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Technology

Closed-Loop Geothermal Technology for a 24/7 Carbon-free and Secure Energy Future

The Eavor-Loop™

One aspect that enables Eavor to scale is the method in which it harnesses heat. Unlike traditional geothermal, Eavor-Loop™ systems extract heat from hot rock via conduction. Traditional geothermal and Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) typically use convection methods, and this requires either direct access to hot aquifers or fracking to increase permeability of rock. Aquifers can be difficult to locate and fracking is associated with induced-seismicity risk. Hot rock is almost everywhere beneath our feet, which means that Eavor can mine its energy from virtually anywhere across the planet. 

Eavor’s closed-loop geothermal technology consists of several Patented and Patent Pending innovations. The Eavor-Loop™ is a closed-loop geothermal system, drilled into the Earth with a series of multilateral wellbores. A proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated in the system which retrieves heat from the surrounding rock via conduction. The working fluid is not fluid from a reservoir flowing into our wells, it is a fluid added to the Eavor-Loop™ to create an efficient reverse radiator, much like a vehicle radiator circulates fluid in a closed loop to remove heat from a gasoline engine.

Eavor-Loop™ harvests heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating or cooling applications (ex: greenhouses or district heating or cooling) or to be used to generate electricity using conventional heat to power engines. Eavor-Loop™ is an industrial scale geothermal system that mitigates many of the issues with traditional geothermal systems, which rely upon using wells to produce brine from a subsurface aquifer.

The main difference between traditional geothermal and Eavor-Loop™ is scalability. Traditional geothermal has never been globally scalable as the conditions required are very rare. There are only a few places in the world where you can find a hot underground aquifer to extract hot liquid in order to generate usable energy. The difference between Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Eavor-Loop™ is again scalability. While EGS is more scalable than traditional geothermal, fracking its own aquifer and injecting liquid is also reliant on very specific conditions which are also rare to find in the world.

The working fluid naturally circulates without requiring an external pump due to the thermosiphon effect of a hot fluid rising in the outlet well and a cool fluid falling in the inlet well. The working fluid contained in this closed-loop pipe system brings thermal energy to the surface where it is harvested for use in a commercial direct heat application or converted to electricity with a power generation module (heat engine). Unlike heat pumps (or “geo-exchange”), which convert electricity to heat using very shallow wells, Eavor-Loop™ generates industrial-scale electricity or produces enough heat for the equivalent of 16,000 homes with a single installation.

Eavor’s closed-loop geothermal technology consists of several Patent Pending innovations. The Eavor-Loop is a closed-loop geothermal system within which a proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated. The working fluid is not fluid from a reservoir flowing into our wells, it is a fluid added to the closed-loop Eavor-Loop™ to create an efficient radiator, much like a vehicle radiator circulates fluid in a closed loop to remove heat from a gasoline engine.

Eavor-Loop™ harvests heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating applications (ex: greenhouses or district heating) or to be used to generate electricity using conventional heat to power engines. Eavor-Loop™ is an industrial scale geothermal system that mitigates many of the issues with traditional geothermal systems, which rely upon using wells to produce brine from a subsurface aquifer.

The closed-loop is the key difference between Eavor-Loop™ and all traditional industrial-scale geothermal systems. Eavor-Loop™ is a buried-pipe system, which acts as a radiator or heat exchanger. It consists of connecting two vertical wells several kilometres deep with many horizontal multilateral wellbores several kilometers long. As these wellbores are sealed, a benign, environmentally friendly, working fluid is added to the closed-loop as a circulating fluid. This working fluid is contained within the system and isolated from the earth in the Eavor-Loop™. The wellbores act like pipes, not wells producing fluid from the earth.

The working fluid naturally circulates without requiring an external pump due to the thermosiphon effect of a hot fluid rising in the outlet well and a cool fluid falling in the inlet well. The working fluid contained in this closed-loop pipe system brings thermal energy to the surface where it is harvested for use in a commercial direct heat application or converted to electricity with a power generation module (heat engine). Unlike heat pumps (or “geo-exchange”), which convert electricity to heat using very shallow wells, Eavor-Loop generates industrial-scale electricity or produces enough heat for the equivalent of 16,000 homes with a single installation.

The Key Elements of an Eavor-Loop™

An Eavor-Loop™ is the connection of two vertical wells with many horizontal multilateral wellbores creating a closed sealed radiator-like system. Eavor’s proprietary working fluid is not from a reservoir, it is selected and added at surface, then circulated to harvest heat from deep in the Earth to be used to generate electricity or in commercial heating/cooling applications.

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Dispatchability

An Eavor-Loop ™ can slow down and even
pause its flow, to allow the fluid to stay within
the hot rock for a longer period of time and
pick up additional charge. The Eavor-Loop ™
can then ramp up and dispatch that higher
temperature fluid, on-demand when the sun
goes down or the wind stops blowing…

Modular Organic Rankine Cycle

The ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) turbogenerator
uses medium-to-high-temperature thermal oil to
preheat and vaporize a suitable organic working
fluid in the evaporator. The organic fluid vapor
rotates the turbine, which is directly coupled to
the electric generator, resulting in clean, reliable
electric power.

Multilateral Junctions & Whipstock

During the drilling process, in the vertical section
of the Eavor-Loop ™, we create junctions where
the multilaterals will be drilled from. The direction
of the drill bit is adjusted using a whipstock
which is inserted ahead of the drill bit to guide
the bit through a specific junction.

Rock-Pipe™

The profiled multilateral sections are completely
separated from the rock and each other using
Eavor’s protective Rock-Pipe™ completion
technology. Working fluids are permanently
isolated and contained within the system.

Insulated Drill Pipe

Insulated Drill Pipe (IDP) is key to our
hotter/deeper project plans. We have developed &
built IDP technology that converts conventional
pipe into a means to control bottom-hole
temperatures. This serves two purposes; to
actively cool off-the-shelf drilling technologies to
reach depths and temperatures previously seen
as impossible, and to increase drilling speed.

Magnetic Ranging

Magnetic Ranging Technology, a borrowing from the
energy services sector, provides us the ability to
accurately intersect our wells at a target depth.
The process is efficient and safe, using magnetic
ranging signals from one BHA to the other.

How Does Geothermal Energy Work?

Geothermal Energy works via a process by which drilled wells extract heat from deep underground to be brought to the surface where it is transformed into electricity. Where traditional geothermal was not feasible, the industry has been transformed by new technologies such as closed-loop geothermal technology.

How Rock-Pipe™ Works - With Vlad & Mo

Have you ever wondered how we seal the open wellbore in the lower sections of the Eavor-Loop™? Well, grab your number 2 pencils and put on your lab coat, let’s learn about Rock-Pipe™.

Watch our NEW Video – How Rock-Pipe™ Works – With Vlad & Mo!

What is Closed-Loop Geothermal?

Closed-loop geothermal is an encapsulated system within which a proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated to harvest heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating applications (ex: greenhouses or district heating) or to be used to generate electricity using conventional heat to power engines.

The Derek Riddell Eavor-Lite™ Demonstration Facility is a full-scale prototype of the Eavor technology suite. The facility site is located near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.

Rock-Pipe™

The profiled multilateral sections are completely separated from the rock and each other using Eavor’s protective Rock-Pipe™ completion technology. Working fluids are permanently isolated and contained within the system.

Dispatchability

An Eavor-Loop ™ can slow down and even pause its flow, to allow the fluid to stay within the hot rock for a longer period of time and pick up additional charge. The Eavor-Loop ™ can then ramp up and dispatch that higher temperature fluid, on-demand when the sun goes down or the wind stops blowing…

Insulated Drill Pipe

Insulated Drill Pipe (IDP) is key to our hotter/deeper project plans. We have developed & built IDP technology that converts conventional pipe into a means to control bottom-hole temperatures. This serves two purposes; to actively cool off-the-shelf drilling technologies to reach depths and temperatures previously seen as impossible, and to increase drilling speed.

Modular Organic Rankine Cycle

The ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) turbogenerator uses medium-to-high-temperature thermal oil to preheat and vaporize a suitable organic working fluid in the evaporator. The organic fluid vapor rotates the turbine, which is directly coupled to the electric generator, resulting in clean, reliable electric power.

Magnetic Ranging

Magnetic Ranging Technology, a borrowing from the energy services sector, provides us the ability to accurately intersect our wells at a target depth. The process is efficient and safe, using magnetic ranging signals from one BHA to the other.

Multilateral Junctions & Whipstock

During the drilling process, in the vertical section of the Eavor-Loop ™, we create junctions where the multilaterals will be drilled from. The direction of the drill bit is adjusted using a whipstock which is inserted ahead of the drill bit to guide the bit through a specific junction.

Spread Section

A series of lateral legs stemming out from the vertical and cased well section after the 90° turn. Precise multilateral drilling is designed to specific subsurface profiles to maximize efficiency.

Multilateral / Rock-Pipe™

The profiled multilateral sections are completely separated from the rock and each other using Eavor’s protective Rock-Pipe™ completion technology. Working fluids are permanently isolated and contained within the system.

Intersection

Magnetic Ranging Technology, a borrowing from the energy services sector, provides the basis to make these, at depth intersections consistent, efficient and safe.

Benign Footprint

The world’s most benign environmental impact & surface footprint. Eavor can fit in a backyard, repurpose inactive well sites or decommissioned industrial/commercial facilities. The facility has no emissions of any kind during operations.

Thermosiphon Effect

The closed-loop system in an Eavor-Loop™ allows the fluid to circulate without a parasitic load, providing global scalability.

Resilience & Sustainability

The Eavor-Loop™ system requires no connection to the outside world and operates without fuel and is completely emission-free. The fully-independent system can be placed in a bunker or buried below surface to be made resilient to natural disasters.

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