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NewsfromtheIcelandDeepDrillingProject(IDDP)

16.January2014GFWAE

WorldsFirstMagmaEGSsystemcreated
TheJanuaryissueoftheinternationaljournalGEOTHERMICSisdedicatedtoIcelandicDeep
DrillingProject(seealsoatwww.iddp.is).Itcontains15papers,mostofwhicharewrittenby
Icelandicscientistsandengineers,andmostlydealswiththeboreholeIDDP1,thefirstdeep
IDDPholeinIceland.ItwasdrilledatKraflain2008and2009,andasiswellknown,itendedin
amoltenmagmaat2100mdepth,withatemperatureof9001000C.
Drillingintomagmaisaveryrareoccurrenceelsewhereintheworld.Insteadofinsertinga
concretepluginthebottomofthehole,aswasdoneinasimilarsituationinHawaii,theIDDP,
incooperationwiththeNationalPowerCompany,theownerofthehole,decidedtoinvestigate
theholefurtherandbearpartofthesubstantialcapitalcostinvolved.Forinstance,thehole
waslinedwithasteelcasing(sacrificialcasing),whichwascementedmostofthewaydownbut
keptopen(perforated)inthebottomsectionclosesttothemagma.Thentheholewasallowed
toheatslowlyandeventuallyallowedtoflowsuperheatedsteamforthenexttwoyearsuntil
July2012.Throughoutthattimevariousinvestigationsatutilizingthisresourcewerecarriedout
thataredescribedinthearticlesinGeothermics.Thesuccessofthisdrillingandresearchis
amazingtosaytheleast,andcouldinthenearfutureleadtoarevolutioninenergyefficiencyin
hightemperaturegeothermalareasoftheworld.

Whatwasinvolvedthisgoodperformance?Firstly,wewereabletodrilldownintothemolten
magmaandcontrolit,despitesomedifficulties.Secondly,pumpingcoldwaterintotheholeto
breakuptherocknexttothemagmacreatedhighpermeability(hydrofracking)whichreached
connectiontothecoldergeothermalenvironmentsabove.Thirdly,wewereabletosetsteel
casingdowntothebottomofthehole.Fourthly,allowingtheholetoblowsuperheated,high
pressuresteamformonthsattemperaturesover450C,beattheworldrecordforgeothermal
heatasthiswellwasthehottestintheworldandoneofthemostpowerful.Accordingtothe
measuredoutputtheavailablepowerwassufficienttogenerateupto36megawattselectricity,
comparedtotheinstalledelectricalcapacityof60megawattsintheKraflapowerplant.Fifthly,
wesuccessfullydemonstratedthecapabilityofcopingwiththedifficultchemicalcomposition
ofsteamfromIDDP1byusingsimplecountermeasures.Sixthly,wedemonstratedthatthe
steamcouldbetakendirectlyintotheexistingpowerplantatKrafla,andtheNationalPower
Companywaspreparingsuchanactionjustbeforetheholehadtobeclosedduetoavalve
failure.Theseventhandlastplacebutnotleast,bysuccessfullydrillingtheholeandcarrying
outexperiments,theIDDP1demonstratedthatahighenthalpygeothermalsystemcanbe
createdinthisway,meaningthataMagmaEGSsystemwascreatedbyIDDP1.
InvariouspartsoftheworldsocalledEGSgeothermalsystems(EnhancedorEngineered
GeothermalSystems)arebeingcreatedbypumpingcoldwaterintohotdryrocksat45km
depths.Thentheheatedwateristakenupagainashotwaterorsteamfromnearbyproduction
wells.Inrecentdecades,therehasbeenconsiderableeffortinvestedinEurope,Australia,USA,

NewsfromtheIcelandDeepDrillingProject(IDDP)

16.January2014GFWAE

andJapan,withunevenresultsandtypicallypoorresults.WithIDDPprojectwecanclaimto
havecreatedsuchanEGSsystem,thefirstsystemintheworldthatsuppliesheatsotospeak
directlyfromamoltenmagma.Thisisremarkableglobally.Thehotanddrycontactrockswere
fracturedbycoolingduringdrillingandaconnectionestablishedtotheoverlyingconventional
geothermalsystem.ThentheprocesswasreversedbyflowingtheIDDP1hole,emittinghot
fluidsupthroughtheholewhichcreatedlowpressureconditionaroundthebottomofthehole,
attractingcolderfluids(~350C)fromabovetodescenddownwardsintotheholeandbe
heatedtotemperaturesrangingupto452C.

Whatisthefutureanddotheresultshaveapracticalvalue?Surethefutureisbrightandthe
answeris"yes".AlthoughtheIDDP1holeisunusableatthemoment,infuturetheaimisto
drillasimilarholeand/ortorepairIDDP1hole.TheexperimentatKraflasufferedvarious
setbacksandtriedpersonnelandequipmentthroughout.However,theprocessitselfwasvery
instructive,andapartfromscientificarticlespublishedinthejournalGeothermics
comprehensivereportsonpracticallessonslearnedarenearingcompletion.Theselessonswill
beappliedbytheNationalPowerCompanyinthefuture,andtheIcelandDeepDrillingProject
isbenefittingfromitbymodifyingthedesignofboththeflowtestequipmentandindrillingthe
nextborehole.Thesecondborehole,IDDP2,willbetobedrilledatReykjanesinthecoming
years.

IcelandDeepDrillingProjectisacollaborationofthreeenergycompaniesHSEnergyltd,
NationalPowerCompanyandReykjavikEnergy,andtheNationalEnergyAuthorityofIceland
thatwasestablishedin2000toinvestigatethefeasibilityofutilizinggeothermalfluidat
substantiallyhighertemperaturesandfromdeeperwellsthancurrentlyusedtoday.Fromthe
onsetoftheIDDP,internationalcollaborationhasbeenoneofthetrademarkoftheproject,
andagroupofUSAscientistinparticularhasbeenveryactive,authoringseveralofthepapers
intheSpecialIssueofGeothermicsonIDDP.AlcoaandStatoilalsoparticipatedintheIDDP1
projectinKrafla.ICDPandNSFhavealsosupportedtheIDDPsince2005.

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