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Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy
Superhot geothermal environments (above ca. 400 °C) represent a new geothermal energy frontier. However, the networks of permeable fractures capable of storing and transmitting fluids are likely to be absent in the continental granitic crust. Here we report the first-ever experimental results for we...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6353971/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30700779 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37634-z |
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author | Watanabe, Noriaki Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi Goto, Ryota Miura, Takahiro Yamane, Kota Ishibashi, Takuya Chen, Youqing Komai, Takeshi Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi |
author_facet | Watanabe, Noriaki Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi Goto, Ryota Miura, Takahiro Yamane, Kota Ishibashi, Takuya Chen, Youqing Komai, Takeshi Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi |
author_sort | Watanabe, Noriaki |
collection | PubMed |
description | Superhot geothermal environments (above ca. 400 °C) represent a new geothermal energy frontier. However, the networks of permeable fractures capable of storing and transmitting fluids are likely to be absent in the continental granitic crust. Here we report the first-ever experimental results for well stimulation involving the application of low-viscosity water to granite at temperatures ≥400 °C under true triaxial stress. This work demonstrates the formation of a network of permeable microfractures densely distributed throughout the entire rock body, representing a so-called cloud-fracture network. Fracturing was found to be initiated at a relatively low injection pressure between the intermediate and minimum principal stresses and propagated in accordance with the distribution of preexisting microfractures, independent of the directions of the principal stresses. This study confirms the possibility of well stimulation to create excellent fracture patterns that should allow the effective extraction of thermal energy. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6353971 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63539712019-02-01 Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy Watanabe, Noriaki Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi Goto, Ryota Miura, Takahiro Yamane, Kota Ishibashi, Takuya Chen, Youqing Komai, Takeshi Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi Sci Rep Article Superhot geothermal environments (above ca. 400 °C) represent a new geothermal energy frontier. However, the networks of permeable fractures capable of storing and transmitting fluids are likely to be absent in the continental granitic crust. Here we report the first-ever experimental results for well stimulation involving the application of low-viscosity water to granite at temperatures ≥400 °C under true triaxial stress. This work demonstrates the formation of a network of permeable microfractures densely distributed throughout the entire rock body, representing a so-called cloud-fracture network. Fracturing was found to be initiated at a relatively low injection pressure between the intermediate and minimum principal stresses and propagated in accordance with the distribution of preexisting microfractures, independent of the directions of the principal stresses. This study confirms the possibility of well stimulation to create excellent fracture patterns that should allow the effective extraction of thermal energy. Nature Publishing Group UK 2019-01-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6353971/ /pubmed/30700779 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37634-z Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
spellingShingle | Article Watanabe, Noriaki Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi Goto, Ryota Miura, Takahiro Yamane, Kota Ishibashi, Takuya Chen, Youqing Komai, Takeshi Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
title | Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
title_full | Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
title_fullStr | Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
title_full_unstemmed | Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
title_short | Cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
title_sort | cloud-fracture networks as a means of accessing superhot geothermal energy |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6353971/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30700779 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37634-z |
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