Geothermal heat exchange system and method

Abstract

Provided is a geothermal heat exchange system and method including a plurality of heat depots, each including a sealed container filled with a heat exchange fluid and further including an input heat transfer line and an output heat transfer line for carrying the heat transfer fluid. The input line proceeds through a top surface of the container at least a minimal distance into the container, and the output heat transfer line originates immediately at the upper surface of the container. Multiple heat depots connected to one another in a continuous unbroken chain are also provided.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 017,907, filed Dec. 31, 2007, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 026,734, filed Feb. 7, 2008, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention generally relates to a system and method for geothermal heat exchange method utilizing heat depots, and, more particularly, to geothermal heat exchange utilizing heat depots having improved efficacy of heat exchange while greatly reducing required area of installation and removing the need for extensive drilling.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Geothermal heat exchange systems have been in use for some time. In a typical geothermal heat exchange systems, a working fluid, such as water, is used to carry heat between an internal heat exchanger in the user's location and a geothermal mass. Heat exchange systems often are designed to have...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a geothermal heat exchange system and method using multiple heat depots. The heat depots are sealed containers filled with a heat exchange fluid, which allows for efficient heat transfer between the fluid and a geothermal mass external to the container. The heat depots are connected in a continuous unbroken chain, with the output heat transfer line of one depot being the input heat transfer line of another depot. The heat exchange fluid can be pumped through the system using refrigerant, water with antifreeze, or water with antifreeze in a separate heat transfer unit. The system can be used for heating or cooling, depending on the needs of the user heat exchanger. The technical effects of the invention include improved heat transfer efficiency, reduced energy consumption, and more efficient use of geothermal resources."

Problems solved by technology

Thus, due to the limitations of the circulating pump or compressor capacity, both types of systems are of limited length and diameter geothermal loop tube for conducting the heat exchange.

Thus, use of horizontal looping for a house or building with a small yard is not practical.

And these systems also still generally require a modest size of land to install the necessary equipment.

Unevenness of the geothermal contact or uneven geothermal heat transfer due to differences in underground soil composition, variation and contact results in a defective loop.

In such a defective loop, the refrigerant or water passes underground, then through defective lines, resulting in low temperature change leading to dysfunction.

In case of the direct heat exchange systems, the defective line has the lowest pressure load during the heating mode due to inability to vaporize refrigerant, and the highest pressure during the cooling mode due to lesser liquefying of the refrigerant, resulting in concentrated movement of the refrigerant through lower pressure lines due to the dysfunction.

In case of the water source model, the propylene glycol, antifreeze used for heating mode use has high viscosity in lower temperature, leading to the restricted movement of the liquid movement through the defective lines.

Thus, unequal flow of water or refrigerant flow results between the dysfunctional and well functioning lines due to the high viscosity or comparative lower pressure of the line, which sometimes leads to the failure of the whole system.

Another problem with existing geothermal heat exchange systems is that the prolonged running time of the geothermal heat pumps often causes super freezing of the land during the heating mode and super heating of the land during the cooling mode, reducing the efficiency of the heat pump system.

Therefore, both types of existing systems require high cost installation due to extensive drilling, land excavation and labor requirement, as well as requiring a relatively long period of time to install.

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