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Quantitative Study of the Geometrical and Hydraulic Characteristics of a Single Rock Fracture

Author

Listed:
  • Xinling Li

    (School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China)

  • Zeyun Jiang

    (Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
    School of Science, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 611731, China)

  • Chao Min

    (School of Science, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 611731, China)

Abstract

Three-dimensional images of fractured rocks can be acquired by an X-ray micro-CT scanning technique, which allows researchers to investigate the ‘true’ inner void structure of a natural fracture without destroying the core. The 3D fractures in images can be characterised by measuring morphological properties on both fracture apertures and its trend surface, like the medial surface, that reveals the undulation of fracture planes. In a previous paper, we have proposed a novel method to generate fracture models stochastically. Based on a large number of such fracture models, in this work a modified factor was proposed for improving the performance of the cubic law by incorporating the flow-dominant characteristics, including two parameters (aperture roughness and spatial correlation length) for fracture apertures and two (surface undulation coefficient and spatial correlation length) for fracture trend-surface. We assess and validate the modified cubic law by applying it to natural fractures in images that have varying apertures and extremely bended trend-surfaces, with the permeabilities calculated by a Lattice Boltzmann Method as ‘ground truths’.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinling Li & Zeyun Jiang & Chao Min, 2019. "Quantitative Study of the Geometrical and Hydraulic Characteristics of a Single Rock Fracture," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:14:p:2796-:d:250161
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yongfei Yang & Zhihui Liu & Jun Yao & Lei Zhang & Jingsheng Ma & S. Hossein Hejazi & Linda Luquot & Toussaint Dono Ngarta, 2018. "Flow Simulation of Artificially Induced Microfractures Using Digital Rock and Lattice Boltzmann Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Paulina Krakowska & Paweł Madejski, 2019. "Research on Fluid Flow and Permeability in Low Porous Rock Sample Using Laboratory and Computational Techniques," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.

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