Pretty much what is needed for digging off-world habitats on the Moon or Mars. There using drills that need to be replaced every so often is not an option.
Pretty much what is needed for digging off-world habitats on the Moon or Mars. There using drills that need to be replaced every so often is not an option.More
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If it's able to work a few hours a day and quickly stop, I could see them taking advantage of cheap overnight power especially in places with hugely over built wind power. They could get many megawatthours for next to free.
If it's able to work a few hours a day and quickly stop, I could see them taking advantage of cheap overnight power especially in places with hugely over built wind power. They could get many megawatthours for next to free.More
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That said, always skeptical about sensational headlines claiming breakthrough tech
It's a pretty clever idea because it replaces a drill bit that you need to remove the whole length of the drill to replace, with a pipe that you can just add more sections to.More
It's a huge microwave oven, pointing down a tube in a well, with high pressure air, so the microwave melts the rock, and the air pushes it out of the way.More
I've seen aeticles about this before. Issue with deep drilling aparently is a combination of rocks becoming too soft and too hot as you go deep, so normal drill heads stop working effectively. This effectively uses just electromagnet waves to vaporize the rock (think like lasers) so you don't have the same issues. It also theoretically fuses the rock on the edge it melts which will naturally seal the bore hole without more reinforcing needed.More
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Last I heard, drilling costs went with the log of the depth; for every X meters deeper, costs doubled. If this gets around that ("if" being a great word there) there's considerable potential. Might even be cost-effective to do the shallow part with conventional technology and then switch.
Last I heard, drilling costs went with the log of the depth; for every X meters deeper, costs doubled. If this gets around that ("if" being a great word there) there's considerable potential. Might even be cost-effective to do the shallow part with conventional technology and then switch.More
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