Hydraulic geofracture energy storage system with desalination

Abstract

The invention relates to a hydraulic geofracture energy storage system with desalination. Energy may be stored by injecting fluid into a fracture in the earth and producing the fluid back while recovering power and / or desalinating water. The method may be particularly adapted to storage of large amounts of energy such as in grid-scale electric energy systems. The fracture may be formed and treatedwith resin so as to limit fluid loss and to increase propagation pressure. The fluid may be water containing a dissolved salt or fresh water and a portion or all of the water may be desalinated usingpressure in the water when it is produced.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to energy storage and water desalination. More specifically, fluids are injected down the well to form hydraulic fractures. The fluid can be pumped into the fracture under pressure and then produced from the fracture under pressure and used to generate electricity or flow into a reverse osmosis unit for desalination. Background technique [0002] Multiple factors including energy security, price volatility, carbon regulation, tax incentives and fears of man-made global warming are driving the rapid growth of renewable energy. Due to the excellent energy density of liquid fossil fuels (approximately 45MJ / liter), liquid fossil fuels are mainly consumed in the transportation industry, while biofuels provide only limited energy gain, so the important role of renewable energy is to replace fossil fuels in electricity generation. fuel consumption. The United States currently consumes approximately 1TW of electricity (10 12 w...

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