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New study: supercritical geothermal fluids more common than expected

Flow test of the IDDP-1 well at Krafla, Iceland (source: Kristján Einarsson)
Alexander Richter 11 Ağu 2015

ETH Zurich covers the "Iceland Deep Drilling Project" (IDDP) at the Krafla volcanic field in Iceland.

In a lengthy and thorough article, ETH Zurich covers the “Iceland Deep Drilling Project” (IDDP) at the Krafla volcanic field in Iceland.

As we have mentioned before, the IDDP is an anomaly where a magma chamber was nearly perforated by a drilling rig and where superheated water is present. Superheated water or “supercritical geothermal fluids” allow for much higher yield and more efficient generation from a single borehole; at least in theory. In ETH’s article, they mention that following some detailed research and some computer modelling, this anomaly might be more common than expected.

Making a breakthrough in this particular area could make geothermal technology greatly leap forward and make it cheaper and less risky, if supercritical geothermal fluids can be understood and applied properly.

For the time being, the source mentions that testing is still underway and that more time is needed to comprehend this particular phenomenon.

We encourage you to read the full article on the ETH Zurich website.

To read said article, please follow the link below:

Source: ETH Zurich