A process for using energy from a hot brine to generate power, comprising: Flashing the hot brine in a flash zone to form steam and a concentrated brine, Using the steam to drive a power-generating turbine, Condensing the exhaust steam from the turbine, Combining condensate from the turbine exhaust with the concentrated brine to form a restored brine, And returning the restored brine to the source of the hot brine.

Fresh water and mechanical energy are obtained from melting of icebergs. Warm surface seawater is contacted with a fluid, which is vaporized. The resulting vapor is used to generate mechanical energy and then is condensed by contacting it with cold melt water from the iceberg. The fluid is regenerated with a concomitant elevation in the temperature of the melt water. The warmer melt water is cycled to the body of the iceberg to facilitate its melting and produce additional cold melt water, which...

Heat energy is more efficiently recovered from geothermal brines by preflashing the brine to remove dissolved, non-condensible gases before flashing the brine to produce motive steam. Power requirements for removal of non-condensibles from turbine exhausts (in order to maintain adequately low exhaust pressures) are obviated. The heat content of the pre-flashed vapors may be largely utilized for superheating and reheating the motive steam.

A process for treating and deriving useful energy from a two-phase geothermal brine containing non-condensible gases, including hydrogen sulfide, and also containing heavy and/or transition metals in solution, wherein the non-condensible gases are separated from the geothermal brine. Substantially all of the hydrogen sulfide contained in the non-condensible gas is converted to sulfur dioxide and at least a portion of the sulfur dioxide is removed from the non-condensible gas thereby rendering th...

Process and system for recovery of energy from geothermal brines and other hot water sources, which comprises direct contact heat exchange between the brine or hot water, and a hydrocarbon working fluid, e.g. n-butane, in a heat transfer column, the heat transfer column being operated at or above the critical pressure of the working fluid, and the hot brine or hot water feed being at a temperature at or above the critical temperature of the working fluid. The heated working fluid exiting the top...

Melted ice stored in a pool hollowed out of the upper surface of a tabular iceberg is used as a cold source and the sea on which the iceberg is floating is used as a hot source for a heat engine. Useful energy is extracted in spite of the low Carnot cycle efficiency and the melting of the iceberg to provide fresh water is accelerated.

Process and system for recovery of energy from geothermal brines and other water containing or hot water sources, which comprises direct contact heat exchange between the brine or hot water, and a working fluid, e.g. n-butane, in a heat transfer column, the heat transfer column being operated in the subcritical pressure region of the working fluid, preferably close to or approaching the apex of the saturated vapor curve for such working fluid on the Mollier enthalpy-entropy diagram for such flui...

Hot fluid which may contain salts and other dissolved minerals is passed through a direct contact heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with a heating fluid that has a specific gravity sufficiently below the specific gravity of the hot fluid that it may pass from the bottom to the top of the heat exchanger chamber in contact with the hot fluid. The pressure of the chamber is maintained above the vapor pressure of the hot fluid at the entering temperature of the fluid. The heat transfer fl...

A heat energy recovery system for extracting heat from earth cavities in which a heat exchanger is placed in a cavity and coupled in a closed loop heat exchange arrangement with an above ground heat exchanger. Particular use is made of the liquid head in a pipe going down to the heat exchanger in the cavity to create substantial pressure to operate an expansion valve at the lower heat exchanger where evaporation occurs to enhance heat exchange. This system also discloses new arrangements of flui...

A geothermal energy transfer and utilization system abstracts thermal energy stored in hot solute-bearing well water to generate super-heated steam from an injected flow of clean water; the super-heated steam is then used for operating a turbine-driven pump at the well bottom for pumping the hot solute-bearing water at high pressure and always in liquid state to the earth's surface, where it is used by transfer of its heat to a closed-loop vapor generator-turbine-alternator combination for the g...