3 ms·
The whole point is that microwave ablation of these materials does not require drilling mud and is self-stabilizing by the pressures and molten material generat
by idiotsecant 5y ago
The whole point is that microwave ablation of these materials does not require drilling mud and is self-stabilizing by the pressures and molten material generated, while also sealing the bore hole and preventing quite a lot of water table, H2S, etc contamination. In theory it should allow substantially deeper boreholes.
The technology is real, and the required power density is surprisingly low.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286571247_Penetrating_rock_with_intense_millimeter-waves https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286571247_Penetrati...
- FounderBurr 5y agoVaporized into what? Something that you’ll have to keep heated to 5000c for 20km until you can vent it?
- scotty79 5y agoApparently that's what they intend. I wonder how you can keep 20km oven warm enough.
- DustinGadal 5y agoThey'll be pumping neutral gas (probably N2 or argon) to purge the borehole. I would expect the ablated material to resolidify as fine particulate, which would get carried to the surface at ambient temperature and trapped in a filter. A 20km borehole with a 10cm diameter is only ~157m3 of rock. If the dig takes four weeks (which would be unprecedentedly fast), you only need to purge ~64cm3/s, which is pretty trivial. They'll need to do something like mix the dust into concrete. Silicate dust is a respiratory hazard. But that doesn't strike me as a significant hurdle.