US 12,352,453 B2
Geothermal heat exchange reservoirs and related methods and systems
Gary Scott Peele, Zebulon, NC (US)
Filed by Gary Scott Peele, Zebulon, NC (US)
Filed on Sep. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/933,681.
Application 17/933,681 is a continuation of application No. 16/547,082, filed on Aug. 21, 2019, granted, now 11,493,238.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/721,938, filed on Aug. 23, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0093881 A1, Mar. 21, 2024
Int. Cl. F24D 3/18 (2006.01); F24T 10/10 (2018.01); F24T 10/00 (2018.01)
CPC F24D 3/18 (2013.01) [F24T 10/10 (2018.05); F24D 2200/11 (2013.01); F24T 2010/53 (2018.05)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of installing a geothermal heat transfer system, comprising:
placing a geothermal heat exchange reservoir in a horizontal trench having a floor and upwardly extending trench sidewalls, wherein the geothermal heat exchange reservoir comprises a flexible reservoir body having width, height, and length dimensions, wherein the flexible reservoir body has a top, a bottom, a pair of long sides and a pair of opposing end walls, wherein the flexible reservoir body comprises first and second fluid ports that are spaced apart along the length dimension and that are positioned on opposing sides of a center of the length dimension, wherein the first and second fluid ports both reside on an upper portion of the flexible reservoir body, wherein the first fluid port comprises an elongate internal tube having a length sufficient to place a bottom of the elongate internal tube abutting the bottom or adjacent the bottom of the flexible reservoir body, wherein the elongate internal tube has a plurality of through apertures on a lower portion thereof, and wherein the second fluid port comprises an internal tube that is shorter than the elongate internal tube and has a length that is less than half the height dimension of the flexible reservoir body; and
filling the geothermal heat exchange reservoir with liquid causing the flexible reservoir body to expand to snugly contact and conform to the trench sidewalls,
wherein the geothermal heat exchange reservoir is configured to flow liquid from a pump associated with a heat exchanger or water-cooled condenser in a closed geothermal loop comprising the flexible reservoir body in a first flow direction during summer and in an opposing second flow direction during winter whereby the liquid flows out of the through apertures of the elongate internal tube in the first flow direction and into the through apertures of the elongate internal tube in the second flow direction, and
wherein the length of the internal tube connected to the second fluid port is in a range of about 0.25 inches to about 3 inches, and wherein the internal tube connected to the second fluid port resides a distance in a range of about 4-8 inches from a first of the opposing end walls and the elongate internal tube resides a distance in a range of about 4-8 inches from a second of the opposing end walls of the flexible reservoir body.