Why is China digging a well 10,000 meters deep?

It is always associated with new technologies and projects that seem impossible China I was involved in another big project: drilling a well 10,000 meters deep.

According to preliminary information, the well must reach a bottom of very old rocks, dating back to the Cretaceous period, which occurred 145 million years ago, in the era of dinosaurs.

The Chinese goal is Exploration of natural gas reserves They are located in this underground area.

To this end, the drilling machines are being placed at a base in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, more specifically in the Tarim River Basin, which is located in the Taklamakan Desert.

The Chinese created a superstructure to drill 10,000 meters of solid rock. Photo: Xinhua News/Reproduction

Efforts to overcome the challenge

Like other works of this kind carried out around the world and in China itself, this giant well is being drilled with the help of equipment that imposes strength and power. energy Of large size.

To give you an idea, it is estimated that the entire rig on the rig, including the ultra-resistant drill that drills the well, weighs two thousand tons.

The terrain in which drilling is taking place is considered one of the main obstacles to the project, as the Tarim Basin has naturally compact and dry soil, in addition to being located on a wide, soft rocky bottom.

To their credit, the technicians responsible for the work have China's extensive history of drilling wells. This background can help in some way in facing the upcoming challenges.

This well is not the only one in China

In 2020, it was announced that another giant well would be built in China. At that time, the company leading the project was called Qualcomm, which presented a very bold plan.

In short, Queme wants to go further than this 10,000-meter-deep well, getting closer to the center of… Land It even surpasses the Kola well in Russia, which is more than 12,000 meters deep.

To achieve this feat, the company claims to have a range of equipment capable of overcoming obstacles such as glowing rocks at temperatures exceeding 180 degrees Celsius and unprecedented levels of pressure.

According to experts, this equipment can drill more than 20,000 meters in a short time, and reaches energy levels capable of converting water into a type of steam that turns into electricity.

If Kim's plans come to fruition, the first sparks of nuclear fusion could emerge, as well as larger supplies of geothermal energy, which is little explored today.

*With information from Xinhua News Agency and Science Alert.