Rosemanowes Quarry
Encyclopedia
Rosemanowes Quarry, near Penryn
, Cornwall
, United Kingdom
, was the site of an early experiment in extracting geothermal energy from the earth using hot dry rock (HDR) technology.
in the area has the highest heat flow in England
(120 milliwatt
s per square metre).
The trials began in 1977 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis
and an earlier trial in the United States
at Fenton Hill. It concluded in 1980, although studies continued until 1991. Funding for the initial project was provided by the Department of Energy (now the Department of Trade and Industry) and by the European Commission
. The research facilities and staff transferred to Camborne School of Mines
Associates Limited in 1992, the trading arm of the Camborne School of Mines.
The project had two aims 1) To see if hot dry rocks could be fractured by water pressure alone, enabling a current of cold water from an inlet borehole to pass easily through the mass and to be collected at an outlet borehole some distance away. The trial proved to be successful, and showed that explosives were not required to fracture this Cornish hot granite at depth.
2)To find out if the rocks were hot enough to make steam for a turbine to generate electricity.
This second aim was not achieved at the depths attained. Though the rocks did yield substantial quantities of hot water, to reach a temperature to generate steam hot enough to drive a turbine would have required drilling a further kilometer or more into the granite, an option which was too expensive to pursue at that time.
With government and EU support the expertise of the scientists and engineers at Rosemanowes was used to support the European HDR project at Soultz-sous-Forêts
and a number of commercial contracts ensued exploiting HDR techniques, such as microseismic monitoring, in the oil and gas industry. Rosemanowes Quarry and the assets of CSMA, including intellectual property, were acquired by Asea Brown Boveri
in 1997. In 2004 Schlumberger
acquired the intellectual property and some of the staff most closely associated with microseismic monitoring and the quarry was sold off.
In 2006, the site was acquired by 3K Facilities. The company now offers deep borehole test facilities in one of the best-logged sites in the world. All the deep boreholes are now available to hire for a range of down hole testing. There are three deep boreholes (2350m, 2180m, 2800m), four uncased 300m holes and one 150m hole inclined at 30degrees, as well as micro seismic testing and a wind turbine test environment on this 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) site.
Although the energy has not yet been exploited commercially, the data provided by the tests has been widely used to test numerical simulation codes. The dataset
contributed significantly to the geothermal power plant built with European Union
sponsorship at Soultz-sous-Forêts
.
, to the north of the A 394 road, between Rame and Longdowns
. Ordnance Survey
, Explorer series, Map 103, : .
Penryn, Cornwall
Penryn is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penryn River about one mile northwest of Falmouth...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, was the site of an early experiment in extracting geothermal energy from the earth using hot dry rock (HDR) technology.
Geothermal energy research project
The site was chosen because the graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
in the area has the highest heat flow in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(120 milliwatt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s per square metre).
The trials began in 1977 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
and an earlier trial in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at Fenton Hill. It concluded in 1980, although studies continued until 1991. Funding for the initial project was provided by the Department of Energy (now the Department of Trade and Industry) and by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. The research facilities and staff transferred to Camborne School of Mines
Camborne School of Mines
The Camborne School of Mines , commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. It is now a specialist department of the University of Exeter. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment...
Associates Limited in 1992, the trading arm of the Camborne School of Mines.
The project had two aims 1) To see if hot dry rocks could be fractured by water pressure alone, enabling a current of cold water from an inlet borehole to pass easily through the mass and to be collected at an outlet borehole some distance away. The trial proved to be successful, and showed that explosives were not required to fracture this Cornish hot granite at depth.
2)To find out if the rocks were hot enough to make steam for a turbine to generate electricity.
This second aim was not achieved at the depths attained. Though the rocks did yield substantial quantities of hot water, to reach a temperature to generate steam hot enough to drive a turbine would have required drilling a further kilometer or more into the granite, an option which was too expensive to pursue at that time.
With government and EU support the expertise of the scientists and engineers at Rosemanowes was used to support the European HDR project at Soultz-sous-Forêts
Soultz-sous-Forêts
Soultz-sous-Forêts is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the site of the European Hot Dry Rocks energy research project.-References:*...
and a number of commercial contracts ensued exploiting HDR techniques, such as microseismic monitoring, in the oil and gas industry. Rosemanowes Quarry and the assets of CSMA, including intellectual property, were acquired by Asea Brown Boveri
Asea Brown Boveri
ABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, and best known for its robotics. ABB operates mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It ranked 143rd in Forbes Ranking ....
in 1997. In 2004 Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
acquired the intellectual property and some of the staff most closely associated with microseismic monitoring and the quarry was sold off.
Although the energy has not yet been exploited commercially, the data provided by the tests has been widely used to test numerical simulation codes. The dataset
Data set
A data set is a collection of data, usually presented in tabular form. Each column represents a particular variable. Each row corresponds to a given member of the data set in question. Its values for each of the variables, such as height and weight of an object or values of random numbers. Each...
contributed significantly to the geothermal power plant built with European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
sponsorship at Soultz-sous-Forêts
Soultz-sous-Forêts
Soultz-sous-Forêts is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the site of the European Hot Dry Rocks energy research project.-References:*...
.
Use by U.S. forces during World War II
During the Second World War, the Quarry was used for storage by U.S. forces, preparing for the invasion of Europe, which started in June 1944.Location
The quarry is at HernissHerniss
Herniss is a village near Stithians in Cornwall, England, UK....
, to the north of the A 394 road, between Rame and Longdowns
Longdowns
Longdowns is a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the A394 road approximately three miles west of Penryn.Longdowns is in an area of granite quarries, some active some disused. The village has a petrol station, a convenience store and a pub.John Spargo, the American socialist,...
. Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
, Explorer series, Map 103, : .
See also
- Geothermal power in the United Kingdom
- Energy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use in the United Kingdom stood at 3,894.6 kilogrammes of oil equivalent per capita in 2005 compared to a world average of 1,778.0. In 2008, total energy consumed was 9.85 exajoules - around 2% of the estimated 474 EJ worldwide total...
- Renewable energyRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...