Control system to manage and optimize a geothermal electric generation system from one or more wells that individually produce heat

Abstract

A control system manages and optimizes a geothermal electric generation system from one or more wells that individually produce heat. The control system includes heat sensors that measure temperature and fluid flow and are placed at critical points in the wells, in piping, in a hot fluid reservoir, in a cold fluid reservoir and in a cooling system. The control system also includes pump and valve controls, generator controls, a network for gathering information and delivering instructions, and a processing module that collects information and communicates control information to each component.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of United States Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 12 / 456,434 filed on Jun. 15, 2009. This application also claims priority to 1) U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 137,956, filed on Aug. 5, 2008; 2) U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 137,974, filed on Aug. 5, 2008; 3) U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 137,955, filed on Aug. 5, 2008; and 4) U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 137,975, filed on Aug. 5, 2008, the contents of all of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not applicable.REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX[0003]Not applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0004]The present invention relates generally to the field of converting geothermal energy into electricity. More specifically, the present invention relates to capturing geothermal heat fro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]To control and maximize the performance of one or more wells and generators that have been modified and designed to produce heat for the generation of electricity and have been aggregated to form a power plant. a Central Control System is used. The system is required to coordinate and operate one or more wells.The fluid flow rates of the wells and generation equipment need to be controlled so that they are coordinated, and maximized. All critical elements need to be measured and all generators pumps, valves and generators in the system need to be controlled.A single Central Control System that adjusts the pumps, valves and generators based on information from all the measurement points allows the system to self adjust all flow and heat issues coordinating, controlling and maximizing the system results. The control system also controls all the functions of generating electricity.

Problems solved by technology

Wells that have been drilled for oil and gas exploration that are either depleted, or have never produced oil or gas, usually remain abandoned and / or unused and may eventually be filled.

Such wells were created at a large cost and create an environmental issue when no longer needed for their initial use.

While there are known geothermal heat / electrical methods and systems for using the geothermal heat / energy from deep within a well (in order to produce a heated fluid (liquid or gas) and generate electricity therefrom), these methods have significant environmental drawbacks and are usually inefficient in oil and gas wells due to the depth of such wells.

The water used for these systems is extremely harmful to the environment, as it is full of minerals, is caustic and can pollute water aquifers.

In the case of EGS systems, water injected into a well permeates the Earth as it travels over rock and other material under the Earth's surface, becoming polluted, caustic, and dangerous.

A water-based system for generating heat from a well presents significant and specific issues.

For example, extremely large quantities of water are often injected into a well.

This water becomes polluted with minerals and other harmful substances, often is very caustic, and causes problems such as seismic instability and disturbance of natural hydrothermal manifestations.

Additionally, there is a high potential for pollution of surrounding aquifers.

This polluted water causes additional problems, such as depositing minerals and severely scaling pipes.

This increases the cost of drilling associated with geothermal systems, and the cost increases with increasing depth.

This type of conventional geothermal system is highly inefficient in very deep wells for several of reasons.

In this type of prior art system, the geologies that can be used because of the need for large quantities of water are very limited.

The deeper the well, the more challenging it is to implement a water-based system.

Therefore, using conventional geothermal electricity-generating systems can be highly inefficient because long lengths between the bottom of a well and the surface results in the loss of heat more quickly.

This heat loss impacts the efficacy and economics of generating electricity from these types of systems.

Even more water is required in such deep wells, making geothermal electricity-generating systems challenging in deep wells.

An important factor in determining the feasibility of such a prior art geothermal system is the depth of wellbore, which affects the drilling costs, the cost of the pipe and the size of the pump.

If the wellbore has to be drilled to too great a depth, a water-based geothermal system may not be a practical alternative energy source.

Furthermore, these water-based systems often fail due to a lack of permeability of hot rock within the Earth, as water injected into the well never reaches the production well that retrieves the water.