Abstract
Rock thermophysical properties are the basic parameters that constrain the temperature field, thermal evolution, and thermal regime of the lithosphere. The petrofabric is the internal factor that most directly affects the thermal conductivities of rocks. In this study, we used the finite-element method to simulate the influence of major petrofabric characteristics such as pore size, fracture angle, and composition arrangement on the thermal conductivity. The results show that at the 1 % porosity there is no obvious relationship between pore size and thermal conductivity. However, the contact thermal resistance between grains is different in rocks with different pore sizes or grain sizes. Further, the angle between a fracture and the direction of heat flow has an obvious effect on the thermal conductivity of a rock, and the thermal conductivity decreases as this angle increases. It is thus necessary to pay attention to this angular relationship when modelling the effective thermal conductivity of rock with cracks developed. In addition, the arrangement of components in rocks affects both the thermal conductivity and the response of the thermal conductivity to temperature. We expect the present results to be helpful in understanding quantitatively the influence of these factors on the thermal conductivity of rock and to provide a valuable reference for experimental studies of rock thermal conductivity and strata thermal conductivity modelling.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The source codes are available for downloading at the following link: https://github.com/zhaoweiliu/-Stochastic-geometric-modelling/. Program language: JAVA. Software required COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0 and advanced versions. Program size: 7.13 KB.
Abbreviations
- T :
-
Temperature
- k :
-
Thermal conductivity
- q :
-
Heat flow
References
Z.F. Duan, Z.H. Pang, F.T. Yang, Coal Sci. Technol. 41, 15–17 (2013). https://doi.org/10.13199/j.cnki.cst.2013.08.008
Y.L. Zhang, T. Li, R.T. Mou, C.Z. Wang, F.C. Yuan, J. Qingdao Technol. Univ. 36, 1–6 (2015)
L. Xiao, C.K. Yang, Z.H. Hu, X.Z. Li, M. Li, Rock Soil Mech. 31, 86–91 (2010). https://doi.org/10.16285/j.rsm.2010.s2.006
S.S. Guo, C.Q. Zhu, N.S. Qiu, B.N. Tang, Y. Cui, J.T. Zhang, Y.H. Zhao, Energies 12, 3884 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/en12203884
G.L. Wang, J. Gao, B.J. Zhang, Y.F. Xing, W. Zhang, F. Ma, Acta Geol. Sin. 94, 1970–1980 (2020). https://doi.org/10.19762/j.cnki.dizhixuebao.2020235
X.G. Zhao, J. Wang, F. Chen, P.F. Li, L.K. Ma, J.L. Xie, Y.M. Liu, Tectonophysics 683, 124–137 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.021
Z. Abdulagatova, I.M. Abdulagatov, V.N. Emirov, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 46, 1055–1071 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2009.04.011
S.F. Wang, T. Wu, J. Eng. Thermophys. 37(12), 2626–2630 (2016)
H. Liu, S. Ban, K. Bédard, B. Giroux, Adv. Geo Energy Res. 6, 206–220 (2022). https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2022.03.04
K. Midttomme, E. Roaldset, Petrol. Geosci. 4, 165–172 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo.4.2.165
X.Q. Du, Fundamentals of Numerical Simulation of Groundwater Flow (China Water Power Press, Beijing, 2014)
C.J. Sun, Z.B. Han, Z. Zhen, Y. Fan, Environ. Eng. (2013). https://doi.org/10.7617/j.issn.1000-8942.2013.05.003
L. Gong, 2-D Finite Element Numerical Simulation of Geothermal Field (Central South University, Changsha, 2014)
J.C. Wu, X.K. Zeng, X.B. Zhu, Fundamentals of Numerical Simulation of Groundwater (China Water Power Press, Beijing, 2017)
C. Chen, C.Q. Zhu, B.N. Tang, T.G. Chen, Prog. Geophys. 35, 2047–2057 (2020). https://doi.org/10.6038/pg2020EE0013
R.W. Zimmerman, J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 3, 219–227 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1016/0920-4105(89)90019-3
Y. Popov, V. Tertychnyi, R. Romushkevich, D. Korobkov, J. Pohl, Pure Appl. Geophys. 160, 1137–1161 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00012565
U. Seipold, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 69, 299–303 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9201(92)90149-P
I.H. Tavman, Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 23, 169–176 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1016/0735-1933(96)00003-6
M. Luo, J.R. Wood, L.M. Cathles, J. Appl. Geophys. 32, 321–334 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1016/0926-9851(94)90031-0
C.M. Griffiths, N.R. Brereton, R. Beausillon, D. Castillo, Publications 65, 299–315 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1992.065.01.23
F.W. Jones, F. Pascal, Geophysics 60, 1038–1050 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1443832
F. Pascal, F.W. Jones, Geophys. J. Int. 118, 623–635 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1994.tb03989.x
A.E. Ramazanova, Bull. Russ. Acad. Sci. Phys. 76, 125–127 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1062873812010248
W.J. Cho, S. Kwon, J.W. Eng, Geology 107, 167–171 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2009.05.012
I.M. Abdulagatov, Z.Z. Abdulagatova, S.N. Kallaev, A.G. Bakmaev, P.G. Ranjith, Int. J. Thermophys. 36, 658–691 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-014-1829-4
M. Koru, K. Büyükkaya, Int. J. Thermophys. 43, 155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-022-03079-w
Acknowledgements
We would like to show our appreciation to Dr. Xiaoning Shen and Ms. Zhengju Zhang from COMSOL Co. Ltd. for their guidance on the software operation.
Funding
The National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFA0716003) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42172334).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CZ: the primary finisher of this paper; CC: coding and COMSOL simulation; XJ: completed part of the data processing work.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhu, C., Chen, C. & Jiang, X. Numerical Simulation of Internal Factors that Influence the Thermal Conductivity of Rock. Int J Thermophys 44, 24 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-022-03132-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-022-03132-8