Volcanos: Energy Source of the Future

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Scientists in Iceland attempted to drill into their volcano to tap into a super hot source of water to power electrical turbines. Does anyone know if this is substantially different from the geothermal wells now in Puna (and in the planning stages)? From the article:

Scientists were going to attempt to drill into a reservoir of water so much hotter than anything tapped before that the water it contained was thought to exist in a fourth state of matter distinct from liquid, solid and steam. This super-heated water, which is in a state known as “supercritical,” that is beyond the point at which a substance can be either a liquid or a gas, exists only under conditions of extreme heat and pressure.

It would be a world-changing discovery, because if you can get supercritical water to the earth’s surface and into a power plant, you can extract ten times as much energy from it as you can from typical steam or hot water.

http://qz.com/172642/why-volcanoes-are-t...he-future/

[Obie]

The KS-2 well at PGV measures 648 degrees f and 2200psi at 5500 feet.

[bluesboy]

That's what I call a hot shower!

[Midnight Rambler]

I don't think that would be enough pressure. The critical point for water is about 705 F and 3200 psi, it needs to be higher in both to be supercritical.

[TomK]

My internal imperial-to-metric converter has just imploded! I've always been able to convert this stuff in my head but that's only for normal things, i.e., if it's 70 degrees here it's roughly 20 degrees in Europe. Pounds per square inch I can sort of handle, but combined with Fahrenheit beyond oven temperatures it's giving me a real headache! Interesting question, though. I think there are some fundamental differences between exploiting geothermal energy in Iceland and here, but will check to see if my memory is right.

[pahoated]

quote:

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Originally posted by HereOnThePrimalEdge
http://qz.com/172642/why-volcanoes-are-t...he-future/

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The part that you quoted was from the hypothetical drilling that they were planning before they started. When they got down to the depths they were expecting supercritical brine aquifer chambers (5-6 miles), they drilled directly in magma. They found their drilling into the magma allowed water from natural fracture layers to seep down and create a superheated steam chamber. They were able to put in a stainless steel collar to this chamber and that is where it is now.

This is nothing like PGV. PGV uses the now becoming outdated method of finding deep, natural pockets of superhot brine aquifers about 2 miles deep, not anywhere near the depths they are drilling in Iceland. This is more difficult because low resolution acoustics are being using to locate these pockets of brine aquifers since they want to drill into those rather than magma. There is a new paradigm for geothermal power coming.

"This island Hawaii on this island Earth"