LAPSE:2018.0652
Published Article
LAPSE:2018.0652
The Effect of Thermal Shocking with Nitrogen Gas on the Porosities, Permeabilities, and Rock Mechanical Properties of Unconventional Reservoirs
September 21, 2018
Cryogenic fracturing is a type of thermal shocking in which a cold liquid or gas is injected into a hot formation to create fractures. Research has shown that like traditional hydraulic fracturing, cryogenic fracturing could improve oil/gas recovery from unconventional reservoirs. Research has also shown, though, that, unlike traditional hydraulic fracturing, which uses water-based fluids, cryogenic fracturing limits and can even heal damage that is near the wellbore. Previous studies on thermal shocking, however, have generally examined only a few parameters at a time. To provide a more complete overview of the process, this study examines the effects of thermal shocking with low-temperature nitrogen gas on the porosities, permeabilities, and rock mechanical properties of unconventional reservoirs. Three cycles of thermal shocking were applied to a core sample and an outcrop sample from an unconventional reservoir. Each sample was heated at 82 °C for 1 h, and then nitrogen at −18 °C was injected at 6.89 MPa for 5 min. The porosities and permeabilities of the cores and the velocities at which ultrasonic waves travelled through them were measured both before and after each thermal shock. The results strongly suggest that the thermal shocking produced cracks. The porosity increased by between 1.34% and 14.3%, the permeability increased by between 17.4% and 920%, and the average P-wave velocity decreased by up to 100 m/s. From the reduction in P-wave velocity, it was determined that the brittleness ratio increased by between 2 and 4 and the fracability index increased by between 0.2 and 0.8.
Keywords
brittleness ratio, cryogenic fracturing, fracability index, nitrogen gas, P-wave velocity, permeability, porosity, rock mechanical properties, thermal shock, unconventional reservoirs
Subject
Suggested Citation
Elwegaa K, Emadi H. The Effect of Thermal Shocking with Nitrogen Gas on the Porosities, Permeabilities, and Rock Mechanical Properties of Unconventional Reservoirs. (2018). LAPSE:2018.0652
Author Affiliations
Elwegaa K: Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA [ORCID]
Emadi H: Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA [ORCID]
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Journal Name
Energies
Volume
11
Issue
8
Article Number
E2131
Year
2018
Publication Date
2018-08-15
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
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Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: en11082131, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2018.0652
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doi:10.3390/en11082131
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Sep 21, 2018
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CC BY 4.0
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Sep 21, 2018
 
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Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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