| Abstract |
Vast amounts of energy are stored as heat in dry rock. At depths ranging from 10-20 km, the temperature and pressure reach supercritical conditions where potential power output is increased significantly compared to conventional geothermal resources. Supercritical geothermal resources remain untapped, but what if innovations in drilling technology could provide access to supercritical conditions anywhere on earth and within 100 days? What if exploration risk would no longer be significant and geothermal power could be produced locally, near high-demand centers? This would forever change the outlook and scalability of geothermal energy as a compelling alternative for countries transitioning to renewable energy, although mechanical drilling methods cannot penetrate these depths and are a mature technology only capable of incremental improvements. Technical limitations to deep geothermal drilling could be overcome by direct energy drilling using Millimeter Wave (MMW) technology. Full bore penetration would be transformed into solely an energy-matter interaction, an entirely new approach that removes high temperature and high-pressure limits imposed on mechanical tools. MMW drilling has the potential to increase conventional drilling rates of penetration (ROP) by a factor of 10 or more, enable casing-while-drilling, and access depths exceeding 10-20 km. In this paper, we revisit the concept of direct energy drilling via millimeter waves, pioneered at the MIT Plasma Science Fusion Center and now on active development at Quaise, Inc., to show the potential and feasibility of this technology both technically and economically. We use simple models to demonstrate likely rates of penetration, material removal techniques, casing-while-drilling and economic value, and outline a technology, product, and business development roadmap to get there at scale. |