The role of the stress-path and importance of stress history on the flow of water along fractures and faults; an experimental study conducted on kaolinite gouge and Callovo-Oxfordian mudstone

Cuss, R.J.; Harrington, J.F.; Sathar, Shanvas; Norris, Simon; Talandier, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.clay.2017.09.029

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…A significant amount of hysteresis is observed between the first loading cycle and the subsequent cycles. This is commonly observed in such experiments (Cuss et al 2017;Houben et al 2020;Forbes Inskip et al 2022), and is due to the sample being loaded from ambient pressure conditions in the first cycle. We omit data from this first loading cycle in the results and analysis that follow.…”

Section: Steady-state Methodsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Reservoir properties of fault-related hydrothermally altered granites in Cornwall: Implications for geothermal energy prospectivity

Inskip,

Harpers,

Shail

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Granite based geothermal systems are currently being explored in Cornwall for their potential to decarbonise energy production. Fault structures, known locally as cross-courses, are being targeted due to their potential to both host fluids at depth and create zones of enhanced permeability through fault related fractures. These structures have been transmissive in the past, evidenced by mineral veins, and surrounding host rock alteration. Hydrothermal alteration has the potential to affect the petrophysical properties of a rock, however these effects on potential geothermal systems has received little attention to date. In this study we measure the tensile strength, porosity and permeability of samples of Carnmenellis Granite which have been hydrothermally altered to different amounts. We find that hydrothermal (argillic) alteration leads to a weaker, more porous and permeable rock, which has implications both in terms of reservoir volumes and fluid production rates. The alteration of feldspars into clay minerals leads to microporous regions that are connected throughout the material, and consequently an increase in total porosity by an order of magnitude and matrix permeability by up to 4 orders of magnitude. However, fractures hosted in the altered material are more likely to close under higher effective stress than those hosted in comparatively unaltered material, which leads to a lower fracture permeability. Finally, we demonstrate that hydrothermally altered zones have the potential to host significantly greater amounts of accessible fluid than the fractures alone, and that they should be considered when assessing reservoir volumes in these types of geothermal systems.

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Section: Steady-state Methodsmentioning

confidence: 80%