Hydrothermal spallation was invented and patented by cofounder Bob Potter and Jefferson Tester of MIT. The patent is owned by MIT and licensed exclusively to Potter Drilling.
An animation of how hydrothermal spallation works.
An animation of how hydrothermal spallation works.
Summary of Potter Geothermal project funded by US DOE
Description of hydrothermal spallation drilling at Energy Boom
2006 Technology Review interview with patent holder Jefferson Tester
Adapted from a post published at Al Fin, The Next Level
Spallation drilling ought to be combined with ultrasonics to make an even more effective drilling method.
ReplyDeleteVery curious to see where these go. There is not enough information to gauge cost vs depth of both techniques. The more expensive conventional wells are horizontal. and you have the issues of borehole stability, lost circulation, well pressure control and a whole host of others. And at greater depths the drilling stream will come back hotter than when it entered due to the temperature gradients involved. Can't wait to see where this goes.
ReplyDeleteAn issue that many people don't realize is that when you go deep, you run the risk of a lot of nasty stuff being drawn to the surface from the circulating water:
ReplyDeleteHydrocarbons
sulfur containing compounds
hydroxides
etc.
As with solar panels, I have yet to see a geothermal project that made sense without massive government subsidies.
Yes indeed.
ReplyDeleteHow ironic it would be if clean-green geothermal drillers ended up hitting the mother lode of all giant crude oil deposits by mistake.
Al Fin: It that happens, the ghost of Dr. Thomas Gold might crack a smile.
ReplyDelete