Hot dry rock. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

A264172 · #1 09-12-2008, 10:44 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dry_rock_geothermal_energy

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 21, 2004 -- LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 21, 2004 -- By proposing a method for using carbon dioxide under high pressure to extract energy from geothermal reservoirs, a University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory has put a new twist on a historic Laboratory project. The proposed invention has the potential to take global geothermal energy science in new and exciting directions.

Based on expertise gained during the development of the Laboratory's Hot Dry Rock Project, Los Alamos geoscientist Donald W. Brown has proposed a method for producing geothermal energy using supercritical fluids such as carbon dioxide for the stimulation of the underground reservoir, production of the geothermal energy and heat transport. The Hot Dry Rock Project was a geothermal energy experiment that Los Alamos conducted between the years 1970 and 1996.

Brown's process stimulates underground reservoirs by pumping a supercritical fluid into a formation to fracture the rock. Generally, this is done at depths ranging from about 5,000 feet to about 20,000 feet below surface depending upon underground thermal conditions. At such depths, underground temperatures are in the range of roughly 200 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit in the western United States. A patent has been granted on the process.

Once the reservoir is accessed, the supercritical fluid is allowed to heat up and expand. It is then pumped out of the reservoir to transfer the heat to a surface power generating plant or other application requiring heat. The recovered fluid is sent back down into the reservoir and the heat-extraction process is repeated. Any loss of the carbon dioxide is slowly diffused in the Earth into the surrounding rock mass.

A supercritical fluid is a liquid that has been raised beyond a temperature and pressure at which the liquid and gas densities are equal -- its critical temperature and pressure. For carbon dioxide, the supercritical conditions are a pressure of 1,074 pounds per square inch and a temperature of 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Carbon dioxide is useful as the supercritical fluid because it is readily available, economical and easy to store and handle when not in contact with water. It is also environmentally benign because it is relatively inert, nontoxic and nonflammable. The process can readily use waste carbon dioxide from industrial processes, locking up excess carbon dioxide, a known greenhouse gas. When carbon dioxide is used as the supercritical fluid, any mineral constituents such as silicates or chlorides within the reservoir are left behind as mineral precipitates since most minerals are not soluble in supercritical carbon dioxide.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring safety and confidence in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction and improving the environmental and nuclear materials legacy of the cold war. Los Alamos' capabilities assist the nation in addressing energy, environment, infrastructure and biological security problems.
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/2054

A264172 · #2 09-14-2008, 02:40 AM

Baseload (also base load, or baseload demand) is the minimum amount of power that a utility or distribution company must make available to its customers, or the amount of power required to meet minimum demands based on reasonable expectations of customer requirements. Baseload values typically vary from hour to hour in most commercial and industrial areas.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_load_power_plant

#3 09-14-2008, 06:41 AM

But but but, that CO2 will escape into the air and cause GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!!1111!!11!!1!!!!1!111

A264172 · #4 09-14-2008, 08:11 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dry_rock_geothermal_energy

"The HDR project in Basel, Switzerland was suspended after it caused an earthquake. On 8 December 2006, only 8 days after water injection started, an event occurred measuring 3.4 on the Richter Scale with the focus at the bottom of the HDR borehole. The event [3] [4]prompted concern from local residents. Water injection was immediately stopped, but minor events continued. Further tremors were recorded on 6 January (measuring 3.1)[5] and 16 January 2007 (3.2).

Basel is in a known earthquake zone (see Basel earthquake) and sits atop a historically active fault. Seismicity associated with hydraulic stimulation can be mitigated and controlled through predictive siting and other techniques. The Basel HDR project is currently under review."

compress ignite · #5 09-14-2008, 09:41 PM

Scientists SOMETIMES behave as if this FACT of the Physical Universe does not
apply to their Experiments,Etc. (OR is only a SUGGESTION).

"Screw with Mother Nature and you always lose."