Influence of subsurface temperature on cryogenic fracturing efficacy of granite rocks from Kazakhstan

Abstract

Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is a new stimulation technology suitable for geothermal energy extraction that increases porosity, permeability, and overall contact area in candidate subsurface formations. It is considered appropriate for hot dry rock (HDR) reservoirs. Due to the significant temperature difference between hot rock and cryogenic fluid, extensive thermally induced cracking is anticipated upon contact, which is helpful in future water-steam cycling operations. To examine the degree of rock integrity failure in granite samples as a function of exposure mode, different procedures were followed for comparison. In particular, three commercial granite samples from three regions of Kazakhstan: Kapal-Arasan, Zhylgyz, and Zheltau, were heated to various elevated temperatures prior to immersion in LN2 with variations in freezing time (FT) and numbers of freezing-thawing cycles (FTC). Samples were examined by various methods to quantify the impact of the cryogenic fracturing process. Compression, acoustic emission (AE), and permeability tests were performed on granite with different starting temperatures ranging from 200 °C to 500 °C. Permeability enhancement was generally in the range of 50-90 %. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used to document the microscopic characteristics of thermally-induced cracks and indicated most induced fractures to be microscale features. Results showed reductions in Unconfined Compressive Strength of LN2-treated samples by up to 76 %. The experimental outcomes demonstrate that LN2 cooling of hot granite induces mechanical rock failure and permeability augmentation. Furthermore, the degree of thermo-fracturing increases with temperature difference and time of LN2 treatment in both freezing time and freezing-thawing cycle methods. This is the first systematic study of its kind to test three commercially available granites from Kazakhstan with this combination of examination tools to assess alternate cryo-fracturing methods for geothermal energy prospecting and contact area enhancement.