Patent ID: 8457934

Claim:
A method for designing a radial geothermal energy probe field, comprising the steps of: using a computer to perform the following: defining a total number of geothermal energy probes in the radial geothermal energy probe field; defining a length and a direction of incidence of each geothermal energy probe; determining perforation points of the geothermal energy probes in a spherical projection; determining included angles between nearby geothermal energy probes; determining a mean value of the included angles; determining a mean value of the geothermal energy probe lengths; determining from the mean values for the included angles and the lengths of the geothermal energy probes a mean center spacing; calculating with a computing method for vertical geothermal energy probe fields a total heat removal capacity by using the determined mean center spacing as distance between probes; and comparing the calculated total heat removal capacity with a predetermined desired heat removal capacity.