Geothermal energy system and method of operation
AssigneeGreenfield Master Ipco Limited
InventorsJames J. Stewart, Dmitriy I. Zaynulin, Anthony C. Scott, Grahame Newton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A geothermal energy system comprising a plurality of borehole heat exchangers, each borehole heat exchanger containing a working fluid and comprising an elongate tube having a closed bottom end and first and second adjacent elongate conduits interconnected at the bottom end, a manifold for the working fluid to which the plurality of borehole heat exchangers is connected, and a plurality of valves connected between the plurality of borehole heat exchangers and the manifold, whereby the first and second conduits of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers are selectively connectable to the manifold by operation of the valves.
Claims37
A geothermal energy system comprising:
- a plurality of borehole heat exchangers, each borehole heat exchanger containing a working fluid and comprising:
- an elongate tube having a closed bottom end, and
- first and second adjacent elongate coaxial conduits interconnected at the bottom end, the first conduit being tubular and surrounded by the second conduit which is annular;
- a plurality of valves connected to the plurality of borehole heat exchangers, the plurality of valves being within a manifold;
- a pump for pumping the working fluid through the borehole heat exchangers;
- and wherein the valves and pump are arranged for selectively pumping the working fluid through a selected one or more of the borehole heat exchangers in a respective direction selected from a first direction and an opposite second direction with respect to the respective first and second conduits of the respective borehole heat exchanger, each of the first and second conduits is connected to respective valves of the plurality of valves within the manifold wherein each of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers is selectively connectable to any other of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers.
A method of operating a geothermal energy system comprising a plurality of borehole heat exchangers, each borehole heat exchanger containing a working fluid and comprising an elongate tube having a closed bottom end and first and second adjacent elongate coaxial conduits interconnected at the bottom end, the first conduit being tubular and surrounded by the second conduit which is annular, a plurality of valves connected to the plurality of borehole heat exchangers, the plurality of valves being within a manifold, and a pump for pumping the working fluid through the borehole heat exchangers;
- the method including the step of:
- selectively pumping the working fluid through a selected one or more of the borehole heat exchangers in a respective direction selected from a first direction and an opposite second direction with respect to the respective first and second conduits of the respective borehole heat exchanger, each of the first and second conduits connected to respective valves of the plurality of valves within the manifold wherein each of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers is selectively connectable to any other of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers.
A geothermal energy system comprising a plurality of borehole heat exchangers coupled to a heat pump and/or cooling system of a building, each borehole heat exchanger containing a working fluid, and a pump for selectively pumping the working fluid through the borehole heat exchangers, each borehole heat exchanger comprising an elongate tube having a closed bottom end, the elongate tube having a steel outer casing and a thermoplastic inner tubing within the outer casing which define first and second adjacent elongate conduits interconnected at the bottom end, the first conduit being tubular and surrounded by the second conduit which is annular, wherein the plurality of borehole heat exchangers extends downwardly and laterally into the ground from a central surface assembly of the elongate tubes to define a ground volume of the geothermal energy system which encloses the plurality of borehole heat exchangers, each of the first and second conduits is connected to valves within a manifold wherein each of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers is selectively connectable to any other of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers, wherein a footprint area of the central surface assembly is less than 10% of a footprint area of the ground volume of the geothermal energy system, the vertical depth of at least one of the plurality of borehole heat exchangers is at least 100 meters, and the majority of the length of each of the borehole heat exchangers is mutually separated from other borehole heat exchangers so as to be substantially thermally independent therefrom.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.