Heat generation by geothermal energy has a crucial role to the successful heat turnaround worldwide. However, the production of the borehole for the geothermal probe requires a lot of space. The process is very energy intensive, inaccurate, causes noise as well as landscape damage. As a result, many buildings cannot benefit from geothermal heat or are equipped with other heating systems. With an innovative drilling robot, which is located directly in the borehole, the above mentioned disadvantages are eliminated. No drill pipe as well as large equipment is needed. In particular, the construction costs are reduced due to the autonomous and energy-efficient mode of operation.
In the presentation, the novel drilling method is introduced and the advantages and disadvantages are described. First tests are shown and the quality of the borehole is described. The tests are carried out in claystone and sandstone as well as in unconsolidated rock. In the further course of the presentation, the future milestones until reaching a drilling depth of 250 m as well as until the market launch are also shown.
The new drilling method is based on many years of research at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Based on the results, the spin-off "Borobotics" was founded (www.borobotics.ch), which is carrying out the commercialization of the product.
