An experimental study of ultra-high pressure water jet-induced fracture mechanisms and pore size evolution in reservoir rocks

Abstract

Ultra-high pressure water jets (UHP-WJ) rock breaking is a promising technology for developing unconventional natural gas reserves . In this study, rock-breaking experiments were conducted using typical reservoir rock samples such as sandstone , shale, and coal. The failure patterns in rocks after impact by UHP-WJ were analyzed. Moreover, the 3D damage field model of the rock was reconstructed based on CT scanning, and the internal crack distribution was visualized and examined. Furthermore, the fracture mechanisms of three types of reservoir rocks under the UHP-WJ impingement were studied. The results indicate that intergranular fractures produced due to shear stress are the dominant type of fracture in sandstones, tensile failure due to stress wave was the main type of fracture observed in shale, and coal exhibited the double breaking characteristics of stress wave effect and water wedge effect. The fragments size distribution of samples shows the largest fragments in shale, followed by coal, and the smallest fragments are observed in sandstone. Finally, the evolution of rock pore structure before and after the impact of UHP-WJ was monitored by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods. The results reveal that the micropores transform into mesopores and macropores in the sandstone, where the total porosity increased by 14.3%–24.8%. As the jet pressure exceeds 100 MPa, the porosity of shale increases significantly, such that the total porosity of the shale sample increased by 7.6%–37.1%. The mesopores transform into macropores and fractures with the influence of the water wedge effect in coal samples, resulting in the reduction of mesopores and the increase of macropores, where the total porosity of the coal sample increased by 14.6%–40%. The complexity and heterogeneity of pores were reduced under UHP-WJ with the increasing jet pressure. The findings provide a theoretical reference for optimizing the recovery from unconventional natural gas reservoirs .