Quaise's ultra-deep geothermal drilling plans

[Sparty]

"These are some neat technologies, but we're looking forward to seeing how they work in the real world. If GA's drilling advances can truly put cost-competitive geothermal power plants more or less anywhere you want one, this tech could make a huge contribution to global energy production and the race to zero carbon emissions by 2050. And if Quaise hits its targets, the results could be even more significant."

"Quaise's ultra-deep geothermal power plan is one of the most exciting and fascinating green energy projects we've seen. In a nutshell, this Boston-based MIT spin-off says it has repurposed powerful millimeter-wave beam technology – originally developed to superheat plasma in fusion experiments – to blast through previously undrillable rock far below the Earth's surface."

[Sparty]

https://www.quaise.energy/

Based on breakthrough fusion research and well-established drilling practices, we are developing a radical new approach to ultra-deep drilling. First, we use conventional rotary drilling to get to basement rock. Then, we switch to high-power millimeter waves to reach unprecedented depths.

Our gyrotron-powered drilling platform vaporizes boreholes through rock and provides access to deep geothermal heat without complex downhole equipment.

[Sparty]

https://www.bloomberg.com/press-rele...thermal-energy

Snippet: “The ubiquity and constancy of deep geothermal energy is tantalizing but
economically inaccessible with conventional drilling technologies,” said
Allison Hinckley, Senior Associate at Fine Structure Ventures. “Quaise’s
radically different drilling technology offers a path to access this resource
at a global scale with commensurate reductions in carbon emissions.”

[Sparty]

I did this page a long time ago 2010. It might still be of use.

[Sparty]

New funding ($21m) will expand field operations and secure supply chain toward clean energy abundance

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts—Quaise Energy, the company unlocking terawatt-scale geothermal, announced today the closing of a $21 Million Series A1 financing round led by Prelude Ventures and Safar Partners. Mitsubishi Corporation and Standard Investments are among several new investors participating in the round. This latest funding will enhance Quaise field operations and strengthen the company’s supply chain position, while ongoing product development will continue with pre-existing capital. https://cleantechnica.com/2024/03/12...hermal-energy/

[Sparty]

Quaise Energy is pioneering an ambitious approach to geothermal energy by combining cutting-edge technology with century-old methods to unlock virtually unlimited clean power worldwide.

The company plans to drill an unprecedented 12.4 miles (20 km) into Earth's crust using a hybrid system of traditional rotary bits and gyrotron-powered energy beams. At this extreme depth, they'll reach zones where temperatures hit 500°C (932°F), accessing supercritical water - a unique state that's neither liquid nor gas.

This supercritical water is an energy powerhouse, capable of holding 10 times more energy than regular water or steam while offering improved flow dynamics and efficiency.

The challenge, however, is harnessing this deep energy source effectively.

To solve this problem, Quaise is looking back to 1914, when Italy's Larderello 1 power plant pioneered a dual-loop heat exchanger system. While modern geothermal plants use similar exchangers with organic chemicals, Quaise plans to return to water-based systems, making their approach both more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

"There's a renaissance happening in geothermal right now," says Daniel W. Dichter of Quaise Energy, highlighting the potential for applications ranging from power plants to home heating systems.

If successful, this approach could make geothermal power accessible almost anywhere on Earth, providing a reliable source of clean, renewable energy without geographic limitations.

A dual-loop heat exchanger system uses two separate fluid circuits to transfer heat while keeping the fluids physically separated. Here's how it works in the context of Quaise Energy's geothermal approach:
First Loop (Primary Loop):

This loop circulates fluid down into the deep geothermal well where temperatures reach around 500°C (932°F)
The fluid absorbs heat from the hot rock in the Earth's crust
In Quaise's case, water becomes supercritical (neither liquid nor gas) at these extreme depths and temperatures
This high-temperature, potentially corrosive fluid then returns to the surface

Second Loop (Secondary Loop):

This loop never goes underground
It receives heat from the primary loop via a heat exchanger at the surface
The heat exchanger allows thermal energy to transfer from the primary to secondary loop without the fluids mixing
The heated fluid in this secondary loop then drives the turbines to generate electricity
After passing through the turbines, the fluid cools and returns to the heat exchanger to repeat the cycle

The dual-loop system provides several key advantages:

It protects surface equipment from corrosive geothermal fluids
It allows for optimizing each loop with different fluids (though Quaise plans to use water in both)
It provides better control over pressure and temperature conditions
It isolates potential contaminants in the geothermal fluid

This is the same basic concept used in the original 1914 Larderello geothermal plant in Italy that Quaise is drawing inspiration from, though modern implementations would benefit from over a century of heat exchanger technology improvements.

IN depth: https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/pdf/...25/Dichter.pdf