Jansen AG has won a “Gold” German Innovation Award 2019 for the JANSEN hipress, as revealed by the company from the St.GallenBodenseeArea in a press release. The prize is awarded by the German Design Council. Jansen AG quoted the jury’s reasoning behind awarding them the prize: “The innovative JANSEN hipress features the lowest hydraulic resistance and is currently the most powerful downhole heat exchanger available on the market. All this, without the need to increase the installation diameter, which favorably influences drilling costs”.
Jansen developed its downhole heat exchanger in tandem with University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (HSR). The project was supported by the KTI – Commission for Technology & Innovation – at that time. According to its press release, Jansen AG has secured “a pioneering role in the geothermal energy market in terms of safety, connection technology and diffusion sealing, and has progressed to become the global market leader” with its patented downhole heat exchanger.
For conventional downhole heat exchangers, the pressure at a depth of 200 meters presents a real problem. Here, geothermal heat ensures that as drilling activities push deeper, the temperature rises ever higher. Solutions have sought to increase wall strength to offset the pressure, although this leads to a deterioration in heat transition and increases costs. However, the compressive strength of Jansen’s plastic downhole heat exchanger means that it was designed to be suitable for use at depths of between 200-500 meters.
