Millimeter wave drilling could tap deep geothermal energy
Tom KirkmanIndependent Project Manager
A novel non-contact millimeter wave drilling method, meant to tap into deep underground geothermal energy, was demonstrated live.
The potential of this contactless drilling to extract geothermal energy has piqued my interest.
There are 2 short explainer videos embedded in the article.
/ A key word to understand here:
**ablate means to remove or destroy something from an object by vaporization, melting or by other means.
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“A US company has just hosted the first of several live demonstrations showcasing its record-breaking drill that is capable of boring into granite using pure energy.
Massachusetts-based startup Quaise Energy has taken a massive step towards limitless, clean geothermal power with the first live public demonstration of its millimeter wave drilling system.
⚫ The demo, held at a granite quarry in Marble Falls, Texas, showed the company’s ability to vaporize rock using high-frequency electromagnetic waves, drilling 387 feet (118 meters) into solid granite without any physical contact.
Dubbed “the first drilling innovation in 100 years,” the technology could unlock access to superhot and superdeep renewable geothermal energy, tapping into the heat stored beneath the Earth’s surface on a scale comparable to fossil fuels.
“Quaise is not a drilling company, it’s an energy company,” Carlos Araque, Quaise Energy’s CEO and co-founder, stated.
“We aim to make geothermal the workhorse of the energy transition, and we won’t stop until we succeed.”
A total of 56 observers witnessed the firm’s system in action at the September 4 event.
The demonstration site featured live footage of the drilling hole, real-time data displays, and guided tours of the core components.
… According to the company, the attendees even viewed the borehole itself through a camera lowered down the shaft, revealing a smooth transition from surface soil to uniform granite walls.
⚫ At approximately 387 feet (118 meters), the hole is the deepest ever drilled with millimeter-waves, which are similar to the microwaves used in an oven.
⚫ The waves were powerful enough to **ablate the pink granite into grey ash at the demo site, where samples were made available during the tour.
This enables a radically different form of drilling, which is potentially capable of reaching the superhot, superdeep geothermal layers miles beneath Earth’s surface.
… Although the team wasn’t focused on speed, they still reached drilling rates of up to 16 feet (five meters) per hour through some of the world’s hardest rock. “That’s extremely fast,” Lamb revealed.
Henry Phan, Quaise’s vice president of engineering, noted that typical commercial drilling averages just a tenth of a meter per hour through granite.
“Our production goal is eight and a half inches.” …