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Millimeter-wave drilling technology to access geothermal energy
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Quaise, Inc
IndustryGeothermal Power
Founded2018
FounderCarlos Araque, Matt Houde, Aaron Mandell
HeadquartersCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Key peopleCarlos Araque
Chief Executive Officer
ProductsMillimeter-wave drilling
Number of employees20+
Websitequaise.energy

Quaise, Inc was founded in 2018 to develop a millimeter-wave drilling system for converting existing power stations to use superdeep geothermal energy. The system would repurpose existing gyrotron technology to drill 20 kilometers beneath the surface, where temperatures exceed 400°C. No fracking would be required, avoiding the potential for earthquakes that have occurred in other geothermal systems. Drilling using this technique is hoped to be fast, with boreholes aimed to be completed in 100 days using existing 1MW gyrotrons.

Overview

Existing geothermal power stations can only be deployed in rare locations where adequate heat is located within 3km of the surface. These resources are of a comparatively low temperature, and require seismically risky stimulation techniques. Further, drilling at these depths is expensive and slow.

Instead, Quaise plans to drill quickly to deep depths using a gyrotron and waveguide, vaporizing the rock by heating it. Temperatures at 20km depth are above the supercritical point of water, which allows ten times more energy to be transferred given the same volumetric flow. The supercritical water is then used in a supercritical steam generator which may previously have been powered with fossil fuels.

Comparison with other power sources

The approach proposes advantages compared with other power sources:

  • Constant 24-hour generation – Maximum output always available. Does not require storage. Wind and Solar are intermittent generators.
  • Small land footprint – Consumes less than 1% of the land area of wind or solar for the same maximum output.

Status

In October 2021, Quaise began initial testing of gyrotron boring at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and plans to have a full-scale gyrotron drilling rig completed by 2024. By 2026, the company hopes to have achieved 100MW of geothermal power output. By 2028, Quaise aims to have converted an existing fossil-fueled power plant to run on geothermal steam.

See also

References

  1. "Quaise Launches with $6 Million to Unlock Earth's Most Abundant Clean Energy Source". Business Wire. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  2. "The Interchange Recharged podcast: Quaise Energy digs deep – into the world of geothermal | Wood Mackenzie". woodmac.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  3. "Quaise's ultra-deep geothermal drilling plans: Your questions answered". newatlas.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  4. "Fusion tech is set to unlock near-limitless ultra-deep geothermal energy". newatlas.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  5. Fridleifsson, Ingvar (2008). "The possible role and contribution of geothermal energy to the mitigation of climate change". IPCC Scoping Meeting on Renewable Energy Sources, Proceedings: Vol. 20, No. 25, pp. 59–80. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.362.1202.
  6. https://www.energymonitor.ai/tech/geothermal-can-provide-half-the-worlds-energy-quaise-energy-ceo
  7. Shnell, Jim; Elders, Wilfred (2019). "Exploration And Development Of Supercritical Geothermal Resources On The Ocean Floor" (PDF). PROCEEDINGS, 44th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering: 3.
  8. "Fusion tech is set to unlock near-limitless ultra-deep geothermal energy". newatlas.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  9. "Geothermal - Quaise Begins Testing of Potentially Disruptive Geothermal Drilling Technology - Renewable Energy Magazine, at the heart of clean energy journalism". renewableenergymagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  10. "Quaise Energy". quaise.energy. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  11. "Energy from the earth, for the earth | MIT Technology Review". technologyreview.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
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