Quantifying the Permeability Enhancement from Blast-Induced Microfractures in Porphyry Rocks Using a Cumulant Lattice Boltzmann Method

Abstract

AbstractThe permeability of rocks is important in a range of geoscientific applications, including $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 sequestration, geothermal energy extraction, and in situ mineral recovery. This work presents an investigation of the change in permeability in porphyry rock samples due to blast-induced fracturing. Two samples were analysed before and after exposure to stress waves induced by the detonation of an explosive charge. Micro-computed tomography was used to image the interior of the samples at a pixel resolution of $$10.3\,\mu m$$ 10.3 μ m . The images were segmented into void, matrix, and grain to help quantify the differences in the rock samples. Following this, they were binarised as void or solid and the cumulant lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) was applied to simulate the flow of fluid through the connected void space. A correction required with the use of inlet and outlet reservoirs in computational permeability assessment was also proposed. Interrogation of the steady-state flow field allowed the pre- and post-loading permeability to be extracted. Conclusions were then drawn as to the effectiveness of blasting for enhancing fluid accessibility via the generation of microfractures in the rock matrix within the vicinity of a detonated charge. This paper makes contributions in three fundamental areas relating to the numerical assessment of permeability and the enhancement of fluid accessibility in low-porosity rocks. Firstly, a correction factor was proposed to account for the reservoirs commonly imposed on digitised rock samples when investigating sample permeability through numerical methods. Secondly, it validates the benefits of the LBM in handling complex geometries that would be intractable with conventional computational fluid dynamics methods that require body-fitted meshing. This is done with a novel implementation of the cumulant LBM in the open-source TCLB code. Finally, the improvement in fluid accessibility in low-permeability rock samples was shown through the assessment of multiple regions within two blasted samples. It was found that the blast-induced loading can generate extended microfractures that results in multiple orders of magnitude of permeability enhancement if the target rock possesses existing weaknesses and/or mineralisation.