Over 400 wells with downhole heat exchangers are in use in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Some have been in use for nearly 30 years. Despite the large number and the long experience, the exact nature of the mechanism of heat exchange and, therefore, the maximum output was not known, except that it had been theorized that convection cells were established in the well. Oregon Institute of Technology and Oregon State University are jointly involved in a project to study the heat exchange process and economics of the downhole heat exchanger system