Feasibility Study of High-Power mm-Wave Geothermal Drilling

The feasibility study of applying the mm-wave geothermal drilling technique in Taiwan will be performed in this project. This original idea came from Dr. Paul Woskov of MIT in 2003. The capability of rock drilling by directly illuminating highpower mm-wave was demonstrated on a laboratory scale at MIT in 2014. Quaise Energy, a MIT spin-out company, is founded in 2018 afterward. Currently, Quaise Energy has raised funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for further experimental verification with a 40 feet depth well to simulate the field drilling environment at Oak Ridge National laboratory. The success of this technique will bring the world inexpensive and unlimited green energy. There are three subprojects in the first phase of this project focusing on the most relevant as well as achievable, from a resource point of view, three challenges of realizing its technique in Taiwan. The sub-project I will deliver the detailed integration design of the high-power mm-wave source facility and estimate the construction cost. The sub-project II will evaluate whether the vitrified liner can support the confining pressure of the borehole which is relevant to the stability of the borehole. The sub-project III will simulate the power loss after long-distance transmission of mm-wave and the mechanism relevant to the interaction between rock and mmwave.