| 5/7/2009 9:44:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Mount Princeton Geothermal has gained permission for geothermal exploration near the Chalk Cliffs. The process is similar to drilling a water well, except the goal is to measure heat.
Photo by Ron Sering
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Local heat tests conducted
by Ron Sering - Special to the Mail
"You're standing on top of the hottest known heat flow well in the state," Fred Henderson III, of Mount Princeton Geothermal, LLC told a tour group Friday.
The well, imperceptible except for its dusty concrete cap, was a location explored by Amax in the 1970s to measure heat flow throughout the area.
Heat flow is a factor measured by thermal gradient testing, which measures the increase of heat by depth. The data is used to calculate potential for electricity production.
Mount Princeton Geothermal has gained permission for first exploration of geothermal resources in the area since the 1970s. The process is similar to drilling a water well, except the goal is to measure heat.
"These holes," Henderson said, "are nonconsumptive and will be used to measure the temperature change by depth to determine heat flow in each well. We measure the temperature gradient every three feet."
The project is the first of its kind in decades.
"The goal with these six holes is to complete the western side of the high heat flow anomaly drilled by AMAX Exploration Co. from 1973-75," Henderson said.
A drill site on a plateau south of the Mount Princeton chalk cliffs, resembles a water well. ASAP Drilling of Buena Vista planned to penetrate 600 feet.
"Test holes will be capped," Henderson said, "but left open for later temperature measurements to serve as monitoring holes to detect changes as we proceed with our program."
"We will set up a monitoring network," Henderson said, "to understand how much we are adding to or changing the water table."
Thermal gradient testing is the second part of a four-phase program by Henderson and Mount Princeton Geothermal. Additional wells are planned during May and possibly June.
"We have to learn about the resource," said Joani Matranga of the Governor's Energy Office, "and what we can do with it."
The next phase will be deep slim hole drilling and pump tests, scheduled this year.
"That is critical for a whole bunch of reasons," Henderson said. "One is to prove we won't be interfering with anyone's water table. There are a lot of people's homes up there - second cabins - and they don't want us to harm their water. It's critical for us to do it right."
The goal is to begin production and injection drilling to begin developing a geothermal electrical generation facility next year.
"We don't yet know where the plant would go, because we don't know where the hot water is," Henderson said.
Local exploration is part of the statewide effort seeking the first electricity production in Colorado using geothermal energy. The process involves new technology capable of using water cooler than 300 degrees.
Other areas in the state under consideration are in Rico, Trinidad, and Waunita Hot Springs near Gunnison.
"Fred is farther along in research," Matranga said.
The Mount Princeton group must pass a number of other permitting and regulatory tests, including assurances the water resources used are nonconsumptive and, in the case of geothermal ground water, nontributary to more senior water rights.
"We don't want to be connected to the water table. We want it to be nontributary. We will check this by well testing," Henderson said.
Colorado School of Mines field camp personnel will be in the area conducting more tests for 10 days starting Monday.
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