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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...

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Autores principales: Watanabe, Noriaki, Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi, Goto, Ryota, Miura, Takahiro, Yamane, Kota, Ishibashi, Takuya, Chen, Youqing, Komai, Takeshi, Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2019
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.
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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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