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US-20260126217-A1 - MULTI-WELL GEOTHERMAL SYPHONING SYSTEM

US20260126217A1US 20260126217 A1US20260126217 A1US 20260126217A1US-20260126217-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a multi-well geothermal syphoning system, comprising at least one injection well and at least one production well, the at least one injection well having an inlet valve for controlling a volume of a fluid medium entering the system and the at least one production well having an outlet valve for controlling the volume of the fluid medium exiting the system, each of the wells having a well bore extending downwardly from a ground surface to define a plurality of substantially vertical bore sections, a first well bore comprising a first vertical bore section turning through 90 degrees and extending parallel to the ground surface to thereby define a horizontal bore section, the first well bore intersecting with the vertical bore sections of each of the remaining wells to fluidly interconnect each well of the system such that the fluid medium at a first temperature is introduced into the at least one injection well and the fluid medium at a second temperature is drawn from the at least one production well.

Inventors

  • Warren Ross STRANGE

Assignees

  • Good Water Energy Ltd

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251219
Priority Date
20210820

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A multi-well geothermal syphoning system, comprising at least one injection well and at least two production wells, the at least one injection well having an inlet valve for controlling a volume of a fluid medium entering the system and the at least two production wells each having an outlet valve for controlling the volume of the fluid medium exiting the system, each of the wells having a well bore extending downwardly from a ground surface to define a plurality of substantially vertical bore sections, a first well bore comprising a first vertical bore section turning through 90 degrees and extending parallel to the ground surface to thereby define a horizontal bore section, the first well bore intersecting with the vertical bore sections of each of the remaining wells to fluidly interconnect each well of the system such that the fluid medium at a first temperature is introduced into the at least one injection well and the fluid medium at a second temperature is drawn from the at least two production wells, wherein each inlet valve and each outlet valve can be adjusted to vary a flow volume of the fluid medium between the at least one injection well and the at least two production wells to thereby control a temperature of the fluid medium at the second temperature drawn from the at least two production wells.
  2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first well bore includes an elbow transitioning the direction of fluid medium flow through 90 degrees between the first vertical bore section and the horizontal bore section.
  3. 3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the volume of fluid medium entering the at least one injection well is substantially equal to the volume of fluid medium exiting the at least two production wells.
  4. 4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second temperature is greater than the first temperature.
  5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first temperature is about 60° C.-70° C.
  6. 6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second temperature is about 250° C.-300° C.
  7. 7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the volume of fluid medium entering the at least one injection well is about 20 kg to 120 kg/second.
  8. 8 . The system of claim 1 , comprising one injection well and two production wells, wherein the plurality of wells are arranged in series and the injection well is centrally located in the series.
  9. 9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the fluid medium exits the vertical bore section of the injection well at a junction with the horizontal bore section driving the fluid medium along the horizontal bore section towards each of the two production wells.
  10. 10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the fluid medium exits each production well at a flow rate of about 10 kg to 60 kg/second.
  11. 11 . The system of claim 1 , comprising two injection wells and at least two production wells.
  12. 12 . The system of claim 1 , comprising one injection well and four production wells, the injection well centrally located of the four production wells such that the vertical bore section of the injection well intersects with the horizontal bore section.
  13. 13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the fluid medium exits each production well at a flow rate of about 10 kg to 60 kg/second.
  14. 14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each well is spaced about 50 metres from any adjacent well.
  15. 15 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each well is spaced about 100 metres from any adjacent well.
  16. 16 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the vertical bore sections comprises a sump for collecting and trapping particulate matter within the system.
  17. 17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vertical bore sections of each well extend downwardly from the ground surface by 5,000 metres to 12,000 metres.
  18. 18 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the horizontal bore section is surrounded by geology at temperatures between 400° C.-700° C.
  19. 19 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the inlet valve is an inlet flow control valve.
  20. 20 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the outlet valve is an outlet flow control valve

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/685,006 filed on Feb. 20, 2024, which is a National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/AU2022/050864, filed on Aug. 9, 2022, which claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Australian Application No. 2021902611 filed on Aug. 20, 2021, and Australian Application No. 2021106085 filed on Aug. 20, 2021, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. FIELD The disclosure herein is directed to a multi-well geothermal syphoning system having a single injection well and a plurality of production wells configured to draw thermal energy from sub-surface geology into a fluid medium. BACKGROUND Wells are used to provide access to heated geology below the ground and can channel a fluid or alternative heat transfer medium therethrough to deliver thermal energy from the geology at the bottom of the well to the surface. The heated fluid can then be channeled to a plethora of mechanical systems to convert the thermal energy to mechanical work. Wells can be provided with single or multiple flow channels for moving fluids into and out of subsurface reservoirs, sometimes through natural fractures in geology and sometimes through man made fractures in geology created by artificial stimulation, sometimes coaxially aligning the inlet of the well within the outlet of the well, or vice versa in narrow tubing strings. While these arrangements are useful for shallow wells having low flow rates, they are impractical for wells having higher flow rates or deep wells where pressure drops along the depth of the well caused by the narrow tubing strings are unacceptable. A plurality of separate wells can be arranged to form a multi-well system, where heat exchange occurs as the fluid travels into and out of the individual wells; however, the productivity of the system will depend on a number of factors, including the depth of each well, the amount of insulation provided by the well casings and the duration of the fluid travel time within the well system. The potential for geothermal power is at least an order of magnitude greater than all fossil fuels combined. However, commercially exploiting this energy source requires creating wells of sufficient depth to reach the required temperatures and controlling the flow of water around the system to efficiently harvest geothermal energy because the heat transfer coefficient of rock formations is generally low. Additional considerations in relation to thermal conductivities, heat capacities and geometries for each component of the well or well system will also influence the productivity thereof. SUMMARY The present disclosure relates to a multi-well geothermal syphoning system, the system includes a plurality of closed wells, comprising a plurality of production wells in fluid communication with a single injection well. A closed well is one where the fluid medium traveling into or out of the well is contained therein, and may or may not be exposed to the surrounding geology. Where the geology is unconsolidated or sedimentary in nature, casings inserted and installed into the well will protect the fluid medium from contamination, in a positive or negative manner, from collapsing geology and from minerals and salts in the surrounding geology. Where the geology is consolidated, such as granite bed rock, no casing will be installed and the fluid or alternate fluid medium will be in direct contact with the geology where contamination of salt and minerals will reduce to very low levels over time. The closed well can deliver thermal energy drawn or transferred from the hot geology at the bottom of the well and from the walls of the production wells as the fluid is forced to the surface by the thermal syphoning effect; meanwhile, the fluid or alternative heat transfer medium within the closed well remains relatively uncontaminated by the hot bedrock geology at the bottom of the well. In a first aspect, the disclosure provides a multi-well geothermal syphoning system, comprising at least one injection well and at least one production well, the at least one injection well having an inlet valve for controlling a volume of a fluid medium entering the system and the at least one production well having an outlet valve for controlling the volume of the fluid medium exiting the system, each of the wells having a well bore extending downwardly from a ground surface to define a plurality of substantially vertical bore sections, a first well bore comprising a first vertical bore section turning through 90 degrees and extending parallel to the ground surface to thereby define a horizontal bore section, the first well bore intersecting with the vertical bore sections of each of the remaining wells to fluidly interconnect each well of the system such that the fluid medium at a first temperature is in