Development of geothermal drilling techniques

In a recent article, New Energy & Fuel, is looking at Potter Drilling and its “New Way to Drill for Geothermal Energy”. The article describes the actual technology behind the approach of Potter.

In short the author writes about that “the new drilling technique that uses superheated steam instead of air is being tested this year.  The technique relies on superheated steam to drill through the hard crystalline rocks that contain geothermal heat.

The method for generating the superheated steam was developed by Oxford Catalysts, based in the UK. Dave Wardle, business development director for Instant Steam technology at Oxford Catalysts, said current drilling techniques are laborious and use rotating drill bits to cut through the rock.  “With crystalline rock you wear out the drill bits very fast,’ he said. ‘This new technology provides a chemical way of cutting rock at reasonably fast speed. There are no moving parts.”

The article then describes a bit more into detail the actual technology and some views, which makes it a very interesting read. For the full article, see link below.

Source: New Energy & Fuel