Cryogenic Fracturing: Laboratory Visualization Experiments and Numerical Simulations Using Peridynamics

Abstract:

Typical hydraulic fracturing operations involve the use of a large quantity of water, which can be problematic for several reasons including possible formation (permeability) damage, disposal of waste water, and the use of precious local water resource. An alternate reservoir permeability enhancing technology not requiring water is cryogenic fracturing. This method induces controlled fracturing of rock formations by thermal shock and has potentially important applications in the geothermal and hydrocarbon industries. In this process, cryogenic fluid—such as liquid nitrogen—is injected into the subsurface, causing fracturing due to thermal gradients. These fractures may improve the formation permeability relative to that achievable by hydraulic fracturing alone.

We conducted combined laboratory visualization and numerical simulations studies of thermal-shock-induced fracture initiation and propagation resulting from liquid nitrogen injection in rock and analog materials. The experiment used transparent soda-lime glass cubes to facilitate real-time visualization of fracture growth and the fracture network geometry. In this contribution, we report the effect of overall temperature difference between cryogenic fluid and solid material on the produced fracture network, by pre-heating the glass cubes to several temperatures and injecting liquid nitrogen. Temperatures are monitored at several points by thermocouple and the fracture evolution is captured visually by camera. The experiment was modeled using a customized, thermoelastic, fracture-capable numerical simulation code based on peridynamics. The performance of the numerical code was validated by the results of the laboratory experiments, and then the code was used to study the different factors affecting a cryogenic fracturing operation, including the evolution of residual stresses and constitutive relationships for material failure.

In complex rock such as shale, understanding the process of cryogenic fracturing in the field is difficult, and the involved cost can be very high. The laboratory experiments and the numerical modeling can provide valuable information for understanding the fundamental processes involved with the fracturing operation.