Quantitative Heat Oy (QHeat), a company specialized in geothermal energy, and Geomachine Oy, a specialized drilling rig manufacturer, will collaborate to develop well-drilling technology that is especially suitable for the drilling of 2,000-meter medium-deep heating wells. When complete, Geomachine Oy’s GM2000 well-drilling rig will be the first of its kind in the world, and it is slated to be used in drilling in the spring of 2022.
The drilling rig will be used by QHeat and optimized for the DTH drilling of medium-deep drill holes in the hard northern ground. The product development will focus on the details that improve the wider economic aspects of the drilling of geothermal heating wells. In particular, it will be even faster to change the drill bit and handle the pipes that are installed into the well. The data logger of the drilling rig automatically gathers, processes and uses the drilling data which enables the real-time analysis of the drilled ground. Additionally, the new drilling rig can be remotely controlled from the construction site cabin. An electric power unit can also be connected to the rig which significantly reduces emissions during drilling.
“The drill operator can constantly track essential drilling parameters from the site cabin even if they are drilling hundreds of meters deep. Our vision is to transform drilling into a monitoring job that is effortless and easy to duplicate.” says Geomachine Oy’s Managing Director Samuli Salmela.
“To curb the emissions caused by the heating of large properties, geothermal energy provides us with the right tools for our cold climate.
The relative proportion of geothermal energy as the main source of heating in buildings has grown steadily since the beginning of the 21st century. Making the use of geothermal heat even more common in the future requires more geothermal heating wells and low-temperature heating network solutions that are designed to provide heating for large quantities of properties. QHeat leads the way in this development.
“To curb the emissions caused by the heating of large properties, geothermal energy provides us with the right tools for our cold climate. QHeat and Geomachine pioneer the development of construction solutions that make use of geothermal heat to reduce the costs resulting from the heating and cooling of properties.” notes QHeat’s Chief Technology Officer Rami Niemi.