Abstract
This study introduces “biogeomechanics”, an emerging field of geotechnics, as a resourceful approach in assessing the impact of biological processes on the mechanical properties and behavior of geomaterials. Here, we investigated the localized and bulk mechanical properties and behavior due to interaction between microbes and ultra-low permeability reservoirs, using 2 types (containing artificially-induced and/or pre-existing natural fractures) of shale rock specimens; and 2 distinct microbial strains. We treated and cultivated the core specimens with the bacteria strains at distinct temperature, time, and growth conditions. Subsequently, we measured the near-term and long-term mechanical properties of the shale rock specimens impacted by the two distinct microbes. Our results indicated that over time, microbial actions on Eagle Ford and Marcellus shale rocks can: (1.) Enhance the localized (+ 10% unconfined compressive strength, − 18% Poisson’s ratio, + 25% scratch toughness) and bulk (+ 43% unconfined compressive strength, − 13% Poisson’s ratio) mechanical integrity; or (2.) Weaken the localized (− 20% unconfined compressive strength, + 25% Poisson’s ratio, -13% scratch toughness) mechanical integrity. Our findings in this study provide a novel insight into the temporal localized and bulk mechanical responses of ultra-low permeability formations with high heterogeneity, impacted by biological processes.
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Abbreviations
- UCS :
-
Unconfined compressive strength
- \(Sd\) :
-
Axial deviator stress
- \(\varepsilon_{{\text{a}}}\) :
-
Axial strain
- \(\varepsilon_{r}\) :
-
Radial strain
- \(K_{{\text{s}}}\) :
-
Scratch toughness
- \(\nu\) :
-
Poisson’s ratio
- \(p\) :
-
Fracture surface perimeter
- \(A_{c}\) :
-
Contact area due to horizontal force in the scratch direction
- \(d\) :
-
Cutter penetration depth
- \(F_{{\text{T}}}\) :
-
Horizontal force applied
- \(F_{{\text{V}}}\) :
-
Vertical force applied
- \(\theta\) :
-
Back-rake angle
- \(w\) :
-
Width of the cutter
- \(\mu\) :
-
Coefficient of friction on the wear flat/rock interface
- \(\zeta\) :
-
Ratio of vertical to horizontal force action on the cutter face
- \(\varepsilon\) :
-
Intrinsic specific energy
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Acknowledgements
The microbial culturing and core cultivation experiments were performed at the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University. The X-Ray Diffraction analyses were performed at the Clay Mineralogy Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) presented in this study was performed at the College of Arts & Sciences Microscopy (CASM), Texas Tech University. No external funding was provided for this study. We also want to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that helped us to improve the quality of our manuscript.
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OK: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing. II: supervision, resources, validation. MK: methodology, investigation. JW: resources. BZ: investigation.
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Kolawole, O., Ispas, I., Kumar, M. et al. Time-Lapse Biogeomechanical Modified Properties of Ultra-Low Permeability Reservoirs. Rock Mech Rock Eng 54, 2615–2641 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02410-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02410-5