Geothermal Energy: Drilling to Magma from Platforms at Sea

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the feasibility of drilling from a platform at sea to reach magma for geothermal energy production. Participants explore various aspects of this concept, including the practicality of water supply, drilling techniques, and energy generation methods.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the possibility of drilling two holes from a sea platform to magma, suggesting a system where seawater is sent down one hole and steam is brought up through another for turbine use.
  • Another participant notes that while Iceland successfully utilizes geothermal energy, challenges arise due to crust depth and accessibility in other regions.
  • Some participants argue that drilling from a sea platform could provide advantages, such as immediate access to water and potentially thinner crust in certain locations.
  • There is a discussion about the nature of geothermal heat production and the potential for passive systems to enhance efficiency, with one participant proposing an experimental setup to illustrate the concept of pressure gradients.
  • Concerns are raised about the costs associated with drilling and the need for efficient water pumping methods, with suggestions of using siphoning effects and natural convection.
  • Some participants express frustration over the repetition of topics related to siphoning and geothermal energy, indicating previous discussions on similar ideas.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the feasibility of the proposed drilling method or the effectiveness of siphoning as a solution. Multiple competing views and unresolved issues remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unresolved questions about the technical feasibility of drilling to magma, the efficiency of proposed water circulation methods, and the economic viability of the suggested approaches.

antekatavic
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Is it possible to drill two holes from a platform at sea all the way to magma. From one hole sea water is going down and from other hole/pipe steam is going all the way to the platform where it is used for revolving turbine.
 
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Iceland already produces a large amount of energy from geothermal sources. It's difficult in most places to do so because of the depth of the crust. This combined with the issue of many places suitable for geothermal energy being quite difficult to access then it becomes less practical to do so.
 
Icland is doing that from the surface... You need to deliver water and you are limeted with few location. From a platform at sea you have water at the site, and you have much more location and not to say much thiner crust
 
Geothermal heat is only produced by certain phenomena. There can be pockets of magma near the surface crust, but far below the surface in oceanic crust. Geothermal heat is utilized on surface crust by necessity.

As for the water supply question, I think the basis of your question is to find a passive geothermal system to maximize efficiency and output. I don't know about increasing efficiency, but I can imagine a possible passive supply of water to a higher elevation.

Consider a testable experiment. Put a cup of water on the ground, and an empty cup on a table. Run a copper tube between the cups, and about midway along the pipe place a candle. If you prime the pipe, and allow some time for the heat to create a pressure gradient in the primed pipe, it should result in a flow up the pipe from the water below, to the empty cup above.

If you scale this and do it right, you could use the concept to supply a geothermal source above sea level or a water table.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_geothermal_system

only problem is how to minimize cost of drilling and how to pump water without using electricity...
If you put a huge pipe ( let say 300m long and 30 m wide) vertical all the way to the sea bottom and then drain the water from it... then at the bottom of the sea you can put turbines and generator and start drilling... This way you would drill less and you will not need to pump any water... After the steam revolves turbine you can suck it up to the sea level using syphoning efect..
 
...you can suck it up to the sea level using syphoning efect...

Ummm...let's not start again on geothermal energy and the siphoning effect. I believe that was covered in another post. A lot.
 
ok... but this is a totally difrent story... and who are you to tell me what i can and can not do?
 
antekatavic said:
ok... but this is a totally difrent story... and who are you to tell me what i can and can not do?

This is no different than your other post about the syphoning effect. And calm down, reaper is only trying to keep another argument from developing. One which only puts you further towards a ban from the forums.
 
I'm not telling you what you can and cannot do. I'm just saying that you had an entire thread talking about this same kind of idea (siphoning water, geothermal power, turbines at the bottom of the sea, drilling, etc.) and now you're creating another thread about it. It's not the best way to garner help from the other people around here. Maybe I'm wrong, but I read the 60+ posts from the other thread, and from what I understood it's practically the same idea.
 
  • #10
antekatavic said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_geothermal_system

only problem is how to minimize cost of drilling and how to pump water without using electricity...
The drilling is the problem (a very big problem). The water pumping is not. You can just use natural convection to circulate the water and steam. We discussed this in your other thread.

http://www.pillarposthomeinspection.com/Information%20Series/Steam%20Heating%20System.pdf

And I agree with the others. There is no reason to start another thread on the same topic.

Thread locked.
 

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