Direct downhole electricity generation in a geothermal well

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12560360-B2
Application number	US-202217978834-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2022
Priority date	Nov 1, 2022
Publication date	Feb 24, 2026
Grant date	Feb 24, 2026

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present disclosure relate to generating electricity by pumping fluid into a thermoelectric conduit that extends into a geothermal reservoir. A method includes pumping fluid into at least one thermoelectric conduit that extends into the geothermal reservoir. The method further includes generating electricity with the thermoelectric conduit due to a temperature differential between the fluid and the geothermal reservoir.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
pumping a fluid into an inlet of a first thermoelectric conduit and an inlet of a second thermoelectric conduit, wherein the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit extend into a geothermal reservoir, wherein both the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit comprise a helical shaped portion, and wherein the helical shaped portion of the first thermoelectric conduit is positioned within the circumference of and circumscribed by the helical shaped portion of the second thermoelectric conduit; and generating electricity with the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit due to a temperature differential between the fluid and the geothermal reservoir.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising recovering the fluid from an outlet of the first thermoelectric conduit and an outlet of the second thermoelectric conduit.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit comprises a non-helical return line fluidically coupled to a bottom of the helical shaped portion of the first thermoelectric conduit and the outlet of the first thermoelectric conduit.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising recovering electricity at a surface of a well, the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit extending into the well.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fluid includes water.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit further includes a U-shape to maximize surface area for electricity generation.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a temperature of the fluid is less than a temperature of the geothermal reservoir.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an inner diameter of the first thermoelectric conduit is cooler than an outer diameter of the first thermoelectric conduit.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit is disposed in an inlet of the second thermoelectric conduit to maximize surface area for electricity generation.

10 . A system comprising:
a first thermoelectric conduit and a second thermoelectric conduit extending into a geothermal reservoir, wherein both the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit comprise a helical shaped portion, and wherein the helical shaped portion of the first thermoelectric conduit is positioned within the circumference of and circumscribed by the helical shaped portion of the second thermoelectric conduit; and a fluid source and a pump in communication with the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit and the second thermoelectric conduit are disposed in a wellbore.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit further includes a U-shape to maximize surface area for electricity generation.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein an inner diameter of the first thermoelectric conduit is cooler than an outer diameter of the first thermoelectric conduit.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit is disposed in an inlet of the second thermoelectric conduit to maximize surface area for electricity generation.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the fluid includes water.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit includes an inlet at a surface of a wellbore.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the first thermoelectric conduit includes an outlet at a surface of a wellbore.

18 . The system of claim 10 , wherein both the first and second thermoelectric conduits further comprise a helical shaped portion followed by a U shaped portion followed by a linear shaped portion.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the linear shaped portion extends from the U-shaped portion to the surface of the well system.

20 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the diameter of the second thermoelectric conduit is larger than the diameter of the first thermoelectric conduit.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Zhong Xiaoguang Allan

Classifications

• F03G4/037

  having other power cycles, e.g. Stirling, transcritical or supercritical cycles; combined with other power sources, e.g. wind, gas or nuclear · CPC title

• F03G4/029

  closed loop geothermal collectors, i.e. the fluid is pumped through a closed loop in heat exchange with the geothermal source, e.g. via a heat exchanger · CPC title

• H10N10/13

  characterised by the heat-exchanging means at the junction · CPC title

• H10N10/10

  operating with only the Peltier or Seebeck effects · CPC title

• Y02E10/10

  Geothermal energy · CPC title