Abstract
Liquid nitrogen (LN2) fracturing, an effective method in stimulating reservoirs, contains freezing and thawing. In general, frozen rocks are air-thawed in past studies. Microwave fracturing not only enhances pore structures but also removes pore water. To investigate the influence of the thawing process, microwave irradiation is used to thaw the coal samples after LN2 freezing, and is compared with air-thawing. The magnetic resonance imaging (NMR) results illustrate that the increased rates of the seepage pores of the air-thawing samples decrease first from 13.01% (30 min) to 8.76% (120 min) and then gradually increase to 15.49% (270 min) after the freeze–thaw treatments, in which the microwave performs greater than air at the same freezing time. The results of the wave velocity of the samples are similar to that of NMR. The infrared thermal imaging (ITI) results indicate that after microwave thawing, the variance of the surface temperature slowly decreases to the minimum value of 373.9 (120 min) from 636.3 (30 min), and then peaks at 270 min (1243.0). The fractures of the air-thawed samples become more obvious with the increasing freezing time and are further developed after microwave thawing; the development of the fractures influences the distribution of the surface temperature. The SDR permeability variations perform a similar rule to that of the seepage pore. The results can be a possible reference in thawing the LN2 freezing coal by microwave.
Highlights
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The increase rates of seepage pores decrease first and then increase with the freezing time.
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The pore enhancement of microwave thawing is greater than that of air-thawing.
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The water content of the coal samples decreases after microwave thawing.
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The enhancement of seepage pores affects the surface temperature distribution for microwave thawing.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
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This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52364004, No. 52264006, , No. 52064006, and No. 52164001), the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Foundation (No. GCC[2022]005-1).
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Zhao, Y., Yang, Z., Wang, C. et al. Experimental Investigation on the Effects of Microwave Irradiation in Pore Structures of LN2 Freezing Coal for Coalbed Methane Extraction. Rock Mech Rock Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-024-03883-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-024-03883-w