Geothermal system with earth grounding component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9447992-B2
Application number	US-201213674545-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2012
Priority date	Nov 3, 2010
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

A geothermal system with earth grounding component for providing electrical grounding is introduced. The geothermal system includes: a geothermal component configured to perform heat exchange; wherein the geothermal component comprises at least one heat exchange tube configured to extend into an underground environment; and an earth grounding component configured to provide earth grounding for electronic equipment; wherein the earth grounding component includes at least one conductive rod coupled to and extended along the at least one heat exchange tube, and the at least one conductive rod is configured to electrically couple to a grounding interface of the electronic equipment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A geothermal system with earth grounding for providing electrical grounding, the geothermal system comprising:
a geothermal component configured to perform heat exchange;
wherein the geothermal component comprises at least one heat exchange tube configured to extend into an underground environment;
an earth grounding component configured to provide earth grounding for electronic equipment; and
wherein the earth grounding component includes at least one conductive rod coupled to and extended along the at least one heat exchange tube, and the at least one conductive rod is configured to electrically couple to a grounding interface of the electronic equipment;
wherein the at least one conductive rod is mechanically or molecularly bonded to at least one clamp, and the at least one clamp holds around the at least one heat exchange tube;
wherein the at least one clamp is placed at the bottom of the at least one conductive rod;
wherein the at least one conductive rod extends into the underground environment at a depth equal to or greater than 10 feet;

wherein the geothermal component further comprises:
an input/output (I/O) manifold coupled to the at least one heat exchange tube;
a flexible connect system coupled to the I/O manifold and configured to provide an airway between the I/O manifold and a utility cabinet;
an air transferring device coupled to the I/O manifold and configured to circulate airflow between the utility cabinet, the I/O manifold, and the at least one heat exchange tube at an adjustable rate; and
a temperature control device coupled to the air transferring device and configured to maintain a selectable operating temperature range for the utility cabinet by selectively adjusting a rotational speed of the air transferring device to control a rate of the airflow between the utility cabinet, the I/O manifold, and the at least one heat exchange tube according to the following criteria:
deactivating the air transferring device automatically when Ta<T0 and Te<Tmax;
controlling the air transferring device automatically according to a rotational speed adjusting strategy when Ta>T0 and Te<Tmax; and
directing the air transferring device automatically to operate at a full speed when Ta>T0 and Te>Tmax,
wherein Ta is an external environmental air temperature measurement,
wherein T0 is a pre-determined external environmental air temperature threshold,
wherein Te is an internal utility cabinet air temperature measurement,
wherein Tmax is a pre-determined internal utility cabinet air temperature threshold,
wherein the I/O manifold comprises a manifold inlet chamber and a manifold return chamber separate from the manifold inlet chamber, and

wherein the manifold inlet chamber and the manifold return chamber are separated by a vertical plate that divides the I/O manifold into a manifold return chamber side and a manifold inlet chamber side.

2. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one conductive rod is mechanically or molecularly bonded to the at least one clamp in a manner that the at least one conductive rod is spaced from the at least one heat exchange tube.

3. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one clamp is conductive and is electrically coupled to the at least one conductive rod.

4. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one clamp is a sleeve clamp or a strap clamp.

5. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one clamp is made part of or all of a thermal insulated material.

6. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one conductive rod comprises more than one conductive rods, and wherein the more than one conductive rods are electrically connected with each other.

7. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one conductive rod extends along the at least one heat exchange tube in a parallel way or in a spiral way.

8. The geothermal system of claim 1 , wherein a cross section of the at least one conductive rod has a shape of round, ellipse, rectangle, flat strip, hollow or diamond.

9. A geothermal system with earth grounding for providing electrical grounding, the geothermal system comprising:
a geothermal component configured to perform heat exchange;
wherein the geothermal component comprises at least one heat exchange tube configured to extend into an underground environment;
an earth grounding component configured to provide earth grounding for electronic equipment; and
wherein the earth grounding component includes at least one conductive rod coupled to and extended along the at least one heat exchange tube, and the at least one conductive rod is configured to electrically couple to a grounding interface of the electronic equipment;
wherein the at least one conductive rod is mechanically or molecularly bonded to at least one clamp, and the at least one clamp holds around the at least one heat exchange tube;
wherein the at least one clamp is placed at the bottom of the at least one conductive rod;

wherein the at least one conductive rod extends into the underground environment at a depth equal to or greater than 10 feet;
wherein the geothermal component further comprises:
an input/output (I/O) manifold coupled to the at least one heat exchange tube;
a flexible connect system coupled to the I/O manifold and configured to provide an airway between the I/O manifold and a utility cabinet; and
a temperature control device coupled to the I/O manifold and configured to maintain a selectable operating temperature range for the utility cabinet,
wherein the I/O manifold comprises a manifold inlet chamber and a manifold return chamber separate from the manifold inlet chamber,
wherein the manifold return chamber and the manifold inlet chamber are separated by a return tube that divides the I/O manifold such that an area outside the return tube comprises the manifold inlet chamber and an area inside the return tube comprises the manifold return chamber,
wherein the manifold return chamber comprises an adjustable airflow device coupled to the return tube and configured to draw airflow from the return tube to the utility cabinet at an adjustable rate, and
wherein the temperature control device is further configured to maintain the operating temperature range by selectively adjusting a rotational speed of the airflow device to control a rate of the airflow according to the following criteria:
deactivating the airflow device automatically when T a <T 0 and T e <T max ;
controlling the airflow device automatically according to a rotational speed adjusting strategy when T a >T 0 and T e <T max , and
directing the airflow device automatically to operate at a full speed when T a >T 0 and T e >T max ,

wherein T a is an external environmental air temperature measurement,
wherein T 0 is a pre-determined external environmental air temperature threshold,
wherein T e is an internal utility cabinet air temperature measurement, and
wherein T max is a pre-determined internal utility cabinet air temperature threshold.

10. The geothermal system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one conductive rod is mechanically or molecularly bonded to the at least one clamp in a manner that the at least one conductive rod is spaced from the at least one heat exchange tube.

11. The geothermal system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one clamp is conductive and is electrically coupled to the at least one conductive rod.

12. The geothermal system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one clamp is a sleeve clamp or a strap clamp.

13. The geothermal system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one clamp is made part o

Assignees

• Futurewei Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Johnson Kelly
• Fernandez Pedro

Classifications

• F24T2010/50

  Component parts, details or accessories · CPC title

• F24T10/15

  using bent tubes; using tubes assembled with connectors or with return headers · CPC title

• H02G9/00

  Installations of electric cables or lines in or on the ground or water · CPC title

• H05K7/2059

  within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device · CPC title

• F24T10/17

  using tubes closed at one end, i.e. return-type tubes · CPC title