Deep sea collection of solid materials from geothermal fluid
OwnerJames H. Shnellinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for collecting solid materials from a fluid is provided. The apparatus includes a conduit configured to allow the fluid to flow therethrough. The apparatus further includes a mesh extending across the conduit. The mesh is configured to allow the fluid to flow therethrough and to allow a solid material to precipitate out of the fluid onto the mesh. The apparatus further includes a support structure configured to support the mesh in position across the conduit.
Claims17
An apparatus for collecting solid materials from a geothermal fluid, the apparatus comprising:
- a heat exchanger in thermal communication with a flow of the geothermal fluid through the heat exchanger, the heat exchanger receiving the geothermal fluid in a supercritical state;
- a mesh extending across the flow of the geothermal fluid within the heat exchanger, the mesh configured to allow the geothermal fluid to flow therethrough and to allow a solid material to precipitate out of the geothermal fluid onto the mesh;
- and
- a first spool supporting a first portion of the mesh and a second spool supporting a second portion of the mesh, the first spool and the second spool configured to each rotate about a corresponding axis to allow the mesh to be controllably transferred from the first spool to the second spool.
A method of collecting solid materials from a geothermal fluid, the method comprising:
- flowing a geothermal fluid through a heat exchanger and through a first portion of a mesh extending across the flowing geothermal fluid within the heat exchanger, the heat exchanger receiving the flowing geothermal fluid in a supercritical state;
- precipitating solid material out of the flowing geothermal fluid onto the first portion of the mesh;
- moving the mesh such that a second portion of the mesh extends across the flowing geothermal fluid within the heat exchanger;
- and
- precipitating solid material out of the flowing geothermal fluid onto the second portion of the mesh.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.