• Drilling and Well Completion Technology Developments for Tapping Supercritical Geothermal Resources
  Supercritical geothermal resources located close to the brittle-ductile transition zone have been proven to exist at drillable depths. This was demonstrated by several deep geothermal drilling campaigns throughout the years, starting in the late 1970s. The interest in exploring supercritical resources is strong, as it was revealed that one such well might significantly increase the production output and simultaneously decrease the need for drilling operations within a particular geothermal field. Deep drilling projects exploring supercritical resources such as these carried out in Iceland, Italy or Japan, where temperatures went significantly above the critical point and hostile geothermal fluids were produced, faced a variety of challenges during drilling operations and fluid production. This research presents an extensive literature search on the recent technology developments in regard to the drilling and well completion technology within different high-enthalpy geothermal fields around the world, experiencing downhole temperatures greater than the critical point of pure water. ...more

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