TY - JOUR A1 - Cheng, Chaojie A1 - Milsch, Harald T1 - Evolution of fracture aperture in quartz sandstone under hydrothermal conditions BT - mechanical and chemical effects JF - Minerals N2 - Fractures efficiently affect fluid flow in geological formations, and thereby determine mass and energy transport in reservoirs, which are not least exploited for economic resources. In this context, their response to mechanical and thermal changes, as well as fluid-rock interactions, is of paramount importance. In this study, a two-stage flow-through experiment was conducted on a pure quartz sandstone core of low matrix permeability, containing one single macroscopic tensile fracture. In the first short-term stage, the effects of mechanical and hydraulic aperture on pressure and temperature cycles were investigated. The purpose of the subsequent intermittent-flow long-term (140 days) stage was to constrain the evolution of the geometrical and hydraulic fracture properties resulting from pressure solution. Deionized water was used as the pore fluid, and permeability, as well as the effluent Si concentrations, were systematically measured. Overall, hydraulic aperture was shown to be significantly less affected by pressure, temperature and time, in comparison to mechanical aperture. During the long-term part of the experiment at 140 degrees C, the effluent Si concentrations likely reached a chemical equilibrium state within less than 8 days of stagnant flow, and exceeded the corresponding hydrostatic quartz solubility at this temperature. This implies that the pressure solution was active at the contacting fracture asperities, both at 140 degrees C and after cooling to 33 degrees C. The higher temperature yielded a higher dissolution rate and, consequently, a faster attainment of chemical equilibrium within the contact fluid. X-ray mu CT observations evidenced a noticeable increase in fracture contact area ratio, which, in combination with theoretical considerations, implies a significant decrease in mechanical aperture. In contrast, the sample permeability, and thus the hydraulic fracture aperture, virtually did not vary. In conclusion, pressure solution-induced fracture aperture changes are affected by the degree of time-dependent variations in pore fluid composition. In contrast to the present case of a quasi-closed system with mostly stagnant flow, in an open system with continuous once-through fluid flow, the activity of the pressure solution may be amplified due to the persistent fluid-chemical nonequilibrium state, thus possibly enhancing aperture and fracture permeability changes. KW - flow-through experiment KW - fracture aperture KW - pressure solution KW - mass KW - transfer KW - silica concentration KW - permeability KW - quartz sandstone Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080657 SN - 2075-163X VL - 10 IS - 8 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - THES A1 - Milsch, Harald T1 - Experimentelle Untersuchung des Einflusses von Dekarbonatisierungsreaktionen auf die Transporteigenschaften von Gesteinen Y1 - 1999 CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cheng, Chaojie A1 - Milsch, Harald T1 - Hydromechanical investigations on the self-propping potential of fractures in tight sandstones JF - Rock mechanics and rock engineering N2 - The hydromechanical properties of single self-propping fractures under stress are of fundamental interest for fractured-rock hydrology and a large number of geotechnical applications. This experimental study investigates fracture closure and hydraulic aperture changes of displaced tensile fractures, aligned tensile fractures, and saw-cut fractures for two types of sandstone (i.e., Flechtinger and Fontainebleau) with contrasting mechanical properties, cycling confining pressure between 5 and 30 MPa. Emphasis is placed on how surface roughness, fracture wall offset, and the mechanical properties of the contact asperities affect the self-propping potential of these fractures under normal stress. A relative fracture wall displacement can significantly increase fracture aperture and hydraulic conductivity, but the degree of increase strongly depends on the fracture surface roughness. For smooth fractures, surface roughness remains scale-independent as long as the fracture area is larger than a roll-off wavelength and thus any further displacement does not affect fracture aperture. For rough tensile fractures, these are self-affine over a larger scale so that an incremental fracture wall offset likely leads to an increase in fracture aperture. X-ray microtomography of the fractures indicates that the contact area ratio of the tensile fractures after the confining pressure cycle inversely correlates with the fracture wall offset yielding values in the range of about 3-25%, depending, first, on the respective surface roughness and, second, on the strength of the asperities in contact. Moreover, the contact asperities mainly occur isolated and tend to be preferentially oriented in the direction perpendicular to the fracture wall displacement which, in turn, may induce flow anisotropy. This, overall, implies that relatively harder sedimentary rocks have a higher self-propping potential for sustainable fluid flow through fractures in comparison to relatively soft rocks when specific conditions regarding surface roughness and fracture wall offset are met. KW - Self-propping fracture KW - Mechanical aperture KW - Hydraulic aperture KW - Normal KW - stress KW - Fracture wall offset KW - Surface roughness Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02500-4 SN - 0723-2632 SN - 1434-453X VL - 54 IS - 10 SP - 5407 EP - 5432 PB - Springer CY - Wien ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cheng, Chaojie A1 - Milsch, Harald T1 - Permeability variations in illite-bearing sandstone BT - effects of temperature and NaCl fluid salinity JF - Journal of geophysical research : Solid earth N2 - Temperature changes and variations in pore fluid salinity may negatively affect the permeability of clay-bearing sandstones with implications for natural fluid flow and geotechnical applications alike. In this study these factors are investigated for a sandstone dominated by illite as the clay phase. Systematic long-term flow-through experiments were conducted and complemented with comprehensive microstructural investigations and the application of Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory to explain mechanistically the observed permeability changes. Initially, sample permeability was not affected by low pore fluid salinity indicating strong attraction of the illite particles to the pore walls as supported by electron microprobe analysis (EMPA). Increasing temperature up to 145 degrees C resulted in an irreversible permeability decrease by 1.5 orders of magnitude regardless of the pore fluid composition (i.e., deionized water and 2 M NaCl solution). Subsequently diluting the high salinity pore fluid to below 0.5 M yielded an additional permeability decline by 1.5 orders of magnitude, both at 145 degrees C and after cooling to room temperature. By applying scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) thermo-mechanical pore throat closure and illite particle migration were identified as independently operating mechanisms responsible for observed permeability changes during heating and dilution, respectively. These observations indicate that permeability of illite-bearing sandstones will be impaired by heating and exposure to low salinity pore fluids. In addition, chemically induced permeability variations proved to be path dependent with respect to the applied succession of fluid salinity changes. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020122 SN - 2169-9313 SN - 2169-9356 VL - 125 IS - 9 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER -