Kola Superdeep Borehole: The Deepest Hole Ever Made

Wow!

Interesting.

Russia's experiment showcased the challenges of deep drilling and now China is getting into the game using similar conventional drilling technology with minor refinements.

The deeper you drill, the harder the rock gets, the more the temperature goes up, the faster your bits wear out. And the deeper you go, the longer the total length of pipe sections, and the heavier it gets when you have to lift the entire column of pipe which must be taken apart in order to get to the bit to replace it. So the deeper you go, the slower your progress. The process of lifting the bit out can take two days. You can offset the weight of the shaft to some extent by using stronger lighter metals, which jacks the price up, but stronger metals also tend to be more brittle and so you may experience more breakage, which delays drilling progress. Also, there are complicating factors such as increasing pressures exerted which push in from all sides, making the hole want to collapse inward. You can offset that by pumping fluid into the hole at high pressure to balance out the forces pushing in, but then you need strong pumps capable of producing pressures like those found at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. One workaround to prevent the hole from collapsing is to insert sleeves into the hole, but the further you go down the smaller the sleeves must be because each sleeve must fit down inside the other. So you must plan the depth you are going to drill up front so you know how wide the hole must be to start and that limits how far down you can bore.

With that said, there is a solution on the horizon that stands to make drilling up to 10-16X faster, 60X cheaper, and deeper (up to 12.4 miles into the Earth) using milimeter wave technology that vaporizes the rock and cauterizes the hole turning it into glass as it drills down through the rock. The technology for this is coming from an American startup, Quaise Energy.

Quaise Energy is a company that specializes in renewable energy solutions. They are known for their innovative technology and environmentally-friendly approach to energy production. To stay updated with the latest news about Quaise Energy, you can visit their website or follow them on social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Additionally, industry-specific news websites and publications may also provide updates on the company's advancements and projects. This will help you stay informed about Quaise Energy's initiatives in the renewable energy sector.

https://renewablesnow.com/news/quaise-energy-raises-more-funds-to-back-novel-geothermal-tech-787541/