SpringerLink
Log in

The Characteristics and Laws of Fracture Damage in the Long-Term Production Process of High-Temperature Geothermal Resources

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Geothermal energy is an important renewable energy source, among which hot dry rocks (HDRs) are abundant and potential. The HDRs mass is dense, so the fractures become the only flow and heat transfer channel for fluids. It is of great engineering significance to reveal the fractures damage characteristics and laws in the long-term production process. Therefore, we carried out the real triaxial injection experiments and the water impact fracture experiments. The fracture damage characteristics and laws were analyzed by computed tomography scanning, sonic wave testing, scanning electron microscopy, and morphological scanning. To analyze the stress distribution and potential damage area, we established a thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling model based on experiments. The results obtained are as follows: the fracture morphology and volume increase significantly with the increase of temperature and stress difference, and the temperature effect is more obvious. The weak cementation in the original fracture is destroyed, accompanied by the germination of microcracks and the expansion of fractures along the tip. The maximum increase of fracture length and aperture can increase about 50 mm and 0.2 mm, and the maximum increase of fracture volume can reach 100 times. The variation of coarse-grained granite is more pronounced than that of fine-grained granite. More, there are intergranular fractures and transgranular fractures in fracture expansion. The simulation results strongly confirmed the experimental results. The fractures are the main potential damage areas, mainly shear damage in the early stage and tension damage in the later stage. The research results are expected to guide optimizing the scheme and enhancing the heat extraction.

Highlights

  • Cold water injection experiments into high-temperature granite fractures under real triaxial conditions are carried out and analyzed.

  • The morphological changes of the fracture surface before and after the water impact are compared using morphological scanning.

  • The changes of effective stress, Von Mises stress and Tresca stress of rocks are analyzed by using thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling model.

  • Different damage methods and spalling methods of granite fractures are analyzed with experiments and numerical simulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19
Fig. 20
Fig. 21
Fig. 22
Fig. 23
Fig. 24
Fig. 25
Fig. 26

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

\(A_{1}\) :

Heat transfer areas of fluid and rock matrix (m2)

\(A_{2}\) :

Heat transfer areas of fluid and fracture matrix (m2)

\(C_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Fluid compression coefficient (1/Pa)

\(c_{{\text{p,f}}}\) :

Isobaric heat capacity of the working fluid [J/(kg °C)]

\(c_{{\text{p,s}}}\) :

Isobaric heat capacity of the rock matrix [J/(kg °C)]

\(E\) :

Young’s modulus (Pa)

\(F_{i}\) :

Volumetric force component (N/m3)

\(g\) :

Gravitational acceleration vector (m/s2)

\(h_{f1}\) :

Convective heat transfer coefficients of fluid and rock matrix [W/(m2 °C)]

\(h_{f2}\) :

Convective heat transfer coefficients of fluid and fracture matrix [W/(m2 °C)]

\(k_{{\text{F}}}\) :

Fracture permeability (m2)

\(K_{{\text{S}}}\) :

Volume modulus of the rock skeleton material (Pa)

\(p\) :

Pore pressure (Pa)

\(Q_{{\text{sm, fF}}}\) :

Heat transfer from rock matrix to fracture fluid (W/m3)

\(Q_{{\text{sm, sF}}}\) :

Heat transfer from the rock matrix to the fractured matrix (W/m3)

\(Q_{{\text{sF, fF}}}\) :

Heat transfer from the fractured matrix to the fracture fluid (W/m3)

\(S\) :

Comprehensive water storage coefficient (1/Pa)

\(t\) :

Time (s)

\(T_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Fluid temperature (°C)

\(T_{{{\text{sm}}}}\) :

Rock matrix temperature (°C)

\(T_{{{\text{sF}}}}\) :

Fracture matrix temperature (°C)

\(T_{0}\) :

The initial temperature of the rock (°C)

\(u\) :

The velocity of the fluid (m/s)

\(\upsilon_{i}\) :

Displacement component (m)

\(\mu_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Fluid dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

\(\sigma_{{\text{e}}}\) :

Rock effective stress (Pa)

\(\sigma_{ij}\) :

Stress component (Pa)

\(\sigma_{{{\text{tre}}}}\) :

Tresca stress (Pa)

\(\sigma_{{{\text{von}}}}\) :

Von Mises stress (Pa)

\(\sigma_{1}\) :

The first principal stresses (Pa)

\(\sigma_{2}\) :

The second principal stresses (Pa)

\(\sigma_{3}\) :

The third principal stresses (Pa)

\(\nu\) :

Poisson’s ratio

\(\delta_{ij}\) :

Cronek symbol

\(\varphi_{{\text{F}}}\) :

Fracture porosity

\(\lambda_{{{\text{eff}}}}\) :

Equivalent thermal conductivity of fractures [W/(m °C)]

\(\lambda_{{\text{s}}}\) :

Rock matrix thermal conductivity [W/(m °C)]

\(\left( {\rho c_{{\text{p}}} } \right)_{{{\text{eff}}}}\) :

Fracture equivalent volume heat capacity [J/(m3 °C)]

\(\rho_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Fluid density (kg/m3)

\(\rho_{{\text{s}}}\) :

Rock matrix density (kg/m3)

\(\varepsilon_{ij}\) :

Strain component

\(\alpha_{{\text{B}}}\) :

Biot–Willis coefficient

\(\alpha_{{\text{T}}}\) :

The thermal expansion coefficient of rocks (1/°C)

References

  • AbuAisha M, Loret B (2016) Influence of hydraulic fracturing on impedance and efficiency of thermal recovery from HDR reservoirs. Geomech Energy Environ 7:10–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai B (2005) One-dimensional thermal consolidation characteristics of geotechnical media under non-isothermal condition. Eng Mech 22(5):186–191 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao W, Huang W, Jiang F (2016) A novel thermal–hydraulic–mechanical model for the enhanced geothermal system heat extraction. Int J Heat Mass Trans 100:661–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Ma GW, Wang HD et al (2019) Application of carbon dioxide as working fluid in geothermal development considering a complex fractured system. Energy Convers Manag 180:1055–1067

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Zhou H, Zeng ZQ et al (2020) Macro- and microstructural characteristics of the tension-shear and compression-shear fracture of granite. Rock Mech Rock Eng 53:201–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng ZJ, Zhao YS, Zhang Y, Wan ZJ (2018) Real-time permeability evolution of thermally cracked granite at triaxial stresses. Appl Therm Eng 133:194–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng ZJ, Zhao YS, Liu DN (2021) Permeability evolution of thermally cracked granite with different grain sizes. Rock Mech Rock Eng 54(4):1953–1967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ge ZL, Sun Q, Yang T et al (2021) Effect of high temperature on mode-I fracture toughness of granite subjected to liquid nitrogen cooling. Eng Fract Mech 252:107834

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghassemi A, Tao Q (2016) Thermo-poroelastic effects on reservoir seismicity and permeability change. Geothermics 63:210–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong FC, Guo TK, Sun W et al (2020) Evaluation of geothermal energy extraction in Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) with multiple fracturing horizontal wells (MFHW). Renew Energy 151:1339–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ** P, Hu Y, Shao J et al (2019) Influence of different thermal cycling treatments on the physical, mechanical and transport properties of granite. Geothermics 78:118–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang FC, Jia TR, Li YC et al (2021) Experimental study on the physical and mechanical variations of hot granite under different cooling treatments. Renew Energy 179:1316–1328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim K, Kemeny J, Nickerson M (2014) Effect of rapid thermal cooling on mechanical rock properties. Rock Mech Rock Eng 47(6):2005–2019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumari WGP, Ranjith PG, Perera MSA et al (2018) Experimental investigation of quenching effect on mechanical, microstructural and flow characteristics of reservoir rocks: thermal stimulation method for geothermal energy extraction. J Petrol Sci Eng 162:419–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lei QH, Doonechaly NG, Tsang CF (2021) Modelling fluid injection-induced fracture activation, damage growth, seismicity occurrence and connectivity change in naturally fractured rocks. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 138:104598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Q, Li XB, Yin TB (2021) Factors affecting pore structure of granite under cyclic heating and cooling: a nuclear magnetic resonance investigation. Geothermics 96:102198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim SS, Martin CD, Åkesson U (2012) In-situ stress and microcracking in granite cores with depth. Eng Geol 147–148:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu S, Xu JY (2015) An experimental study on the physico-mechanical properties of two post-high-temperature rocks. Eng Geol 185:63–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu H, Zhang K, Shao SS et al (2020) Numerical investigation on the cooling-related mechanical properties of heated Australian Strathbogie granite using Discrete Element Method. Eng Geol 264:105371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu G, Zhou C, Rao Z et al (2021) Impacts of fracture network geometries on numerical simulation and performance prediction of enhanced geothermal systems. Renew Energy 171:492–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lund JW, Boyd TL (2016) Direct utilization of geothermal energy 2015 worldwide review. Geothermics 60:66–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salimzadeh S, Paluszny A, Nick HM et al (2018) A three-dimensional coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical model for deformable fractured geothermal systems. Geothermics 71:212–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shao SS, Wasantha PLP, Ranjith PG, Chen B (2014) Effect of cooling rate on the mechanical behavior of heated Strathbogie granite with different grain sizes. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 70:381–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Y, Song XZ, Wang GS et al (2019a) Study on wellbore fluid flow and heat transfer of a multilateral-well CO2 enhanced geothermal system. Appl Energy 249:14–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Y, Song XZ, Li J et al (2019b) Numerical investigation on heat extraction performance of a multilateral-well enhanced geothermal system with a discrete fracture network. Fuel 244:207–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Y, Song XZ, Li JC et al (2019c) Analysis for effects of complex fracture network geometries on heat extraction efficiency of a multilateral-well enhanced geothermal system. Appl Therm Eng 159:113828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Su D, Wang ZL, **ng F (2009) A two-parameter expression for failure surfaces. Comput Geotech 36:517–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun ZX, Zhang X, Xu Y et al (2017) Numerical simulation of the heat extraction in EGS with thermal-hydraulic-mechanical coupling method based on discrete fractures model. Energy 120:20–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Q, Zhang WQ, Zhu YM et al (2019) Effect of high temperatures on the thermal properties of granite. Rock Mech Rock Eng 52:2691–2699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun ZX, Jiang CY, Wang XG et al (2020) Joint influence of in-situ stress and fracture network geometry on heat transfer in fractured geothermal reservoirs. Int J Heat Mass Trans 149:119216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallier B, Magnenet V, Schmittbuhl J et al (2019) Large scale hydro-thermal circulation in the deep geothermal reservoir of Soultz-sous-Forêts (France). Geothermics 78:154–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidal J, Genter A (2018) Overview of naturally permeable fractured reservoirs in the central and southern upper Rhine Graben: insights from geothermal wells. Geothermics 74:57–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villarraga CJ, Gasc-Barbier M, Vaunat J, Darrozes J (2018) The effect of thermal cycles on limestone mechanical degradation. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 109:115–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang TY, Tian SC, Li GS et al (2021) Molecular simulation of gas adsorption in shale nanopores: a critical review. Renew Sust Energy Rev 149:111391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang GS, Song XZ, Yu C et al (2022) Heat extraction study of a novel hydrothermal open-loop geothermal system in a multi-lateral horizontal well. Energy 242:122527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • **e JX, Wang JS (2022) Performance optimization of pinnate horizontal well in geothermal energy utilization with orthogonal test. Appl Therm Eng 209:118321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang FJ, Wang GL, Hu DW et al (2021a) Calibrations of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling parameters for heating and water-cooling treated granite. Renew Energy 168:544–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang R, Hong C, Liu W et al (2021b) Non-contaminating cryogenic fluid access to high-temperature resources: liquid nitrogen fracturing in a lab-scale enhanced geothermal system. Renew Energy 165:125–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng YC, Su Z, Wu NY (2013) Numerical simulation of heat production potential from hot dry rock by water circulating through two horizontal wells at Desert Peak geothermal field. Energy 56:92–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang WQ, Sun Q, Hao SQ et al (2016) Experimental study on the variation of physical and mechanical properties of rock after high temperature treatment. Appl Therm Eng 98:1297–1304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang F, Zhao J, Hu D et al (2018a) Laboratory investigation on physical and mechanical properties of granite after heating and water-cooling treatment. Rock Mech Rock Eng 51:677–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SK, Huang ZW, Wang HZ et al (2018b) Thermal characteristics analysis with local thermal non-equilibrium model during liquid nitrogen jet fracturing for HDR reservoirs. Appl Therm Eng 143:482–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang B, Tian H, Dou B et al (2019a) Macroscopic and microscopic experimental research on granite properties after high-temperature and water-cooling cycles. Geothermics 93:102079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Guo TK, Qu ZQ et al (2019b) Research of fracture initiation and propagation in HDR fracturing under thermal stress from meso-damage perspective. Energy 178:508–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Feng Z, Feng Z et al (2015) Thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled mathematical model of fractured media and numerical simulation of a 3D enhanced geothermal system at 573 K and buried depth 6000–7000 M. Energy 82:193–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu ZN, Kempka T, Ranjith PG et al (2021) Changes in thermomechanical properties due to air and water cooling of hot dry granite rocks under unconfined compression. Renew Energy 170:562–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52104034), the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52192624), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB1501804), the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Bei**g (Grant No. PRP/open-2110).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Bei**g), Bei**g, 102249, China

    Fuqiang Xu, **anzhi Song, Gensheng Li, Zihao Song & Shuang Li

  2. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China

    Yu Shi

  3. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum (Bei**g), Bei**g, 102249, China

    **anzhi Song & Gensheng Li

Authors
  1. Fuqiang Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yu Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. **anzhi Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gensheng Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zihao Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shuang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

FX: Methodology, Experiment, Validation, Writing-original draft, Data curation. YS: Investigation, Writing-review and editing, Data curation, Formal analysis. XS: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing-original draft, Writing-review. GL: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing-review. ZS: Writing-review and editing, Experiment. SL: Writing-original draft, Experiment.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yu Shi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xu, F., Shi, Y., Song, X. et al. The Characteristics and Laws of Fracture Damage in the Long-Term Production Process of High-Temperature Geothermal Resources. Rock Mech Rock Eng 56, 275–299 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-03098-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-03098-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation