The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 04, 1976
Filed:
Mar. 17, 1975
Leon Awerbuch, San Francisco, CA (US);
Charles T Draney, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Bechtel International Corporation, San Francisco, CA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for utilizing the heat energy of the effluent from a geothermal well. The system includes a surface evaporator which allows a preheated distillate, freed of impurities, to be vaporized by the heat energy of the steam and/or brine from the geothermal well. The resulting vapor is used to drive a power unit such as a multi-stage turbine. The vapor exhausted from the power unit is condensed by any of a number of conventional means. A portion of the condensate is then recycled through the system, wherein it becomes the direct contact condensing medium for the vapor produced by flashing hot geothermal brine in a multi-stage flash evaporator through which the brine and the condensate are passing countercurrently. The vapor thus condensed augments the aforesaid recycled condensate and, together, they constitute the aforementioned distillate entering the surface evaporator and carrying with it the heat energy extracted from the brine in the flash evaporator. The remainder of the condensate from the condenser may be withdrawn from the system and constitutes a product resulting from the practice of the desalination process of the invention. Residual brine is carried off from the multi-stage flash evaporator and contains retrievable salts and other valuable minerals.