Trench-confirmable geothermal reservoirs with flexible reservoir bodies that can snugly abut trench walls (that may be of virgin, compacted earth) for facilitating heat exchange and flow liquid from one lower end to an opposing top end, and vice versa, depending on desired heat exchange. The direction can be reversed for summer and winter heat/cooling configurations. A series of the reservoirs may be used for appropriate heat transfer. The water volume of the reservoirs is relatively large and slow moving for good earth heat conduction. The reservoirs include first and second ports, one of which has an elongate internal tube that has a bottom that resides adjacent a bottom of the reservoir body and a series of apertures on only a lower portion of the internal tube to intake or output liquid depending on flow direction.

A geothermal heat exchanger, a geothermal heat arrangement and to a method in connection with a geothermal heat arrangement. The geothermal heat exchanger includes a piping arrangement having a rise pipe and a drain pipe, and a first pump arranged to the piping arrangement. The rise pipe and drain pipe are arranged in fluid communication with each other for circulating the primary working fluid. The rise pipe is provided with a first thermal insulation surrounding the rise pipe along at least part of the length of the rise pipe and the first pump is arranged to circulate the primary working fluid in a direction towards a lower end of the rise pump.

A geothermal district heating (DH) system includes a plurality of DH conduits each of the conduits extending to a corresponding heat consumer; means for delivering a DH-usable fluid through said plurality of DH conduits; a fluid circuit through which a geothermal fluid is flowable; and at least two heat exchangers, each of the heat exchangers configured to transfer heat directly or indirectly from the geothermal fluid to said DH-usable fluid with a total heat influx provided by the at least two heat exchangers to said DH-usable fluid that is sufficiently high to raise a temperature of the DH-usable fluid to a predetermined DH-usable temperature without need for any supplemental fossil fuel derived waste heat to be transferred to said DH-usable fluid.

A method of processing electrical data and signals which comprises locating a site with a geothermal hot water resource which feeds hot water to an on-site heat engine that drives an on-site electricity generator which provides electrical power to an array of microprocessors, located in an enclosure structure, that processes data transmitted from a remote location at high speeds. The processed data is transmitted back to the remote locations at high speeds.

This application discloses an advanced design method for customized RCP, (cRCP), with one or more made-to-order reinforcement cages supporting one or more wall-encapsulated heat-exchange channels, cast with special-batch (SB) concrete having additions of fine-disperse CaCO.sub.3 and particular polymer fibers; the resulting Single- and DoubleEPipe sections especially adapted for heat exchange with pipe-internal wastestreams and/or groundwater and including provisions for an optional graywater accumulator for efficient recapture of both water and energy.

Disclosed is a system for heating and cooling, respectively, of more than one house, where at least two houses are connected to a common energy storage in the ground and where a control device is arranged to transport a heat carrier in a pipe work connected to the energy storage. The houses are connected in parallel in relation to each other to the pipe work. Certain of the houses are arranged to exploit the heat carrier for cooling by raising the temperature of the exploited heat carrier with about 3-4 C. at the same time as other houses exploit the heat carrier for heating by lowering the temperature of the exploited heat carrier with about 3-4 C. The common heat storage is arranged so that the heat carrier flowing out from the common energy storage holds an approximatively constant temperature. A related method is also disclosed.

Disclosed is a system for heating and cooling, respectively, of more than one house, where at least two houses are connected to a common energy storage in the ground and where a control device is arranged to transport a heat carrier in a pipe work connected to the energy storage. The houses are connected in parallel in relation to each other to the pipe work. Certain of the houses are arranged to exploit the heat carrier for cooling by raising the temperature of the exploited heat carrier with about 3-4 C. at the same time as other houses exploit the heat carrier for heating by lowering the temperature of the exploited heat carrier with about 3-4 C. The common heat storage is arranged so that the heat carrier flowing out from the common energy storage holds an approximatively constant temperature. A related method is also disclosed.

A district energy network interconnecting a plurality of thermal loads and for redistributing thermal energy therebetween, the network comprising: a primary circuit loop for working fluid, at least two thermal loads thermally connected to the primary circuit loop, at least one of the thermal loads being capable of taking heat from the primary circuit loop and at least one of the thermal loads being capable of rejecting heat into the primary circuit loop, an energy centre connected to the loop and capable of acting as a heat source or a heat sink, and a control system adapted to provide to the primary circuit loop a positive or negative thermal input from the energy centre as a balancing thermal input to compensate for net thermal energy lost to or gained from the at least two thermal loads by the primary circuit loop.

A thermal energy system adapted to be coupled to a building energy system which selectively provides heating and/or cooling to a building, the thermal energy system comprising a heat pump system having an output for a working fluid connected to a heating output of the thermal energy system, a first geothermal system in which a working fluid is, in use, circulated, a first switch assembly selectively connecting the first geothermal system to at least one of the heating output of the thermal energy system and an input for a working fluid of the heat pump system, a second geothermal system in which a working fluid is, in use, circulated, and a second switch assembly selectively connecting the second geothermal system to at least one of a cooling output of the thermal energy system and the input of the heat pump system.

An induced groundwater flow closed loop geothermal system provides safety associated with closed loop geothermal systems (e.g., no mixing of surface water, closed system fluid, and groundwater) and efficiency associated with open loop geothermal systems (e.g., increased heat transfer provided by groundwater flow). A heat exchanger connected to an external system is located in a hole in a geological formation. The hole has a depth below where groundwater is located. A fluid from the external system is routed through the heat exchanger. A pump is utilized to induce groundwater flow from the geological formation, across the heat exchanger and back to the geological formation to enable thermal transfer between the fluid and the groundwater and the groundwater and the geological formation. A casing may be located in the hole to provide structural support and grouting materials may be used to fill space around the casing enabling a groundwater flow path.