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Carlos Araque, et al.
Microwave Drill
https://www.quaise.com/
Quaise
Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy... Our gyrotron-powered drilling platform vaporizes boreholes through rock and provides access to deep geothermal heat without complex downhole equipment.
Based on breakthrough fusion research and well-established drilling practices, we are developing a radical new approach to ultra-deep drilling. First, we use conventional rotary drilling to get to basement rock. Then, we switch to high-power millimeter waves to reach unprecedented depths.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8wKHOgXNajI
Superhot geothermal energy could unearth big power boost for the AI era
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxpsUTSf6CE
A conversation with Carlos Araque of Quaise Energy // David Roberts
[ PDF ]
In this episode, I chat with Quaise CEO Carlos Araque about unlocking geothermal energy on a planetary scale by drilling miles into the Earth’s crust. He explains how his company’s technology vaporizes rock with microwaves to reach depths where intense heat sends the water supercritical, packing ten times the energy density of conventional geothermal. The ultimate goal: persuading the oil and gas industry to put its capital and expertise toward mining heat rather than fuels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT9n5gSsVYA
Emerging Voices in Geothermal Innovation - Carlos Araque of Quaise Energy
Quaise develops millimeter wave drilling systems for deep geothermal heat access. Our technology is the only approach in the world with the potential to build geothermal wells at unprecedented depths and temperatures.
By targeting depths up to 20 kilometers and temperatures up to 500 degrees Celsius, we will have the ability to build clean electric generation and heat distribution plants within a short distance of every major population and industrial center on the planet, at a fraction of the footprint of other renewables.
And by scaling through the established supply base of the fossil fuel industry, we will be able to achieve the terawatt-level annual deployments that will be required to successfully decarbonize our global energy system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U8-KoKB6_8
From Lab to Field Testing of Millimeter Wave Drilling
Quaise Energy
We’ve made a lot of progress over the years, but this marks a significant step on the path to superhot geothermal power production. Last month, we took millimeter wave drilling outside of the lab for the very first time.
To put that in perspective, it was only three years ago that our team started testing with millimeter waves. We took those early learnings from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and set up a humming campus here in Houston. We reached our 100x target in 2023 and tested at higher power throughout 2024. Now, we’re drilling under the open sky.
Millimeter wave drilling is the keystone of superhot geothermal. It’s the only way to access the resource at scale while reaching economic and power parity with fossil fuels. Over the coming months, two more drilling field tests will pave the way to our first commercial developments.
https://www.quaise.com/news/millimeter-wave-drilling-the-key-to-clean-energy-abundance
Millimeter Wave Drilling: The Key to Clean Energy Abundance
Everywhere on Earth, deep beneath the surface, there is an untapped bounty of clean energy, enough to power civilization 24/7 for millions of years. This is the potential of deep geothermal energy, using the heat of the Earth to decarbonize society. But this ubiquitous source of clean energy, buried deep within the Earth’s crust, is largely inaccessible with modern drilling technology.
Enter millimeter waves (MMWs), a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and infrared. Named for their wavelength measuring 1-10 millimeters, MMWs are everywhere yet invisible to the naked eye. The fingerprints of the Big Bang still linger as MMWs all around us in the cosmic microwave background. And if you’re reading this on a phone, chances are it was transmitted by 5G using MMWs.
In 2008, MIT engineer Paul Woskov had a bold idea for MMWs to unlock the true potential of geothermal energy. In his lab at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), Woskov worked with gyrotrons, a device that produces high-power MMWs for extreme heating.
“My experience with gyrotrons for fusion energy research made me recognize the potential for geothermal,” said Woskov.
For decades, gyrotrons have been used to reach temperatures far hotter than the sun to study fusion energy. But Woskov envisioned a new application for the gyrotron: making deep geothermal energy accessible by vaporizing rock.
Not just any rock, though—tough basement rock. Earth’s crust generally has a looser and softer layer near the surface, known as sedimentary rock. Modern technology is well-adapted and economical for drilling through the sedimentary layer, optimized by the oil and gas industry. Fossil fuels, some critical minerals, water, and lower-temperature geothermal energy are all extracted from the sedimentary layer.
But beneath sedimentary rock lies the tough, crystalline basement rock. Temperatures and pressures are higher there, and the rock is more ductile than brittle. Mechanical drill bits wear down quickly and are expensive to use in basement rock, requiring frequent, costly trips to the surface for replacement.
Woskov used his gyrotron at the MIT PSFC to vaporize blocks of basement rock, such as granite and basalt, to research the potential of MMW drilling. MMWs vaporize rock with dielectric heat, which is the same fundamental principle behind microwave ovens. The MMWs are sent down a special metallic pipe called a waveguide to bombard the surface of the rock. The MMWs melt and ablate the rock at high power densities, resulting in fine, volcanic-like ash. A circulating gas then flushes the ash downhole and sends it to the surface for removal.
“Subsequent support from the [MIT] Energy Initiative and Department of Energy led to studies and experiments that showed this potential to be very promising,” said Woskov.
After more than a decade of experiments, Woskov concluded that MMWs have the unique potential to make deep geothermal energy cost-effective and available almost anywhere on Earth. Deep geothermal is up to 10x more powerful than traditional geothermal energy and exponentially more accessible by drilling with MMWs.
MMW drilling succeeds where conventional drilling does not, and vice versa. MMW drilling transmits vast amounts of concentrated energy downhole, and the circulating gas is highly effective at removing small cuttings from extreme depths. Both tasks are tall orders for conventional drilling technology.
However, conventional drilling outperforms MMWs in sedimentary rock. This is why we are building a hybrid approach at Quaise: traditional drilling in the sedimentary layer followed by MMW drilling in the basement layer to achieve deep geothermal energy at higher temperatures and greater power densities.
Woskov used his gyrotron at the MIT PSFC to vaporize blocks of basement rock, such as granite and basalt, to research the potential of MMW drilling. MMWs vaporize rock with dielectric heat, which is the same fundamental principle behind microwave ovens. The MMWs are sent down a special metallic pipe called a waveguide to bombard the surface of the rock. The MMWs melt and ablate the rock at high power densities, resulting in fine, volcanic-like ash. A circulating gas then flushes the ash downhole and sends it to the surface for removal.
“Subsequent support from the [MIT] Energy Initiative and Department of Energy led to studies and experiments that showed this potential to be very promising,” said Woskov.
After more than a decade of experiments, Woskov concluded that MMWs have the unique potential to make deep geothermal energy cost-effective and available almost anywhere on Earth. Deep geothermal is up to 10x more powerful than traditional geothermal energy and exponentially more accessible by drilling with MMWs.
MMW drilling succeeds where conventional drilling does not, and vice versa. MMW drilling transmits vast amounts of concentrated energy downhole, and the circulating gas is highly effective at removing small cuttings from extreme depths. Both tasks are tall orders for conventional drilling technology.
However, conventional drilling outperforms MMWs in sedimentary rock. This is why we are building a hybrid approach at Quaise: traditional drilling in the sedimentary layer followed by MMW drilling in the basement layer to achieve deep geothermal energy at higher temperatures and greater power densities.
As Woskov says, “It will be a significant game changer to the sustainable energy equation when Quaise achieves a deep borehole in the field.”
Deep geothermal could put the world on a true path to net zero within a generation by producing more power on less land while leveraging existing infrastructure to accelerate the clean energy transition. MMW drilling is how we get there, resulting in clean energy abundance for everyone.
US2024254838 -- BASEMENT ROCK HYBRID DRILLING
Abstract -- A method for monitoring and controlling a downhole pressure of a well during formation of a borehole of a well is provided. The method can include monitoring a downhole pressure of a well during formation of a borehole of the well using a millimeter wave drilling apparatus including a waveguide configured for insertion into the borehole. The monitoring can include determining the downhole pressure. The downhole pressure can include an amount of pressure present at a bottom of the well. The method can also include determining a lithostatic pressure of rock surrounding the well at the bottom of the well. The method can further include controlling the downhole pressure relative to the lithostatic pressure of the rock surrounding the well at the bottom of the well. Related systems performing the methods are also provided.
Paul Woskov, et al. Patents
WO2024144961 -- MILLIMETER-WAVE DIRECTED-ENERGY EXCAVATION
Abstract -- Apparatus and methods are described for excavating earthen material with millimeter- wave (MMW) radiation or a combination of MMW radiation and mechanical apparatus. The MMW radiation can reduce costs and hazards associated with excavation using mechanical means only and/or explosives. MMW-assisted excavation has significant energy advantages over optical or long- wavelength microwave excavation techniques.
US2025067171 -- RATE OF PENETRATION/DEPTH MONITOR FOR A BOREHOLE FORMED WITH MILLIMETER-WAVE BEAM
Abstract -- Apparatus and methods are described for drilling deep boreholes with millimeter-wave radiation in earthen materials to access deep resources such as geothermal heat. Borehole depth and temperature at the bottom of the borehole can be monitored with probe signals and/or radiative emission from the bottom of the borehole.
US2025060314 -- CONTINUOUS EMISSIONS MONITOR FOR DIRECTED-ENERGY BOREHOLE DRILLING
Abstract -- Apparatus and methods for monitoring emissions from a borehole to determine the composition of earthen material removed from the borehole are described. Monitoring can be done in real time as the borehole is being deepened with a millimeter-wave drilling beam. The present technology can monitor in real-time the elemental composition of the earthen materials (e.g., rock, minerals, crystals, metals, etc.) in a borehole created by a directed-energy beam that melts and vaporizes the earthen material materials in its path. Using a continuous emissions monitor (CEM) in combination with directed-energy excavation of a borehole enables rapid surveying of the subsurface for precious and commercial metals.
US8393410 -- MILLIMETER-WAVE DRILLING AND FRACTURING SYSTEM
Abstract -- System for drilling boreholes into subsurface formations. A gyrotron injects millimeter-wave radiation energy into the borehole and pressurization apparatus is provided for pressurizing the borehole whereby a thermal melt front at the end of the borehole propagates into the subsurface formations. In another aspect, a system for fracturing a subsurface formation is disclosed.
US6362449 -- Very high power microwave-induced plasma
Abstract -- High power microwave plasma torch. The torch includes a source of microwave energy which is propagated by a waveguide. The waveguide has no structural restrictions between the source of microwave energy and the plasma to effect resonance. The gas flows across the waveguide and microwave energy is coupled into the gas to create a plasma. At least 5 kilowatts of microwave energy is coupled into the gas. It is preferred that the waveguide be a fundamental mode waveguide or a quasi-optical overmoded waveguide. In one embodiment, the plasma torch is used in a furnace for heating a material within the furnace.
US2025092778 -- SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DISTANCE DETERMINATION WITHIN A BOREHOLE
Abstract -- Systems and method are provided herein for performing MMWD using a gyrotron to provide electromagnetic waves into a borehole via a waveguide during borehole formation. Borehole depth and a distance between the waveguide and the bottom of the borehole can be determined using radar or acoustic signal processing techniques. The radar and acoustic signal sources can be configured to transmit measurement signals into the waveguide simultaneously with the electromagnetic waves transmitted by the gyrotron thereby eliminating the need for downhole sensing equipment and eliminating the need for drilling operation downtime to perform diagnostic depth measurements.
US12270300 -- MULTI-PIECE CORRUGATED WAVEGUIDE
Abstract -- An apparatus includes a tube including an inner surface, an inner diameter, and a length. The apparatus also includes a coil spring. The coil spring includes an outer surface, an outer diameter, and a plurality of coil elements arranged along a length of the coil spring. The coil spring can be positioned within the tube and the outer diameter of the coil spring can be less than the inner diameter of the tube. The coil spring can form a waveguide. Related methods of manufacture and systems are also described herein.