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The cost is too expensive.

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Zachary Early

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Q: What is one drawback of drilling geothermal wells?
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Where is a good place to build a geothermal energy power plant?

There are certain areas in the world that are known to have geothermal reservoirs that can be easily accessed. One such area is The Geysers area of Northern California. Due to the costs involved in drilling wells to get steam (millions of dollars to drill one well, with a well often only providing one or two megawatts worth of steam), it requires a lot of money to get a geothermal power plant started. Thus, it is usually smart to explore in areas already known to have a geothermal reservoir.


What is a example of geothermal?

One example is the coolness in a cave up to 100 feet deep, where the temperature changes season to season are slight. As you go deeper temperatures rise until they become nearly unbearable at about a mile deep. The idea of using this heat involves drilling deep wells and circulating water through these wells to heat various heat exchange systems. Household geothermal systems use a shallow depth coil and heat pump to maintain environmental conditions using the ground as a heat sink which maintains a fairly constant and comfortable temperature year round.


How do engineers use earth's heat to create geothermal energy?

There are three main ways engineers use geothermal energy. 1.Direct heating systems-hot water is piped into buildings to provide heat. 2.Geothermal power plants0-use resourced from dry steam wells and hot water wells. wells one to two miles deep are dug and hot water and steam are piped to the surface. Steam or a liquid turned into steam, turn the turbines. 3.Geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from the ground or water into buildings in the winter and reverse in the summer.


How does offshore drilling differ from drilling on land?

One is in the ocean and one is on land. It is pretty obvious!


How are wells drilled?

Geothermal production wells are drilled by large drilling rigs. A large bit is used, with water circulated into and out of the hole to remove the stuff drilled out. Long sections of pipe are screwed together to form the shaft. Eventually, the well must be drilled sideways, instead of straight down, to actually get steam from the reservoir (which is usually not a very thick area). To do this, a slight ramp would be placed at the bottom of the well, to start angling the bit in the desired direction. Typically, at this point another company would attach a sensor to the shaft right after the drilling bit, so that the location of the bit can be determined underground. With a series of these ramps, the bit can slowly be redirected to whatever direction is wanted. Once the well is drilled, a liner is hung. A solid liner is usually used to several thousand feet, after which a slotted liner is used, to allow steam into the well. Although depths will vary, these wells are typically drilled 5000 - 12000 feet or more. Running a drilling rig will typically cost over $100,000 a day, with a month or two necessary to drill a well. Note that these wells are not needed for residential geothermal installations. A well such as what is described above is likely to provide 40,000 pounds of steam an hour at a pressure of several atmospheres, and would likely contain harmful gases that would need to be treated. One or two of these wells could provide enough power to power a small town.

Related questions

Where is a good place to build a geothermal energy power plant?

There are certain areas in the world that are known to have geothermal reservoirs that can be easily accessed. One such area is The Geysers area of Northern California. Due to the costs involved in drilling wells to get steam (millions of dollars to drill one well, with a well often only providing one or two megawatts worth of steam), it requires a lot of money to get a geothermal power plant started. Thus, it is usually smart to explore in areas already known to have a geothermal reservoir.


Does geothermal power leave a carbo footprint?

A small one yes. To harvest the geothermal energy you need to drill, build plant and infrastructure. This drilling, and construction has a carbon footprint (it needs energy to do). However the geothermal energy harvested has no carbon footprint.


What was one drawback to the Roman roads?

One drawback to the Roman's roads was they had poor drainage. Another drawback for today is they are too narrow.


What is one drawback of using desktop virtualization?

is no drawback


What is a example of geothermal?

One example is the coolness in a cave up to 100 feet deep, where the temperature changes season to season are slight. As you go deeper temperatures rise until they become nearly unbearable at about a mile deep. The idea of using this heat involves drilling deep wells and circulating water through these wells to heat various heat exchange systems. Household geothermal systems use a shallow depth coil and heat pump to maintain environmental conditions using the ground as a heat sink which maintains a fairly constant and comfortable temperature year round.


Where is geothermal energy found?

geothermal energy was found in italy. no specific person found it, though. it was a group of people who disovered it. it was found in the year of 1904.and we have been using it since then.there is a whole process in it. magma gets pulled through these drilling wells. and well then water gets through it and then the water gets turned into steam.and then the staem gets put into the turbine and then it generates the generator. and then generator therefor works the wires and it creates electricity.


What was one drawback the roman roads?

One drawback to the Roman's roads was they had poor drainage. Another drawback for today is they are too narrow.


How do engineers use earth's heat to create geothermal energy?

There are three main ways engineers use geothermal energy. 1.Direct heating systems-hot water is piped into buildings to provide heat. 2.Geothermal power plants0-use resourced from dry steam wells and hot water wells. wells one to two miles deep are dug and hot water and steam are piped to the surface. Steam or a liquid turned into steam, turn the turbines. 3.Geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from the ground or water into buildings in the winter and reverse in the summer.


What is drill rig?

A drilling rig is one of the types of oil and gas equipment. It is a complex of equipment and drilling facilities designed for drilling oil and gas wells. Drilling rigs for the development and exploration of oil and gas fields in general include: Hoisting equipment ( crown block , winch , hook block ); Circulation equipment ( mud pumps , swivels , tanks, manifolds); Drilling facilities ( rigs , bridges, tower bases, racks); Blowout protection equipment; Equipment for the preparation of drilling fluids (slurry pumps, hydraulic funnels, hydraulic mixers); Power equipment for winch drive, drilling pumps, rotor (diesel engines, electric engines). All drilling rigs are equipped with a drive of the main mechanisms (diesel with a mechanical transmission or electric with a digital smooth control system) In some cases, it is possible to complete with an independent rotor drive The kinetic basis of the drilling rig is the lifting mechanism The lifting mechanism is started when a dynamic load occurs . Dynamic loads arise during tripping operations due to the action of acceleration or deceleration, as well as elastic vibrations created during transients. The sources of dynamic loads are shocks and shocks that occur when picking up the pipe string and transitions of the traveling rope to the next layer of winding. Gaps and mounting displacements in the joints of the nodes and parts of the lifting mechanism and its drive can also contribute to dynamic loading. Application of drilling rigs Drilling rigs are used: For drilling shallow wells (up to 25 m) and wells of small diameter (76-219 mm) during seismic exploration. For drilling wells of medium depth (up to 600m) - structural and exploratory wells for solid minerals For drilling deep wells (up to 6000m). Extraction of oil and gas, as well as for the exploration of new oil and gas fields. Ultra-deep drilling of wells (up to 15000m) for oil and gas production and development of new fields. Drilling wells for water. Overhaul of oil and gas wells. Well testing for oil and gas. By functional purpose, drilling rigs are divided into: installations for engineering-geological surveys installations for water extraction, dewatering and geothermal heat supply works, for various hydrogeological works installations for construction works (drilling for pile and micropiling foundations, for installing anchors) installations for geological exploration seismic installations installations for the construction of power transmission towers Drilling rig design Executive bodies (main) - winch, rotor, tower, traveling system, swivel, mud pump, circulation system. Power bodies - diesel engines, electric motors, drives, power hydraulic system, pneumo-hydraulic system Auxiliary bodies - movement mechanisms, auxiliary winch, metal structures, lighting systems, water supply systems, heating systems, ventilation systems, etc. Information bodies - control of drilling parameters Governing bodies Derrick The drilling rig is a key node in the equipment of drilling rigs. Performs the following functions: Maintenance of the drill string on the traveling system during drilling with unloading. Tripping operations with casing and drill pipes Placement of the traveling system and means of mechanization of hoisting operations, in particular, ASP mechanisms, KMSP or a platform of a mounted worker, an emergency evacuation device for a mounted worker, a top drive system and auxiliary equipment. Drilling rigs are classified: By appointment - for the overhaul of wells and related units, for offshore drilling rigs, for mobile drilling rigs, for stationary drilling rigs. By design - mast, tower.


What is a sentence for drawback?

One drawback to working part time is the smaller paycheck.


Is a geothermal power plant expensive to build?

Yes, a geothermal power plant is very expensive to start. Not only must the plant itself be built, but multiple wells need to be drilled to get steam, as well as pipes and valves and such put in to get the steam to the plant.A turbine and generator alone will cost millions of US dollars. The plant as a whole will likely run in the seven to eight figure range, cost wise.Each well that needs to be dug will cost several million dollars. Running a drilling rig to dig a well can cost about $100,000 a day, and it can take a month or two to dig one well (considering that the wells can go deeper than a couple miles). At some point, the well can no longer go straight down, at which point drilling costs can double, as more expensive equipment is required to track where the drill bit is.Once the well is dug, there is no guarantee how much steam, if any, it will provide. Even if all wells do provide steam, a plant is likely to need about 20 production wells, plus a few re-injection wells (for condensed steam), to provide 55 megawatts (which seems to be common for a single turbine geothermal power plant). If each well only cost $5,000,000 to drill, that is still over $100,000,000 just to drill wells. There are still pipes to be put in, the actual well pads must be created, electronics, valves, and steam treatment equipment must still also be put in.


What is the likelihood that there will be any way to stop the flow of the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico?

Nothing in this world is 100% certain, but I'd say that BP's efforts to ultimately be successful in capping the Maconda well is about as certain as it gets. BP is simultaneously drilling two relief wells and preparing for a "top kill." They have stated that the top kill at 5,000 ft of water has never been attempted, so this is an unconventional operation. However, the drilling of relief wells is a conventional operation. This takes 3 months. Only one well is needed, but they are drilling two wells. This makes any chance of failure extremely low. Do not be disappointed if the top kill doesn't work. It was fairly experimental. The relief wells are the proven way of killing a well.