Jarrid in a small team of engineers and
scientists assemble an unassuming piece
of equipment all right there we go again
they claim that this metal comb will
somehow bore a hole without any digging
or grinding they call it the flame jet
drill
the drill was first conceived over 30
years ago by Jarrod’s father Robert
Potter a pioneer in geothermal science
at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in
the 1970s now Jarrod has completed
several prototypes designed to put the
technology to its ultimate test
if the flame jet drill succeeds it could
be the holy grail for geothermal
technology and one of the keys to
lessening our dependence on fossil fuels
this technology could drill as fast as
and since you’re not contacting the rock
you’re not wearing out the bit
however powder must first prove his
prototype works everything is in place
for the test
hydrogen gas feeds into the drill head
once lit it must reach 1800 degrees
Celsius hotter than lava a barely
visible high-velocity flame shoots out
of the drill tip super heating the block
of granite soon tiny rock fragments
begin flying off into the air
the intense flame causes flaws in the
mineral structure to breakdown
the test is complete the interest of the
whole is about four inches a little
under four inches and the hole itself
now is about nearly 10 inches deep and
we drilled that in about three minutes
the prototype achieved its primary goal
to pass quickly through Rock however
Potter must also prove that the fling
jet technology works in the wet
high-pressure environment inside a deep
well that’s where this machine comes in
it’s another prototype called a
hydrothermal drill that simulates the
wet pipe pressurized conditions at the
most hostile subterranean environment
the hydrothermal drill should allow us
to drill the depths of 30 to 40 50 even
50,000 feet by 12 inches in diameter
sounds kind of crazy
okay Jim go ahead and give us some juice
there igniting the bit on the
hydrothermal drill is a 4000 degrees
Celsius flame but unlike a conventional
drill it never touches rock instead the
flames super heats a jet of water and it
fragments the rock it also flushes the
fragments out of the area
Potter pulls out the small granite
sample to check the results the drill
succeeded in making a perfect borehole
once Potter tests the drill on a rig
design for his invention could go to
market it’s still got quite a ways if
they succeed Wells could be drilled
faster cheaper and deeper and geothermal
plants could be built almost anywhere on
the planet however until a working flame
drill appears the drilling industry will
continue to slowly grind away
I don’t think drilling deep holes is a
pipe dream but more importantly it’s
still in the research phase and yet to
be proven commercial
scientists assemble an unassuming piece
of equipment all right there we go again
they claim that this metal comb will
somehow bore a hole without any digging
or grinding they call it the flame jet
drill
the drill was first conceived over 30
years ago by Jarrod’s father Robert
Potter a pioneer in geothermal science
at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in
the 1970s now Jarrod has completed
several prototypes designed to put the
technology to its ultimate test
if the flame jet drill succeeds it could
be the holy grail for geothermal
technology and one of the keys to
lessening our dependence on fossil fuels
this technology could drill as fast as
and since you’re not contacting the rock
you’re not wearing out the bit
however powder must first prove his
prototype works everything is in place
for the test
hydrogen gas feeds into the drill head
once lit it must reach 1800 degrees
Celsius hotter than lava a barely
visible high-velocity flame shoots out
of the drill tip super heating the block
of granite soon tiny rock fragments
begin flying off into the air
the intense flame causes flaws in the
mineral structure to breakdown
the test is complete the interest of the
whole is about four inches a little
under four inches and the hole itself
now is about nearly 10 inches deep and
we drilled that in about three minutes
the prototype achieved its primary goal
to pass quickly through Rock however
Potter must also prove that the fling
jet technology works in the wet
high-pressure environment inside a deep
well that’s where this machine comes in
it’s another prototype called a
hydrothermal drill that simulates the
wet pipe pressurized conditions at the
most hostile subterranean environment
the hydrothermal drill should allow us
to drill the depths of 30 to 40 50 even
50,000 feet by 12 inches in diameter
sounds kind of crazy
okay Jim go ahead and give us some juice
there igniting the bit on the
hydrothermal drill is a 4000 degrees
Celsius flame but unlike a conventional
drill it never touches rock instead the
flames super heats a jet of water and it
fragments the rock it also flushes the
fragments out of the area
Potter pulls out the small granite
sample to check the results the drill
succeeded in making a perfect borehole
once Potter tests the drill on a rig
design for his invention could go to
market it’s still got quite a ways if
they succeed Wells could be drilled
faster cheaper and deeper and geothermal
plants could be built almost anywhere on
the planet however until a working flame
drill appears the drilling industry will
continue to slowly grind away
I don’t think drilling deep holes is a
pipe dream but more importantly it’s
still in the research phase and yet to
be proven commercial
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