Geothermal lab

The Geothermal Laboratory facility contains bespoke apparatus to test material physico-chemical evolution when interacting with volatiles and fluids at a range of pressure and temperature conditions as experienced in volcanic/ magmatic plumbing systems, hydrothermal systems and geothermal reservoirs. The facility is intergrated with, and makes use of equipment from, the rock mechanics and magma rheology laboratory, the petrophysics laboratory, and the petrology and rock-fluid interaction laboratory.

Magma upwelling in a borehole conduit

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This large-bore split-cylinder furnace facilitates experimentation at large scale to constrain the vesiculation and flow of magma in a 180-mm diameter conduit, providing 1:1 scale experiments of magma upwelling in a geothermal borehole, similar to a volcanic conduit. The setup permits the quantification of volume change and the samples are subjected to x-ray tomography and other petrophysical measurements to constrain the evolution of magma during transport.

Thermal Stimulator

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This apparatus allows the simulation of thermal stimulation of hot (<1000 ˚C) rocks surounding a well during drilling and fluid injeciton. The setup hosts a 140-mm diameter cores with a 10-mm diameter, central borehole injected with cold water circulation to induce thermal cooling contraction and cracking.

Fluid injector