Fracture Transmissivity in Prospective Host Rocks for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)

We experimentally determined the hydraulic properties of fractures within various rock types, focusing on a variety of Variscan rocks. Flow-through experiments were performed on slate, graywacke, quartzite, granite, natural fault gouge, and claystone samples containing an artificial fracture with a given roughness. For slate samples, the hydraulic transmissivity of the fractures was measured at confining pressures, p(c), at up to 50 MPa, temperatures, T, between 25 and 100 degrees C, and differential stress, sigma, acting perpendicular to the fracture surface of up to 45 MPa. Fracture transmissivity decreases non-linearly and irreversibly by about an order of magnitude with increasing confining pressure and differential stress, with a slightly stronger influence of p(c) than of sigma. Increasing temperature reduces fracture transmissivity only at high confining pressures when the fracture aperture is already low. An increase in the fracture surface roughness by about three times yields an initial fracture transmissivity of almost one order of magnitude higher. Fractures with similar surface roughness display the highest initial transmissivity within slate, graywacke, quartzite and granite samples, whereas the transmissivity in claystone and granitic gouge material is up to several orders of magnitude lower. The reduction in transmissivity with increasing stress at room temperature varies with composition and uniaxial strength, where the deduction is lowest for rocks with a high fraction of strong minerals and associated high brittleness and strength. Microstructural investigations suggest that the reduction is induced by the compaction of the matrix and crushing of strong asperities. Our results suggest that for a given surface roughness, the fracture transmissivity of slate as an example of a target reservoir for unconventional EGS, is comparable to that of other hard rocks, e.g., granite, whereas highly altered and/or clay-bearing rocks display poor potential for extracting geothermal energy from discrete fractures.

Automated summary

In this study, we experimentally determined the hydraulic properties of fractures in different rock types. The results show that the transmissivity of fractures decreases with increasing confining pressure and differential stress, while temperature only affects the transmissivity when the fracture aperture is low. Increasing the surface roughness of fractures leads to higher initial transmissivity. Fractures in slate, graywacke, quartzite, and granite samples exhibit the highest initial transmissivity, while claystone and granitic gouge material have lower transmissivity.