Geothermal Heating

Let's talk about Geothermal Exploration and Drilling. Just as there are geologists and engineers that search for places to dig new oil wells, there are also a small group of men and women that search for new geothermal sites that are able to be drilled to let the superheated steam out so it can perform the work of spinning a turbine and generator. Drilling is expensive, and no one wants to do any extra drilling they don't have to. It is, however, the only way to explore new sites for geothermal power generation.

Therefore, the job of the geologist in charge of planning of the drilling operations has to be done very precisely. This usually involves scouting out the sites from existing geological data, satellite mapping and a great deal of hiking around and searching the site. GPS systems have made this job a lot easier in recent years, though there is no substitute for actually visiting a site.

Any competent geologist will go into a field situation with a fairly good idea what he or she might find there based upon readings, but also by the familiar signs of geothermal activity that they're trained to look for. These will give real world clues as to the behaviour of the trapped vapour inside. Test bores may be dug to make sure some of the calculations use correct assumptions, but they will have already determined if there's hot water inside by testing with ground penetrating radar.

The actual process of drilling can be arduous, too. For starters, the drilling team may have to arrive by helicopter if there isn't a road nearby. However, by the time you get to the drilling stage, there is usually a road of some sort that allows equipment to be delivered - it depends upon how the site is zoned and there is usually someone on the team that specializes in dealing with regulation and regulatory report generation.

There is a great deal of money being put into geothermal exploration and drilling for power plant sources lately, as has always been the case when the price of oil dramatically increases. With the addition of enhanced geothermal systems that inject water into spent caverns that are still plenty hot, a great many more sites have been opened up for exploration. The pressure isn't off intrepid geologists to continue coming up with new places that are ready to drill and explore, but it does open up more possibilities and new potential work sites for them.

Geothermal Heating |