Geothermal system materials
View Patent ↗The present invention provides components with metamaterial structures for use in enhanced geothermal systems.
1 . A casing connector for a geothermal well, the connector comprising:
a hollow cylindrical body with upper and lower ends; and
a bellows disposed within the body, wherein the bellows comprises a form defined by at least two sets of intersecting or interfering corrugations.
2 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein an upper end of the bellows has an upper mating face for coupling to a first casing, and a lower end of the bellows is connected to the lower end of the body, where the lower end of the body includes a lower mating face.
3 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein an external surface of the body is substantially smooth and cylindrical.
4 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the bellows is connected to the body at the lower end.
5 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the bellows and the body are of one monolithic piece of material.
6 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the connector is made by a powder bed fusion (PDF) process.
7 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the connector is made from steel.
8 . The connecter of claim 1 formed of stainless steel 316L or g300 maraging steel by additive manufacturing.
9 . The connector of claim 1 , further comprising at least one torque shoulder, wherein at least one face of the torque shoulder is ramped and does not present an overhang during additive manufacturing.
10 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein either or both ends comprise additively manufactured threads.
11 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein a mass of the connector is less than about 4.2 kg.
12 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the bellows comprises additively manufactured steel in a multi-corrugated form, and the connector can accommodate up to 5% axial strain before yield and greater than 10% axial strain before failure.
13 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the upper and lower ends have a feature selected from a group consisting of a short thread casing coupling, a long thread casing coupling, and a buttress thread casing coupling.
14 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the connector is made of a high strength corrosion-resistant metallic alloy.
15 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the bellows is compressible within the body.
16 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the bellows is configured to accommodate up to 5% axial strain before yield and greater than 10% axial strain before failure.
17 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein the body has a cylindrical external surface and a lower mating face configured to couple to a first casing at the lower end of the body, and
wherein the bellows depends from the lower end and has an upper mating face configured to couple to a second casing.
18 . The connector of claim 17 , wherein the bellows comprises a metamaterial structure.
19 . The connector of claim 17 , wherein the body and the bellows are a monolithic structure made of a material selected from a group consisting of steel, metallic alloy, maraging steel g300, 316L stainless steel, thermoplastic polymers, and polyether ether ketone (PEEK).
20 . The connector of claim 17 , wherein the upper mating face and the lower mating face have a feature selected from a group consisting of a short thread casing coupling, a long thread casing coupling, a buttress thread casing coupling, and a blank casing coupling surface.
21 . A casing connector for a geothermal well, the connector comprising:
a hollow cylindrical body with upper and lower ends; and
a bellows disposed within the body, wherein the bellows comprises an undulating surface defined by intersections or interferences among two or more sets of corrugations.
22 . A casing connector for a geothermal well, the connector comprising:
a hollow cylindrical body with upper and lower ends; and
a bellows disposed within the body, wherein the bellows has at least two sets of non-parallel undulations that meet or cooperate to define open cells along a surface of the bellows.
23 . A casing connector for a geothermal well, the connector comprising:
a hollow cylindrical body with upper and lower ends; and
a bellows disposed within the body, wherein when pressure is applied axially to the connector, open cells along a surface of the bellows promote deformation of the connector axially to an extent greater than that of a connector made with a bulk monolithic structure and no open cells.