Liquid nitrogen fracturing efficiency as a function of coal rank: A multi-scale tomographic study

Hamed Akhondzadeh; Alireza Keshavarz; Faisal Ur Rahman Awan; Muhammad Ali; Ahmed Al-Yaseri; Changfu Liu; Yongfei Yang; Stefan Iglauer; Boris Gurevich; Maxim Lebedev

doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104177

Liquid nitrogen fracturing efficiency as a function of coal rank: A multi-scale tomographic study

Hamed Akhondzadeh, Alireza Keshavarz, Faisal Ur Rahman Awan, Muhammad Ali, Ahmed Al-Yaseri, Changfu Liu, Yongfei Yang, Stefan Iglauer, Boris Gurevich, Maxim Lebedev

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explored the potential of liquid nitrogen fracturing in three different coal ranks. X-ray computed tomography results in micro- (μ-CT) and macro (medical-CT) scales revealed a poor performance of LN2 fracturing in anthracite. In contrast, porosity evolution for bituminous and sub-bituminous coal in microscale was 14 % and 119 %, respectively. The porosity enhancement in macroscale for these coals was also significant. Interestingly, in both coals, thoroughgoing fracture planes originated from the initial cleat network following freezing. Furthermore, connectivity analysis through skeletonization and Euler number analysis suggested that sub-bituminous connectivity increased by 20-fold for small pores (

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	104177
Journal	Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering
Volume	95
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104177
State	Published - Jul 31 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-08-27
Acknowledgements: The μ-CT measurements were performed using the μ-CT system of National Geo-sequestration Laboratory (NGL) of Australia; funding for this facility was provided by the Australian Federal Government. This work was supported by Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, with funding from the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia. Moreover, the authors are grateful to Premier Coal Ltd. for providing the sub-bituminous coal samples. The coal petrographical, proximate and ultimate analysis was also performed by Bureau Veritas - Minerals Pty Ltd, Australia. The authors acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council through project DP190103260. Additionally, the authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51674280), and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2019JQ21).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104177

Cite this

@article{81cdb69870d44211bd2e3b450f6d6b4b,

title = "Liquid nitrogen fracturing efficiency as a function of coal rank: A multi-scale tomographic study",

abstract = "This study explored the potential of liquid nitrogen fracturing in three different coal ranks. X-ray computed tomography results in micro- (μ-CT) and macro (medical-CT) scales revealed a poor performance of LN2 fracturing in anthracite. In contrast, porosity evolution for bituminous and sub-bituminous coal in microscale was 14 % and 119 %, respectively. The porosity enhancement in macroscale for these coals was also significant. Interestingly, in both coals, thoroughgoing fracture planes originated from the initial cleat network following freezing. Furthermore, connectivity analysis through skeletonization and Euler number analysis suggested that sub-bituminous connectivity increased by 20-fold for small pores (",

author = "Hamed Akhondzadeh and Alireza Keshavarz and Awan, {Faisal Ur Rahman} and Muhammad Ali and Ahmed Al-Yaseri and Changfu Liu and Yongfei Yang and Stefan Iglauer and Boris Gurevich and Maxim Lebedev",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-08-27 Acknowledgements: The μ-CT measurements were performed using the μ-CT system of National Geo-sequestration Laboratory (NGL) of Australia; funding for this facility was provided by the Australian Federal Government. This work was supported by Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, with funding from the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia. Moreover, the authors are grateful to Premier Coal Ltd. for providing the sub-bituminous coal samples. The coal petrographical, proximate and ultimate analysis was also performed by Bureau Veritas - Minerals Pty Ltd, Australia. The authors acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council through project DP190103260. Additionally, the authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51674280), and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2019JQ21).",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104177",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "95",

pages = "104177",

journal = "Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering",

issn = "1875-5100",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Liquid nitrogen fracturing efficiency as a function of coal rank: A multi-scale tomographic study

AU - Akhondzadeh, Hamed

AU - Keshavarz, Alireza

AU - Awan, Faisal Ur Rahman

AU - Ali, Muhammad

AU - Al-Yaseri, Ahmed

AU - Liu, Changfu

AU - Yang, Yongfei

AU - Iglauer, Stefan

AU - Gurevich, Boris

AU - Lebedev, Maxim

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-08-27 Acknowledgements: The μ-CT measurements were performed using the μ-CT system of National Geo-sequestration Laboratory (NGL) of Australia; funding for this facility was provided by the Australian Federal Government. This work was supported by Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, with funding from the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia. Moreover, the authors are grateful to Premier Coal Ltd. for providing the sub-bituminous coal samples. The coal petrographical, proximate and ultimate analysis was also performed by Bureau Veritas - Minerals Pty Ltd, Australia. The authors acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council through project DP190103260. Additionally, the authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51674280), and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2019JQ21).

PY - 2021/7/31

Y1 - 2021/7/31

N2 - This study explored the potential of liquid nitrogen fracturing in three different coal ranks. X-ray computed tomography results in micro- (μ-CT) and macro (medical-CT) scales revealed a poor performance of LN2 fracturing in anthracite. In contrast, porosity evolution for bituminous and sub-bituminous coal in microscale was 14 % and 119 %, respectively. The porosity enhancement in macroscale for these coals was also significant. Interestingly, in both coals, thoroughgoing fracture planes originated from the initial cleat network following freezing. Furthermore, connectivity analysis through skeletonization and Euler number analysis suggested that sub-bituminous connectivity increased by 20-fold for small pores (

AB - This study explored the potential of liquid nitrogen fracturing in three different coal ranks. X-ray computed tomography results in micro- (μ-CT) and macro (medical-CT) scales revealed a poor performance of LN2 fracturing in anthracite. In contrast, porosity evolution for bituminous and sub-bituminous coal in microscale was 14 % and 119 %, respectively. The porosity enhancement in macroscale for these coals was also significant. Interestingly, in both coals, thoroughgoing fracture planes originated from the initial cleat network following freezing. Furthermore, connectivity analysis through skeletonization and Euler number analysis suggested that sub-bituminous connectivity increased by 20-fold for small pores (

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/670763

UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1875510021003784

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112348950&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104177

DO - 10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104177

M3 - Article

SN - 1875-5100

VL - 95

SP - 104177

JO - Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

JF - Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

ER -

Liquid nitrogen fracturing efficiency as a function of coal rank: A multi-scale tomographic study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this