Wed, 09 June, 2021
TWI Project Leader, Dr Feifei Zhang will deliver a talk at the World Geothermal Congress on 15 June 2021.
The pre-recorded talk, which will be shown between 13 and 15:00pm (BST), is on the topic of, ‘Geo-Drill: Development of Novel and Cost-effective Drilling Technology for Geothermal Systems.’ The virtual session will be followed by a Zoom-based Q&A, where attendees will have the chance to ask Feifei questions about the Geo-Drill Project.
The high investment costs, lack of certainty over output and long development cycles mean that geothermal is currently an under-used renewable energy source. The cost of geothermal is heightened by the expense of drilling production and re-injection wells. These costs increase with increased drilling depths, longer tripping times, harsher environments and the uncertainties of lithology and potentially poor resource quality.
With drilling costs making up an estimated 30-70% of deep geothermal expenditure, the Geo-Drill Project aims to reduce these costs through the development of advanced materials and coatings as well as the design and manufacture of a prototype 4 inch down-the-hole mud hammer with an integrated drill monitoring system.
Feifei’s talk, which is based on a paper that she co-authored, will detail the early stage developments of the project.
You can find out more and register for the World Geothermal Congress, here.
The Geo-Drill project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 815319