Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Damage and Failure of Hot Dry Rock under Cyclic Liquid Nitrogen Cold Shock Treatment: A Non-destructive Ultrasonic Test Method

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Natural Resources Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Liquid nitrogen is proposed as a new fracturing fluid to develop enhanced geothermal systems based on the thermal stimulation method. The large temperature difference between cryogenic liquid nitrogen and hot dry rock reservoirs induces high thermal stress, which quenches the reservoir and improves the heat transfer efficiency. Ultrasonic detection is a common non-destructive method for evaluating rock damage, but current analysis procedures mainly focus on wave velocities. This paper thus proposes a comprehensive ultrasonic characterization method. Granite cores were treated by cyclic heating at temperatures of 200–600 °C for 0–5 liquid nitrogen cooling cycles. The damage process was evaluated quantitatively by testing and analyzing the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the rock samples, and the effects of heating temperature and cold-shock times were compared. The results indicated that the velocity, amplitude, and dominant frequency of ultrasonic waves all attenuated with increasing rock damage, among which the velocity attenuated the most strongly, with maximum decrease of 85.01%. In the time domain, pores and fractures distorted the ultrasonic waveform and partially or completely reduced the amplitude. In the frequency domain, the dominant frequency shifted toward lower frequency and the intensity decreased. The fractured cores reduced the proportion of high-frequency energy and increased the proportion of low-frequency energy. The dynamic mechanical properties (elastic modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson’s ratio) were calculated, among which the bulk modulus was the most sensitive to rock damage, with maximum reduction of 15.86 GPa. The calculated damage variables showed an initially rapid and then slower increasing trend with cooling time and a linear increase with heating temperature. The damage variable values after five cold shocks ranged from 0.44 to 0.96. The cores generally experienced stages of micro-fracturing, single fracturing, and fracture networking, and both the heating temperature and liquid nitrogen cold-shock times had a significant effect on the extent of rock damage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altawati, F., & Emadi, H. (2021). Effects of cyclic cryogenic treatment on rock physical and mechanical properties of Eagle Ford shale samples: An experimental study. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 88, 103772.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaki, S., Takarli, M., & Agbodjan, W. P. (2008). Influence of thermal damage on physical properties of a granite rock: Porosity, permeability and ultrasonic wave evolutions. Construction and Building Materials, 22(7), 1456–1461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Changwen, L., Chunhao, Y., Yinhai, Z., Xuehong, H., & Yi, S. (1999). Effects of center frequency shift on acoustic spectrum of rock and its application. Well Logging Technology, 23, 253–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collin, M., & Rowcliffe, D. (2002). The morphology of thermal cracks in brittle materials. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 22(4), 435–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daubenchies, I. J. C. P. A. M. (1988). Orthonormal bases of compactly supported wavelets. Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics, 41, 906–966.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehghani, B., Amirkiyaei, V., Ebrahimi, R., Ahmadi, H., Mohammadzamani, D., & Zavareh, S. B. (2020). Thermal loading effect on P-wave form and power spectral density in crystalline and non-crystalline rocks. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 13(16), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elders, W. A. & Moore, J. N. (2016). Geology of geothermal resources. Geothermal Power Generation, 7–32.

  • Ge, Z., Sun, Q., Yang, T., Luo, T., Jia, H. & Yang, D. (2021). Effect of high temperature on mode-I fracture toughness of granite subjected to liquid nitrogen cooling. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 107834.

  • Grundmann, S. R., Rodvelt, G. D., Dials, G. A. & Allen, R. E. (1998). Cryogenic nitrogen as a hydraulic fracturing fluid in the devonian shale. SPE Eastern Regional Meeting.

  • Hu, J., Xie, H., Sun, Q., Li, C., & Liu, G. (2021). Changes in the thermodynamic properties of alkaline granite after cyclic quenching following high temperature action. International Journal of Mining Science and Technology, 31(5), 843–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Z., Li, G., Tian, S., Song, X., Sheng, M. & Shah, S. (2018). Abrasive water jet perforation and multi-stage fracturing. Gulf Professional Publishing, 245–303.

  • Huenges, E. (2016). Enhanced geothermal systems: Review and status of research and development. Geothermal Power Generation, 743–761.

  • Igarashi, G., Maruyama, I., Nishioka, Y., & Yoshida, H. (2015). Influence of mineral composition of siliceous rock on its volume change. Construction and Building Materials, 94, 701–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, F., Jia, T., Li, Y., Deng, J., Tang, C. A., & Huang, X. (2021). Experimental study on the physical and mechanical variations of hot granite under different cooling treatments. Renewable Energy, 179, 1316–1328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, M. (2018). Prediction of tortuosity, permeability, and pore radius of water-saturated unconsolidated glass beads and sands. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143(5), 3154–3168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kneafsey, T. J. (2018). Laboratory studies to investigate subsurface fracture mechanics. Hydraulic Fracture Modeling, pp. 491–511.

  • Kumari, W. G. P., Ranjith, P. G., Perera, M. S. A., Chen, B. K., & Abdulagatov, I. M. (2017). Temperature-dependent mechanical behaviour of Australian Strathbogie granite with different cooling treatments. Engineering Geology, 229, 31–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, Z., Xue, R., Xu, N., & Li, W. (2020). Characterizing rockbursts and analysis on frequency-spectrum evolutionary law of rockburst precursor based on microseismic monitoring. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 105, 103564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahesar, A. A., Ali, M., Shar, A. M., Memon, K. R., Mohanty, U. S., Akhondzadeh, H., Tunio, A. H., Iglauer, S., & Keshavarz, A. (2020). Effect of cryogenic liquid nitrogen on the morphological and petrophysical characteristics of tight gas sandstone rocks from kirthar fold belt, Indus Basin, Pakistan. Energy & Fuels, 34(11), 14548–14559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Martínez, J., Fusi, N., Galiana-Merino, J. J., Benavente, D., & Crosta, G. B. (2016). Ultrasonic and X-ray computed tomography characterization of progressive fracture damage in low-porous carbonate rocks. Engineering Geology, 200, 47–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mavko, G. (2005). Conceptual overview of rock and fluid factors that impact seismic velocity and impedance. Retrieved, 11(11), 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDaniel, B. W., Grundmann, S. R., Kendrick, W. D., Wilson, D. R. & Jordan, S. W. (1997). Field applications of cryogenic nitrogen as a hydraulic fracturing fluid. In SPE annual technical conference and exhibition.

  • Li, M., Li, Y. H., & Chu, Z. H. (2003). Research evolution of acoustic spectrum logging methods. Progress in Geophysics, 18, 229–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, M., Lu, Y. Z., & Zhang, Y. (1999). An experimental study on acoustic parameters of low porous and permeable rock. Petroleum Geology & Oilfield Development in Daqing, 18(5), 42–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mondejar, M. E. & Chamorro, C. R. (2017). Geothermal power technologies. Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technologies, pp. 51–61.

  • Ohno, I. (2005). Temperature variation of elastic properties of α-quartz up to the α-β transition. Journal of Physics of the Earth, 43(2), 157–169.

  • Ohta, A., Imai, N., Tachibana, Y., & Ikehara, K. (2017). Statistical analysis of the spatial distribution of multi-elements in an island arc region: Complicating factors and transfer by water currents. Water, 9(1), 37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrander, W. J. G. (1984). Plane-wave reflection coefficients for gas sands at nonnormal angles of incidence. Geophysics, 49(10), 1637–1648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, Y., Tian, H., Xu, N. X., Zhang, Y., & Han, J. (2015). Experimental study on partial physical properties of post-high-temperature diorite. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 37(7), 1.

  • Qin, L., Zhai, C., Liu, S., Xu, J., Tang, Z., & Yu, G. (2016). Failure mechanism of coal after cryogenic freezing with cyclic liquid nitrogen and its influences on coalbed methane exploitation. Energy & Fuels, 30(10), 8567–8578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren, K., Cai, C., & Xu, G. (2021). Numerical investigation into the distributions of temperature and stress around wellbore during the injection of cryogenic liquid nitrogen into hot dry rock reservoir. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2021, 9913321

    Google Scholar 

  • Shao, Z., Tang, X., & Wang, X. (2021). The influence of liquid nitrogen cooling on fracture toughness of granite rocks at elevated temperatures: An experimental study. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 246, 107628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirdesai, N. N., Mahanta, B., Ranjith, P. G., & Singh, T. N. (2019). Effects of thermal treatment on physico-morphological properties of Indian fine-grained sandstone. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 78(2), 883–897.

  • Soelaiman, T. A. F. (2016). Geothermal energy. Electric Renewable Energy Systems, 114–139.

  • Sun, P. C., Lu, W. B., Hu, H. R., Zhang, Y. Z., Chen, M., & Yan, P. (2021a). A Bayesian approach to predict blast-induced damage of high rock slope using vibration and sonic data. Sensors, 21(7), 2473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, Y., Zhai, C., Xu, J., Cong, Y., & Zheng, Y. (2021). Experimental study on pore structure evolution of coal in macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic scales during liquid nitrogen cyclic cold-shock fracturing. Fuel, 291, 120150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toksöz, M. N., Cheng, C., & Timur, A. J. G. (1976). Velocities of seismic waves in porous rocks. Geophysics, 41(4), 621–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wanniarachchi, W. A. M., Ranjith, P. G., Perera, M. S. A., Rathnaweera, T. D., Lyu, Q., & Mahanta, B. (2017). Assessment of dynamic material properties of intact rocks using seismic wave attenuation: an experimental study. Royal Society Open Science, 4(10), 170896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, X., Huang, Z., Cheng, Z., Zhang, S., Song, H., & Zhao, X. (2019a). Effects of cyclic heating and LN2-cooling on the physical and mechanical properties of granite. Applied Thermal Engineering, 156, 99–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, X., Huang, Z., Zhang, S., Cheng, Z., Li, R., Song, H., Wen, H., & Huang, P. (2019b). Damage analysis of high-temperature rocks subjected to LN2 thermal shock. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 52(8), 2585–2603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, S. Q., Ranjith, P. G., Jing, H. W., Tian, W. L., & Ju, Y. (2017). An experimental investigation on thermal damage and failure mechanical behavior of granite after exposure to different high temperature treatments. Geothermics, 65, 180–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yavuz, H., Demirdag, S., & Caran, S. (2010). Thermal effect on the physical properties of carbonate rocks. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 47(1), 94–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhai, C., Qin, L., Liu, S., Xu, J., Tang, Z., & Wu, S. (2016). Pore structure in coal: Pore evolution after cryogenic freezing with cyclic liquid nitrogen injection and its implication on coalbed methane extraction. Energy & Fuels, 30(7), 6009–6020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, S., Huang, Z., Zhang, H., Guo, Z., Wu, X., Wang, T., Zhang, C., & Xiong, C. (2018). Experimental study of thermal-crack characteristics on hot dry rock impacted by liquid nitrogen jet. Geothermics, 76, 253–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Lu, W., Yan, P., Chen, M., & Yang, J. J. G. T. J. (2017). A method to identify blasting-induced damage zones in rock masses based on the P-wave rise time. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 41(1), 31–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Z., Wang, E., Zhang, Y., Yang, S., Liu, X., Ali, M., & Qi, G. (2019). Analysis on the time-frequency characteristics of ultrasonic waveform of coal under uniaxial loading. Fractals, 27(6), 1950100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, J., Zhao, X. B., & Cai, J. G. (2006). A further study of P-wave attenuation across parallel fractures with linear deformational behaviour. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 43(5), 776–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, Z., Kempka, T., Ranjith, P. G., Tian, H., Jiang, G., Dou, B., & Mei, G. (2021a). Changes in thermomechanical properties due to air and water cooling of hot dry granite rocks under unconfined compression. Renewable Energy, 170, 562–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, Z., Ranjith, P. G., Tian, H., Jiang, G., Dou, B., & Mei, G. (2021b). Relationships between P-wave velocity and mechanical properties of granite after exposure to different cyclic heating and water cooling treatments. Renewable Energy, 168, 375–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51774278), the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (51925404), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M693409), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52104228, 52104233), and 21 Jiangsu Shuangchuang (Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship) Talent Program (JSSCBS20211235).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coal Methane and Fire Control, Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Yong Sun, Cheng Zhai, Jizhao Xu, Xu Yu, Yuzhou Cong, Yangfeng Zheng, Wei Tang & Yujie Li

  2. School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Yong Sun, Cheng Zhai, Jizhao Xu, Xu Yu, Yuzhou Cong, Yangfeng Zheng, Wei Tang & Yujie Li

Authors
  1. Yong Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheng Zhai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jizhao Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xu Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yuzhou Cong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yangfeng Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Wei Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Yujie Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cheng Zhai.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, Y., Zhai, C., Xu, J. et al. Damage and Failure of Hot Dry Rock under Cyclic Liquid Nitrogen Cold Shock Treatment: A Non-destructive Ultrasonic Test Method. Nat Resour Res 31, 261–279 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-021-10005-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-021-10005-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation