WorldWide Drilling Resource

Drilling Deeper for Geothermal Potential Adapted from Information Provided by UC Riverside Wilfred Elders, a professor emeri- tus of geology at the University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) re- cently held The International Geothermal Workshop in Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernadino Mountains. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the de- velopment of new ways to produce electrical energy from geothermal fields. About 30 sci- entists and engi- neers from all over the world attended the workshop, coming from New Zealand, Mexico, Iceland, Italy, and Russia. The subject of the meeting was to explore the feasibility and economic potential of increasing the power out- put of geothermal wells by a factor of ten by drilling much deeper to reach higher pressures and temperatures. “Such plans are already underway in Iceland, New Zealand, and Japan; and there is considerable potential for such developments in Mexico and Italy, all countries that already have a large pro- duction of electricity from geothermal steam,” said Elders. Cal ifornia is currently the world leader in generating electricity from naturally occurring underground reser- voirs of geothermal steam heated by volcanic activity, an environmentally- friendly source of energy. Generally, a geothermal well between 6500-10,000 feet deep produces a mixture of hot water and steam at 400-575°F (204- 302°C), generating 5 million watts of electric power, enough to supply the needs of about 5000 people. Elders has become the principal in- vestigator of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) since he retired from teaching. The project was responsible for drilling a geothermal well at the Krafla geothermal field in northeast Iceland to search for higher temperature and pres- sure steam. The IDDP was successful in creat- ing the hottest geothermal well in the world. Superheated steam flowing from the well had a surface temperature of about 850°F (454°C) and enough pres- sure to generate 40 million watts of 40 JULY 2014 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® a Pasar el tiempo leyendo libros de ayuda personal en lugar de sen- tarse frente al televisor cada noche. a Levantarse una hora más tem- prano cada día y planear. Tener desayuno, almuerzo o cena con un cliente o prospecto en lugar de comer solo. a Crear un balance en su vida para tener la voluntad, la energía y el deseo de poner el tiempo necesario. a Trabajar más inteligente - no sólo más difícil - aunque muchas per- sonas piensan "trabajo inteligente" reemplaza el "trabajo duro". Ya qui- siera yo eso. a Pasar tiempo en la reflexión, la contemplación y la auto-evaluación. a Manejar su tiempo de tal mane- ra que pueda maximizar sus resul- tados. ¿Le parece suficiente? Es hora de volver al trabajo. Leer este artículo no le pondrá dinero en su bolsillo - no direc- tamente. En su servicio, Tim Para recibir los consejos sema- nales de motivación gratuitos de Tim, contáctelo en www.timconnor.com con "por favor agregarme a su la lista de suscrip- tores de correo electrónico" en la línea de asunto. O contáctelo a vía correo electrónico en admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Connor trans cont’d from page 39. electrical power. IDDP is planning to drill a similar well in the Reykjanes geothermal field in southwest Iceland in 2014-2015. Based on the results in Iceland and related projects in the advanced plan- ning stage in New Zealand and Japan, participants at the Lake Arrowhead workshop formed a committee chaired by Elders to plan a similar project in the United States. A consortium with partic- ipation from industry, universities, and government agencies will be required to carry out such a plan. “The potential for very favorable eco- nomic returns suggests that the United States should begin such a program,” said Elders. “There is a significant... potential for developing high-enthalpy geothermal systems in the western United States, Hawaii, and Alaska.”