermal brine in the hot zone stores both the heat provided by the heated injection fluid and a first portion of the natural geothermal heat, wherein the colder zone contains a second portion of the natural geothermal brine not heated by the heated injection fluid and stores a second portion of the natural geothermal heat within the second portion of the natural geothermal brine;
- at least one production well configured to recover geothermal brine from the hot zone of the geothermal reservoir, wherein the at least one hot zone injection well and the at least one production well are configured to contain the heat provided by the heated injection fluid within the hot zone using at least one of the following methods:
- interrupting or reversing an outward migration of heated fluids from the hot zone by recovering at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the hot zone via one or more hot zone production wells, wherein the hot zone production wells are configured to operate independently from the injection wells and are capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir,
- periodically reversing the outward migration of the heated fluids from the hot zone by converting the injection wells into hot zone production wells and using the converted hot zone production wells to recover at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the hot zone, wherein the converted hot zone production wells are capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir, and
- using one or more fresh geothermal brine production wells located outside the boundaries of the hot zone to create an inward flow of the natural geothermal brine toward the hot zone from a surrounding portion of the geothermal reservoir, and using the hot zone production wells located at a periphery of the hot zone to create an outward flow of at least one of the increased enthalpy brine and the heated injection fluid from the injection wells toward the periphery of the hot zone;
- and
- a source of sub-critical heated injection fluid in fluid communication with the at least one hot zone injection well.
5 more elements
A method for increasing the enthalpy of a natural geothermal brine and producing the increased enthalpy geothermal brine from a natural geothermal reservoir, the method comprising:
- injecting a heated injection fluid into a natural geothermal reservoir containing a natural geothermal brine through an injection well, wherein the natural geothermal reservoir has a temperature gradient higher than a normal thermal gradient of the Earth and stores natural geothermal heat within the natural geothermal brine;
- storing the heat provided by the heated injection fluid primarily within the increased enthalpy geothermal brine in a region of the natural geothermal reservoir surrounding the injection well, wherein the increased enthalpy geothermal brine stores both the heat provided by the heated injection fluid and a first portion of the natural geothermal heat;
- maintaining a temperature differential between the region of the natural geothermal reservoir surrounding the injection well and a colder geothermal heat recovery zone of the geothermal reservoir fluidly connected with the region of the natural geothermal reservoir surrounding the injection well, wherein the geothermal heat recovery zone contains a second portion of the natural geothermal brine not heated by the heated injection fluid and stores a second portion of the natural geothermal heat within the second portion of the natural geothermal brine;
- containing the heated injection fluid within the region of the natural geothermal reservoir surrounding the injection well by converting the injection well into a production well, thereby reversing an outward flow of the heated injected fluid from the injection well and generating an inward flow of the heated injection fluid and the increased enthalpy geothermal brine toward the converted production well;
- and
- subsequently recovering geothermal brine from the geothermal reservoir through the converted production well, wherein the converted production well is capable of producing the recovered fluid without requiring a simultaneous addition of fluid to the geothermal reservoir.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.