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2019 Vol.29, Issue 3 Preview Page

Original Article

Experimental Study of Breakdown Pressure, Acoustic Emission, and Crack Morphology in Liquid CO2 Fracturing

액체 이산화탄소 파쇄법의 파쇄 압력, 음향 방출, 균열 형상에 관한 실험적 연구

Seong Jun Ha1
,
Tae Sup Yun1*
하 성준1
,
윤 태섭1*
1School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University
1연세대학교 공과대학 건설환경공학과
* Corresponding Author
30 June 2019. pp. 157-171
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Abstract

The fracturing by liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) as a fracking fluid has been an alternative to mitigate the environmental issues often caused by the conventional hydraulic fracking since it facilitates the fluid permeation owing to its low viscosity. This study presents how LCO2 injection influences the breakdown pressure, acoustic emission, and fracture morphology. Three fracturing fluids such as LCO2, water, and oil are injected with different pressurization rate to the synthetic and porous mortar specimens. Also, the shale which has been a major target formation in conventional fracking practices is also tested to examine the failure characteristics. The results show that LCO2 injection induces more tortuous and undulated fractures, and particularly the larger fractures are developed in cases of shale specimen. On the other hand, the relationship between the fracturing fluids and the breakdown pressure shows opposite tendency in the tests of mortar and shale specimens.

Keywords
Waterless fracturing
Liquid CO2
Breakdown pressure
Crack morphology
Shale

액체 이산화탄소 파쇄법은 기존 수압 파쇄법에서 물 사용으로 발생하는 환경 문제를 완화시키기 위한 차세대 해결책으로 제안되어 왔으며, 액체 이산화탄소의 낮은 점성도를 이용하여 암석 공극 내 유체 주입을 수월하게 할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 액체 이산화탄소의 공극 내 주입이 파쇄 과정 중에 발생하는 파쇄 압력, 음향 방출, 균열 형상에 어떻게 영향을 미치는지에 대해 초점을 맞추었다. 이를 위해 점성도가 다른 액체 이산화탄소, 물, 오일을 파쇄 유체로 사용하여 주입 속도를 다르게 하며 인공적으로 제작한 다공성 모르타르 시편을 대상으로 실내실험을 수행하였다. 또한 기존 수압 파쇄법의 주 대상 암종인 셰일 시편의 실험에서 액체 이산화탄소 파쇄법에 의한 셰일의 파괴 특징들을 분석하였다. 실험 결과 이산화탄소 주입 시 균열이 더 비틀린 물결 형상을 띄었으며 특히, 셰일 시편에서는 그 균열 부피가 물 주입에 비해 더 발달하였다. 반면, 파쇄 유체와 파쇄 압력의 관계는 두 시편의 실험에서 반대의 경향을 보였다.

키워드
무수 파쇄법
액체이산화탄소
파쇄 압력
균열 형상
셰일
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Information
  • Publisher :Korean Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국암반공학회
  • Journal Title :Tunnel and Underground Space
  • Journal Title(Ko) :터널과 지하공간
  • Volume : 29
  • No :3
  • Pages :157-171
  • Received Date : 2019-05-17
  • Revised Date : 2019-06-27
  • Accepted Date : 2019-06-27
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7474/TUS.2019.29.3.157
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