Patent ID: 11913678
Assignee: nan
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  Y | IPC F

Claim 8:
9. A ground heat exchange system, comprising:
a reservoir containing water and a submersible pump for the water;
a heat exchanger unit thermally coupled to a building or industrial load to be thermally modified, and thermally coupled to the water in the reservoir;
a plurality of substantially vertical boreholes in the ground, each borehole lined with a watertight membrane and filled with water, the reservoir having a shallower depth than any of the boreholes and the submersible pump being submerged below a water level of the boreholes;
a water-circulating pipe system supplying water pumped by the submersible pump from the reservoir through a water inlet manifold to a set of adjustable balancing valves, one valve per borehole, for balancing flow among the plurality of boreholes, wherein each borehole also includes a water overflow drain coupled to an external gravity-fed drain manifold leading overflow water from the boreholes back into the reservoir;
wherein the reservoir and each of the boreholes have removable lids at ground level; and
wherein each balancing valve is located below the removable lid and discharges water directly into the top of the borehole, and wherein a discharge water outlet tube elbows downward and extends nearly to the bottom of the borehole, and wherein the top of the outlet tube, before passing out through the wall of the borehole, includes a small hole designed to break a siphon so that the water level cannot fall below the level of the bottom of the drain opening through the borehole wall.