This is a link post.

microwave drilling startups

I've seen a bunch of articles about startups trying to do microwave drilling of rock for geothermal energy. Multiple people have asked me about Quaise Energy. (Here's a popular video.) I'm tired of hearing about them, so I'm writing this post to explain some of the reasons why their idea is impractical.

vaporized rock condenses

When rock is vaporized, that rock vapor doesn't just disappear. What happens to it? The answer is, it would quickly condense on the hole wall and pipe.

Initially, a lot of people working on microwave drilling didn't even think about that. Once they did, they decided the solution was to use compressed air to condense the rock and blow the rock particles out. But as anyone familiar with drilling would know, that introduces new problems.

air pressure

Current drilling sometimes uses [...]

---

Outline:

(00:07) microwave drilling startups

(00:29) vaporized rock condenses

(01:01) air pressure

(02:31) energy payback

(02:35) energy usage

(03:12) thermal conductivity

(04:02) payback period

(04:40) some other problems

(04:44) waveguide losses

(05:12) reverse heat transfer

(05:32) hole collapse

(05:48) one thing at a time

(06:29) solar power exists

(06:46) this is only an example

---

First published:
June 12th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gEbfCs2oxmwN2mfLM/microwave-drilling-is-impractical

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“microwave drilling is impractical” by bhauth

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“microwave drilling is impractical” by bhauth