Scientists in Iceland have come up with an ambitious plan to drill into the magma chamber of a volcano to obtain an abundant amount of clean, superhot geothermal energy.
The project, which would be a scientific first if successful, would see boreholes drilled about 1.3 miles deep through the Earth’s crust at a volcano known as Krafla, located in northeastern Iceland.
With more than 200 volcanoes, Iceland is already a leader in geothermal energy, where heat or vapor is extracted from hot water and separated into liquid water and steam.
The steam is then passed through turbines which produce electricity which is used to power and heat its many greenhouses, used for its high levels of local food production, as well as for heating.
About 90% of homes in Iceland are heated with geothermal energy, according to Energy Transition, a green energy website.
However, geothermal energy is colder than steam in fossil fuel power plants, about 482°F and 842°F, respectively, so tapping into the magma chamber could unleash a very powerful energy supply and boost the country’s general energy reserves.
“It’s pretty inefficient at those low temperatures, so there’s interest in trying to develop superhot geothermal energy,” John Eichelberger, a volcanologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told New Scientist.
“The goal of producing energy from superhot geothermal energy close to magma is for these wells to be up to an order of magnitude more powerful in terms of energy production than conventional wells,” project director Björn Þór Guðmundsson told the Daily Mail. .
Scientists in Iceland have come up with an ambitious plan to drill into the magma chamber of a volcano to obtain an abundant amount of clean, superhot geothermal energy. NurFoto
“We can drill one well instead of ten to get the same energy production.”
The project, carried out by Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT), an Icelandic magma research organization, will build on a 2009 effort to drill near one of Krafla’s magma chambers by a power plant team. nearby that has produced geothermal energy from the volcano since the 1970s.
The intention of that project was only to get close to the chamber to explore geothermal energy options, but the chamber was not as deep as expected and the project accidentally breached the magma vault.
The drill struck magma and corroded the steel of the well casings while the 842°F heat destroyed the well.
KMT scientists are working on materials that will be able to withstand the scorching heat in the next project.
The project, which would be a scientific first if successful, would see boreholes drilled about 1.3 miles deep through the Earth’s crust at a volcano known as Krafla, located in northeast Iceland. Arterra
The project crucially confirmed that drilling into a magma chamber does not cause the volcano to erupt, according to New Scientist.
“One of the KMT’s main goals is to develop wells with suitable materials that can withstand these conditions,” Guðmundsson told the Daily Mail.
Krafla is one of the most explosive volcanoes in the country and has exploded approximately 29 times since the country was colonized, although its last eruption was in 1984.
The volcano that erupted in December was near the fishing village of Grindavik, in the southwestern part of Iceland.
“Harnessing superheated or supercritical steam from an adjacent heat source could increase energy transport to the surface by an order of magnitude and the conversion efficiency to electricity by 3.5 times,” KMT scientists wrote in a 2018 paper.
With more than 200 volcanoes, Iceland is already a leader in geothermal energy, where heat or vapor is extracted from hot water and separated into liquid water and steam. Arterra
“When combined with the advantages of continuous operation (platform loading), no need to transport fuel or waste, limited carbon emissions and advances in long-term HVDC (high voltage direct current) power transmission distance, geothermal energy could change the electrical system. energy game completely.”
The project will also help KMT scientists monitor the magma chamber by applying sensors that would take pressure readings, which could improve eruption forecasts.
Other experiments later in the decade could involve injecting fluids into the chamber to alter the pressure and temperature and measure the results, according to the Daily Mail.
“The project is driven by the need to understand magmatic systems, improve volcano monitoring strategies, and develop next-generation high-enthalpy geothermal energy,” KMT scientists wrote in a 2018 paper.
“Monitoring the temperature profile on the roof of a magma chamber will reveal the actual heat flow from the magma to the hydrothermal system, and an unprecedented observation that will test both the promise and sustainability of superhot geothermal systems ( SHGS).
“SHGS are systems that are above 662°F,” the scientists added.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn