Tiago Moreno

Project

Presentation

Progress Log

Capstone Essay

Tiago Moreno

Mr. Caballero

English 4

5 May 2020

Volcanic Power Plant Research

For a volcano to qualify as a supervolcano, it must have, at some point, had an eruption where it let out at least 1000km³ of tephra (ash and lava) (“What”). This type of natural disaster would spell catastrophe for humanity, so I started finding a way to possibly prevent this from happening for my Capstone Project. In my project, I will be designing a power plant that drills into supervolcanoes and moves magma into selective chambers. From there, I will cool the magma with water, creating steam that will power turbines and then be condensed back into clean, drinkable water. I am interested in this project because supervolcanoes, green energy, and the betterment of humankind are three topics that fascinate me. Moreover, it has provided a way for me to learn about supervolcanoes, create more energy, and prevent a calamity from hurting humankind. In order for me to be able to design this plant, I needed to study how supervolcanoes behave: their common traits, their eruption patterns, and other parts of the supervolcano structure. I also studied how magma behaves, its make-up in different heats, and how it plays a role in shaping volcanoes. It required me to learn about the types of things needed to cause a supereruption, the engineering behind steam turbines, and how a green Earth would affect us. My overall goal is to mitigate a severe danger to mankind while also providing a green, reliable energy source that can create clean water, to help further society in the name of progression.

To build a power plant using the magma of a supervolcano, it is essential to understand what exactly a supervolcano is. Supervolcanoes have many properties, both from being volcanoes and from the traits that separate them from regular volcanoes. All volcanoes get classified with the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) - an eight on this index, the highest-ranking, classifies a volcano as a supervolcano. To reach this rating on the VEI scale, a volcano must have, at some point, erupted 1000km³ of material at once (“What”). A supervolcano has three main life stages: the magma surge, the supereruption, and the resurgence. The first stage, the magma surge, is when the magma seeping up from the mantle begins to collect under the caldera point, where the eruption actually occurs. The second stage, supereruption, is the moment when the pressure from the magma reaches a critical point, causing the magma to erupt. Resurgence, the third stage of a supervolcano, is the time after the eruption in which the magma chambers are empty and begin to refill, restarting the process all over again (“Supervolcanoes”). Understanding a supervolcano’s processes helps show how to take advantage of its nature.

Magma is an extraordinary substance that has many properties, of which many little variations exist throughout the magma spectrum. Magma and lava are the same substance - lava is magma that has erupted onto the Earth’s surface. Magma is defined as both liquid and semi-liquid rock located inside of the mantle (the layer of the Earth underneath the crust). The pressure and temperature level under the crust prevents magma from transitioning out of its liquid state. Magma is able to reach the surface through different cracks on the surface, which is what causes a ‘volcanic eruption.’ Magma’s make-up consists of many solid elements, as well as smaller portions of bubbled gases, such as sulfur, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. Magma viscosity affects the volcano’s shape. In essence, steep slopes mean the volcano has viscous magma, and flat slopes mean the volcano has easy-flowing magma (National). More viscous magma tends to be more ‘gummy;’ this makes the magma move slower but increases its viscosity. The viscosity level of the most viscous magma tends to be near the level of concrete (Brand)! There are three main groups of magma types, each with different make-ups and found in different temperatures, leading to different levels of viscosity. Basaltic magma has high levels of iron, calcium, and magnesium, low levels of sodium and potassium, and temperature levels ranging from about 1000°C to about 1200°C. Andesitic magma, on the other hand, has moderate levels of iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium, and its temperature levels range from about 800°C to about 1000°C. Rhyolitic magma, the final magma type, has high levels of sodium and potassium, with low levels of iron, calcium, and magnesium, and its temperature levels range from about 650°C to about 800°C (National). Magma is a magnificent material, able to have a strong effect on the environment that becomes impacted by its presence.

Supervolcano eruptions end up releasing amounts of material, or tephra, at insane magnitudes. A supervolcano is a terrifying force of nature; it has the power to send the whole world into a years’ long winter (Brand). Supervolcanic eruptions, through magma, ash, and other particles released in an eruption, would be able to cause devastating damage to the area around them. A supervolcano eruption would have a horrifyingly negative effect, by killing thousands of people quickly in the surrounding radius through ash, launching projectiles, and poisoning the air (Wei-Haas), as well as cooling the Earth by sending massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide reflects sunlight entirely: if it got into the air currents in our stratosphere (Brand), it would be able to kill even more people through the destruction of food producers, eliminating the food source of many more people. It is important to note that an event of this nature, while having massive negative proportions, would not be considered ‘world-ending.’ (Wei-Haas). The data behind supervolcanoes alone is capable of representing the mass-destruction capabilities that the supervolcano holds.

A supervolcano is a geological feature that must be understood to prevent damage of vast magnitudes. One can not truly understand a supervolcano’s effect without knowing the power that sits in it. The sheer amount of magma that erupts out of a supervolcano causes a ‘circular-shaped collapse feature,’ or a caldera, above where the magma was previously stored (“What”). Calderas can reach up to 50 miles across (“Supervolcanoes”), showing just how large their magma chambers are. Magma pockets are trapped under the crust (they are called “hotspots”), and are ‘fed’ by a channel coming directly from the mantle; they continue to grow with more magma, affecting the crust, until they reach supereruption (“Supervolcanoes”). A supervolcano needs to have erupted a minimum of 1000km³ of material at some point in its ‘life’ to qualify as a supervolcano (“What”). Thankfully, very few volcanoes reach the “Supervolcano Status” - it’s expected that in the last 5,000 eruptions on Earth, none of them reached a VEI of eight (or even seven). Not all volcanoes that have a supervolcanic eruption will have another supervolcanic eruption (Wei-Haas). Supervolcanoes withhold massive amounts of power that must be understood in order for humanity to better itself and survive.

People tend to not realize how much they come into contact with supervolcanoes. Supervolcanoes exist in various positions around the world, and some of them are incredibly well-known locations. Some supervolcanoes tend to be studied at an extreme level, due to both their significance as a supervolcano as well as their significance in the human societal world. There are currently about 20 known separate supervolcano locations around the world. That includes Yellowstone Caldera (“Supervolcanoes”), Long Valley Caldera, La Garita Caldera, and Valles Caldera in the U.S. (“What”). Other supervolcanoes are situated in Indonesia, Japan (Wei-Haas), New Zealand, Italy (“Supervolcanoes”), Chile, Argentina, Bolivia (“What”), North Korea, Russia, and Canada. Yellowstone Caldera has had at least 2 VEI 8 eruptions (2.1 million and 640,000 years ago - in the former, 588 miles³ of material erupted), and at least 1 VEI 7 eruption (1.3 million years ago - 67 miles³ of material erupted) (Wei-Haas). Supereruptions occur, on average, every 100,000 years. Lake Taupo (in New Zealand), the most recent supereruption, erupted about 24,000 years ago, and Yellowstone’s last supereruption was about 640,000 years ago (“Supervolcanoes”). The possibility of this absolutely terrifying situation occurring in the modern world makes it a priority to figure out in the scientific field.

Finding a way to prevent, or even understand what could cause such a horrendous force of nature is essential for scientists in their fight to save lives. In order to prevent an eruption from happening, it becomes important to study how, or rather, what, could provoke an eruption. Scientists try to figure out the answer in order to (possibly) prevent a volcanic eruption. Researchers have thought about two types of scenarios: bombs and drilling. To cause an eruption, a bomb would generally need to be put deep inside of the volcano to have it work. The concept is that an explosion inside of the magma would make it continually erupt. Another possible situation is drilling into a volcano because it would release the pressure build-up inside the volcano. Both concepts, surprisingly, are also used as theories to prevent eruptions using the same processes: lowering the volcano’s pressure and keeping magma from rising to the surface (Klemetti). Drilling too fast, however, risks causing a premature eruption. So the overall goal is to drill as slow as possible in order to possibly prevent an eruption. A supervolcano may not suffer from the same risks, due to its enormous magma chambers, but scientists have yet to test whether that theory is right or not (Brand). Understanding what human actions could cause an eruption is essential in the process of preventing eruptions.

There are many processes that influence a natural volcanic eruption; studying those helps diminish the possible effects of a volcanic eruption. Volcanic gases exit the volcano during the pressure drop, creating “bubbles that fragment the magma into ash and tephra” - this process is called “‘lithostatic pressure,’” or pressure that the magma receives from all the rocks above it. It takes ten kilometers (~six miles) of atmosphere to make one “atmosphere of pressure,” the level of pressure felt at sea level. 4.4 meters of rock create that same level of pressure. If the right ratio between water and magma exists, an eruption can become self-sustainable, which means that the eruption will continue to go on until the magma or water level runs out. Too little water does not give enough to the mixture, and too much water will “quench” too much magma at once (Klemetti).

Explosive volcanic eruptions are caused by “bubbles,” which are created by first removing the pressure contained in the magma, creating a way for the magma ‘solution’ to allow its gases to be released. Minerals will then be crystallized so that the volatiles and water in that area are concentrated into the magma. This imposition leads to an increase in the magma’s temperature Pressure release can then be caused by some situations such as the collapsing of the rock roof onto the magma, possibly by a volcanic landslide, a buoyant rise of magma, or melting of a glacier (which could be too slow to cause an eruption). It could also be excessive precipitation, sudden changes to the atmospheric pressure on the volcano, or “Earth tides,” which are caused by the collective pull between the sun and moon (a rare event). An increase in the number of small earthquakes or volcanic gases in the volcano’s area, or an incident that leads to the volcano becoming deformed can cause it to erupt quickly. Finding a way to let out the lithostatic pressure without letting magma out so that bubbles can appear works too. Getting the right amount of water into the volcano also works. Time can play a factor, between what triggers an eruption and the actual eruption itself: it can take seconds, as seen with Mt. St. Helens in 1980, or it could take months/years, as seen with some volcanoes in Chile after earthquakes (Klemetti). Volcanic eruptions are fickle things that can be caused by a variety of situations. Knowing how those situations work is essential in order to prevent the mass destruction a volcano brings.

After understanding the dangers of a supervolcano, it is essential to consider the possible ways to prevent an eruption. That is where the concept of a magma-driven power plant comes in. The plant would drill into a magma chamber, and make the magma flow into human-made chambers. From there, water would be poured onto the magma, cooling it and creating steam. That steam would be used to generate energy with a steam turbine. After the excess energy is taken from that steam, it would be condensed back into clean, drinkable water. The idea is that by draining the magma of a supervolcano, it would have nothing to erupt, stopping its effects.

To take advantage of the power of steam, a steam turbine is needed. Steam has far more energy than normal water vapor due to the ‘latent heat of vaporization’ - the extra energy needed in order to create enough space between the individual water molecules to allow the boiling liquid transition states of matter into a gas. Steam itself does not provide energy; it transports energy that can convert matter into energy, making it usable as a power source. That is why steam loses energy when it moves through different parts of the turbine: steam is letting the energy out. Steam turbines work similarly to wind turbines; they have blades, and the steam pushes it, creating energy. A steam turbine has many parts, each with different roles in taking advantage of the steam’s energy. The rotor is responsible for taking the power gained from the steam and sending it to a generator. The blades catch the steam and generate electricity through their movement after being pushed by the steam. The turbines, which have 2 models. The impulse turbine has bucket-like blades that rotate. The reaction turbine, on the other hand, has 2 sets of blades: the main set, and a second, stationery set, which is “attached to the inside of the turbine case.”The steam inlet directs the steam onto whatever type of blades are being used. Finally, the valves regulate the amount of steam that enters the turbine (Woodford).

Turbines generally have multiple sets of blades to catch the most steam possible, which helps waste less energy. ‘Stages’ is the term for the separate sets of blades. A turbine will generally have both impulse and reaction stages to take advantage of the positive parts of each. Two forms of turbines use different methods to cool the residue steam: condensing turbines and non-condensing turbines. Condensing turbines turn some steam to water using cooling towers (which are made of concrete) and condensers; this allows the steam to expand, which helps the extraction of energy and makes the whole process more efficient. Cold water is necessary to condense the steam, so steam turbines are typically built near large bodies of water. Non-condensing turbines use less cooling than condensing turbines; instead, they use the rest of the heat to make hot water by using “combined heat and power (CHP or cogeneration).” Steam, when pushing the turbine’s blades, loses at least as much energy as the amount of energy that is gained by the blades it pushes (Woodford). After all the energy possible has been taken from the steam, it is condensed to water using formulas that push the steam to reach the ‘thermal equilibrium’ point (“Steam”). Clean energy has such amazing capabilities; they just need to be taken advantage of. Clean energy is moving at an impressive rate, even without adding the advantages of magma-powered energy. Factoring it together could have incredible results.

Renewable energy possibilities need to be capitalized, especially with all the currently existing problems of costs for rapidly-depleting resources as well as climate change. Attempting to drain a volcano of its magma provides the perfect opportunity: the possibility of preventing an eruption coupled with a way to stop climate change. Non-renewable energy is a wasteful, damaging, and resource-consuming concept. Currently, the world suffers over 4 million deaths caused by air pollution per year. Renewable energy has the calculated ability to “prevent 4.6 million premature deaths a year by 2050,” create 24.3 million jobs, and prevent more than $50 trillion costs a year in climate issues. 17% to 20% of the energy stored in gasoline is used as propulsion; the rest of that energy is let out as waste heat. Electric cars, on the other hand, use 80% - 86% of the stored electricity, with the rest being let out as waste heat, creating a dramatically smaller amount of energy being wasted. Today, 12.6% of energy worldwide is used for “mining, refining, and transporting fossil fuels (and uranium for nuclear power).” There is also a separate 23% possible energy demand reduction in using renewable energy. Taking advantage of both energy reductions (using renewable energy and removing the need for energy to be put towards work for non-renewable sources) would allow for a 36% reduction in energy demand! The amount of renewable energy needed for sustaining the world would take “‘1.15% to 1.2% of the world’s land’” - for comparison, 20% of the world’s land is used for agriculture, and 1-2% of the U.S.’s land is taken up by “1.7 million active oil and gas wells and 2.3 million inactive wells,” without “counting the refineries, the pipelines, or coal and nuclear infrastructure.” Moreover, for the 139 countries that are responsible for 99% of the world’s carbon emissions, 80% renewable energy in 2030, and 100% renewable energy in 2050 seems entirely possible. To end, Earth would be able to go 100% energy renewable by 2050 (Pierre-Louis). Furthermore, all of this is before factoring in the possibilities with volcanic energy. Geothermal energy is a virtually untapped source of energy: not only is the process to take advantage of the heated groundwater relatively easy, but volcanoes are common enough for it to be in use everywhere. Geothermal energy from the mountainous areas of the West Coast alone could power the whole west coast of the United States (Brand).

Throughout my research process on the possible ways to take advantage of volcanoes as an active, clean, and renewable energy source, I was able to learn a great deal about the different components of volcanoes, steam turbines, and green energy’s role in the world. With the new knowledge that I had gained, I was able to realize that my original plan would not work out in the end: to use the magma itself from the volcano as an energy source. Instead, through my interview, I was taught about the wonders of groundwater; it still contains heat, like magma, but is less rooted in the ground, allowing drilling to be more productive. Using groundwater also helps prevent eruptions, because the release of pressure from drilling can cause a volcano to erupt. Similar processes can still be used with groundwater, as it tends to be in a steam state when trapped underground, which allows it to power steam turbines as well. In my project, I would adjust my plans by substituting magma for groundwater, and I will take the steam turbine machinery techniques that I used to design a power plant that runs on the steam power of the groundwater. It would be revolutionary to be able to use geothermal energy to power the world, with how volcanoes are a characteristic landform throughout the world. A new form of green energy would continue to help the world, through the lowering of prices of energy as well as the reduction of climate change. At the end of my project, I hope to be able to achieve a power plant that can run on renewable, green energy for the betterment of humanity and the environment.

Works Cited

Brand, Brittany. Personal Interview. 21 April 2020.

Klemetti, Erin. “How to Trigger a Volcanic Eruption on Purpose.” Wired, Condé Nast, 4 Apr. 2012. https://www.wired.com/2012/04/could-people-trigger-a-volcanic-eruption-on-purpose/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.

National Geographic Society. “Magma.” National Geographic, edited by unknown, First Edition, 5 Apr. 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/magma/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.

Pierre-Louis, Kendra. “Almost Every Country in the World Can Power Itself With Renewable Energy.” Popular Science, Bonnier Corporation, 24 Aug. 2017, https://www.popsci.com/the-world-can-power-itself-with-renewable-energy/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.

“Steam Condensing.” The University of Sydney. www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~helenj/Thermal/Problems/L3-steam-condensing.pdf. Accessed 6 April 2020.

“Supervolcanoes 101 | National Geographic.” Youtube, National Geographic, 6 August 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAlawvE8lVw. Accessed 1 March 2020.

Wei-Haas, Maya. “What Are Supervolcanoes, And Are They Dangerous?” Supervolcano Facts and Information, National Geographic, 21 March 2019. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/reference/supervolcano-yellowstone/. Accessed 9 March 2020.

“What is a Supervolcano? What is a Supereruption?” USGS.gov | Science for a Changing World, 2019. www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-supervolcano-what-a-supereruption?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products. Accessed 5 April 2020.

Woodford, Chris. “How Do Steam Turbines Work?” Explain That Stuff, 25 Nov. 2019, www.explainthatstuff.com/steam-turbines.html. Accessed 6 April 2020.