Flow behavior of a rough single rock fracture under high-temperature, high-stress, and high-seepage pressure coupling conditions

Abstract

Understanding the complex flow behavior along a rough rock fracture under high-temperature, high-stress, and high-seepage pressure (HTHM) coupling conditions is of great significance for optimizing deep resource extraction. This study investigates the complex flow behavior of a single rock fracture under coupled HTHM conditions using a self-developed multi-field coupling experimental system, considering real-time high temperatures (20-90 °C), confining pressures (30-120 MPa), and seepage pressures (5-60 MPa). Experimental results show that as confining pressure increases, two typical nonlinear flow behaviors are observed, which are Forchheimer flow and low-velocity nonlinear flow. The increase in temperature and decrease in roughness significantly promote the fluid flow and enhance the nonlinear relationship between the volumetric flow rate and the hydraulic gradient at lower confining pressures (30 MPa). However, the change in temperature and fracture surface roughness does not affect the nonlinear type of fluid flow. Under a given hydraulic gradient, the influence of temperature and fracture roughness on the volumetric flow rate varies with changes in confining pressure. Additionally, this study considers both the viscous and inertial terms, and a modified Forchheimer equation is proposed using two parameters: the contact area ratio and the thermal expansion coefficient of the rock. The proposed model can effectively predict the nonlinear flow behavior of fluid along rough fractured rocks under varying temperatures and surface roughness. The experimental results and the proposed model provide valuable data and theoretical guidance for deep oil and gas exploration as well as hydraulic fracturing design.

Keywords

Coupled HTHM condition / Nonlinear flow / Rough single fracture / Improved Forchheimer equation

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-dation of China (Nos. 52034010 and 52479113), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2024ME165), and the Postgraduate Education and Teaching Reform Project of China University of Petroleum (East China)(No. YJG2024005).

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