Geothermal Could Become Cost Competitive With This Technology

https://earthsourceheat.cornell.edu/

I am curious as to how they will add length to their drill without losing n2 pressure or power. I can imagine letting the business end cool down would cause all kinds of problems. Keeping it spinning would be ideal. That leads to the problem of adding length and keeping the power applied to the bottom end. The wave guide match has to be really smooth with little to no gap. I don't remember what frequency they quoted so this may not be an issue

They also did not mention the cost of nitrogen to blow the rock gas out and how they will keep it from cooling on the way out. It has to deposit somewhere. This is going to be huge volumes of n2.

Next, what are they going to due with the residue removed from the hole. That is just one more engineering problem. I think this residue is going to be very abrasive in nature and a lung problem.

If they can efficiently get passed these and probably many more issues in going to full on drilling, this sounds like a good idea.

Its something I would like to work on. I have ideas.

I suspect that they will find the rock will begin to shift/deform as they get deeper, so they may never be able to reach high enough temperatures & Pressures to form supercritical water, and even if they do, the water will lose much of its energy before it reaches the surface.

I wish them luck!

Yes even at a maximum velocity of say 40m/s for an 8" pipe we're talking 4.69 minutes for a 7 mile run...still after running for while it might heat the pipe high enough...

While they are looking at obtaining super critical steam, there are other uses for far cooler water.

70C would be more than enough for district heating, swimming pools or hot tubs/ saunas.

Getting some ROI with these may be a way to prove the system in real life scenarios before the full depth can be achieved.

We do not know the full effect of drilling into that. It may be like pricking a balloon. Caution is the word.

We have all the free, clean energy we could ever use, and it’s only 10 miles away.

Microwaves and lasers are popular.

Why not a magnetic hammer? Maybe ultrasonics. Thermite torch. Using water to flush and cool.

Only one hole is needed. No return is needed. No circulation is needed. One way spigot.

No fuel needs to be found and mined. No fuel transportation is needed. Even with the high initial cost, here is huge savings. We been hanging panels for 20 years. We could have been boring.

This is much better than 23% solar panels or wind.

Power plus water. With cheap power we can fill and freshen inland seas and pump commodities across continents. Grow crops in controlled environments 24/7.

Cheap power is a new world. Roads can become grids. No batteries needed.

Cheap energy... the key to prosperity...

I do like the general idea of trying to tap into geothermal energy. This drilling technique should stay in the realm of science fiction.

So from this fantasy ware they plan to drill a hole 13Km into the crust to use the heat gain of 30c/Km. Good luck with that. Having worked on drilling rigs which drilled only 3Km into outback Australia I wish them well for we had enough problems with losing circulation of drilling mud due to the fractured topography.

N2 for circulation, is that the vapour of vapour ware?

Besides the rig I was on used 3MW of generation to achieve making the bore hole to 3000m.

Seriously ? It sounds like something from Elon Musk.

Why not use a boring machine to make a tunnel down about 5 miles, and launch the drilling from inside the tunnel...you could make several drill sites all in a network of tunnels...Go big!!!!

https://www.ipulse-group.com/

Cheaper to put a cap on this,

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-gates-of-hell-turkmenistan

https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Geothermal-Energy/Report-Shows-Geothermal-Can-Meet-64-of-AI-Energy-Demand-Boom.html

..."Deep wells and hydrocarbon production are widely distributed in the U.S. in rocks of various ages and lithologies. Sixteen thousand six hundred fifty wells have been drilled deeper than 15,000 ft in the U.S. since the first deep well was drilled in 1920, according to Petroleum Information Corporation's Well History Control System (WHCS) as of February 1988. Of these 16,650 deep wells, 8,705 were completed as producing wells that could be producing oil and (or) gas at any depth (above or below 15,000 ft). Nearly as many gas wells exist (6,347) as dry holes (7,090); gas wells are about three times more abundant than oil wells (2,181). In the WHCS file, 1,442 wells have a total depth greater than 20,000 ft."...

https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1990/0305/report.pdf

Dry hole, or geothermal starter hole....