Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing

To analyze the transformed effect of three-dimensional (3D) fracture in coal by CO2 phase transition fracturing (CO2 -PTF), the CO2 -PTF experiment under a fracturing pressure of 185 MPa was carried out. Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and fractal theory were used to analyze the 3D fracture s...

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Main Authors: Zhang, Zhen, Liu, Gaofeng, Lin, Jia, Barakos, George, Chang, Ping
Format: Journal Article
Published: MDPI 2024
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95028
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author Zhang, Zhen
Liu, Gaofeng
Lin, Jia
Barakos, George
Chang, Ping
author_facet Zhang, Zhen
Liu, Gaofeng
Lin, Jia
Barakos, George
Chang, Ping
author_sort Zhang, Zhen
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description To analyze the transformed effect of three-dimensional (3D) fracture in coal by CO2 phase transition fracturing (CO2 -PTF), the CO2 -PTF experiment under a fracturing pressure of 185 MPa was carried out. Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and fractal theory were used to analyze the 3D fracture structure parameters. The fractal evolution characteristics of the 3D fractures in coal induced by CO2 -PTF were analyzed. The results indicate that the CO2 phase transition fracturing coal has the fracture generation effect and fracture expansion-transformation effect, causing the maximum fracture length, fracture number, fracture volume and fracture surface area to be increased by 71.25%, 161.94%, 3970.88% and 1330.03%. The fractal dimension (DN) for fracture number increases from 2.3523 to 2.3668, and the fractal dimension (DV) for fracture volume increases from 2.8440 to 2.9040. The early dynamic high-pressure gas jet stage of CO2 -PTF coal influences the fracture generation effect and promotes the generation of 3D fractures with a length greater than 140 µm. The subsequent quasi-static high-pressure gas stage influences the fracture expansion-transformation effect, which promotes the expansion transformation of 3D fractures with a length of less than 140 µm. The 140 µm is the critical value for the fracture expansion-transformation effect and fracture generation effect. Five indicators are proposed to evaluate the 3D fracture evolution in coal caused by CO2 -PTF, which can provide theoretical and methodological references for the study of fracture evolution characteristics of other unconventional natural gas reservoirs and their reservoir stimulation.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-950282024-05-29T01:38:43Z Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing Zhang, Zhen Liu, Gaofeng Lin, Jia Barakos, George Chang, Ping To analyze the transformed effect of three-dimensional (3D) fracture in coal by CO2 phase transition fracturing (CO2 -PTF), the CO2 -PTF experiment under a fracturing pressure of 185 MPa was carried out. Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and fractal theory were used to analyze the 3D fracture structure parameters. The fractal evolution characteristics of the 3D fractures in coal induced by CO2 -PTF were analyzed. The results indicate that the CO2 phase transition fracturing coal has the fracture generation effect and fracture expansion-transformation effect, causing the maximum fracture length, fracture number, fracture volume and fracture surface area to be increased by 71.25%, 161.94%, 3970.88% and 1330.03%. The fractal dimension (DN) for fracture number increases from 2.3523 to 2.3668, and the fractal dimension (DV) for fracture volume increases from 2.8440 to 2.9040. The early dynamic high-pressure gas jet stage of CO2 -PTF coal influences the fracture generation effect and promotes the generation of 3D fractures with a length greater than 140 µm. The subsequent quasi-static high-pressure gas stage influences the fracture expansion-transformation effect, which promotes the expansion transformation of 3D fractures with a length of less than 140 µm. The 140 µm is the critical value for the fracture expansion-transformation effect and fracture generation effect. Five indicators are proposed to evaluate the 3D fracture evolution in coal caused by CO2 -PTF, which can provide theoretical and methodological references for the study of fracture evolution characteristics of other unconventional natural gas reservoirs and their reservoir stimulation. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95028 10.3390/fractalfract8050273 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI fulltext
spellingShingle Zhang, Zhen
Liu, Gaofeng
Lin, Jia
Barakos, George
Chang, Ping
Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing
title Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing
title_full Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing
title_fullStr Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing
title_full_unstemmed Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing
title_short Fractal Evolution Characteristics on the Three-Dimensional Fractures in Coal Induced by CO2 Phase Transition Fracturing
title_sort fractal evolution characteristics on the three-dimensional fractures in coal induced by co2 phase transition fracturing
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95028