Experts will drill into Icelandic magma to uncover volcanic and geothermal secrets
Experts in Iceland are making a special way of drilling into magma to find out secrets about volcanic activity and ways of enhancing geothermal.
In 2009, a team accidentally drilled into magma in Krafla, Iceland. Unexpectedly, they drilled into magma at a depth of about 2 kilometres during the Icelandic deep-water drilling project IDDP-1. As expected, the equipment caved under the extreme heat and pressure, but important data could still be gathered before the borehole’s eventual demise, the Iceland Monitor reported.
For the first time in geoscientific research, they could then be able to locate a base magma chamber and open up a new avenue for volcanic and geothermal energy research.
Researchers were able to peer into molten rocks 20 kilometres below the surface of the Earth, understanding earth systems at a whole new level. From their site of their accidental discovery, the KMT project has been ongoing, where experts unite, including the Geothermal Research Cluster.
KMT a "volcanically" exciting project
The Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) is going to be the first magma observatory in the world. Companies are interested to see how the magma of the volcano can improve geothermal energy production. Power production experiments will be done with the nearby geothermal Krafla Power Station. Magma has the geothermal power to heat water that makes it “supercritical” – not a gas or liquid, but ten times more powerful.
The first well will be for volcanic research but the second will be for energy research with equipment this time that will be able to handle the harsh magma’s temperatures. Björn Þór Guðmundsson told ThinkGeoEnergy: "What is different about KMT is that we aim to recover a core from the base of the hydrothermal system to magma and monitor temperature through that interval in parallel. This will be the first time scientists will actually get samples of this."
They aim to place sensors for temperature and pressure into the magma to measure magma behaviour. "Through this direct observation, we aim to enhance our ability to monitor and forecast volcanic events," Björn added. This can improve models of volcanic eruption behaviour and predictions, improving preparations and early warning systems.
It also holds promise to enhance geothermal power generation which has a low carbon footprint. "The power plant sits on its energy source and “waste” recycling site. Advances in transmission of electricity are overcoming the economics of distance with better “ground-truthing” on locating the magmatic heat source," Björn said, which might just revolutionist geothermal power economics.
The above video has explained it can boost geothermal energy production by ten times. This may just encourage more international investment in geothermal energy, which currently remains quite small. Björn said: “Magma energy can be considered a high-risk, high-reward source of geothermal energy.”
Looking ahead
This KMT organisation will not only aim to improve the prediction of volcanic eruptions across the globe, but find more powerful methods for producing energy from geothermal, hopefully allowing it become more commercialised. New Scientist recently reported on this exciting story, as the world watches their developments ahead.
Their KMT Symposium recently took place this year, which discussed a plan of action ahead. It will be interested to see what they find as they tap into this new realm! They will next use production wells which are specially designed to withstand the extreme conditions of being in touch with magma, so that the past does not repeat itself! The first well will be KMT-1 in 2026 and KMT-2 in 2028.