Modelling of Coupled Hydro-Thermo-Chemical Fluid Flow through Rock Fracture Networks and Its Applications

• Main Authors: Chaoshui Xu, Shaoqun Dong, Hang Wang, Zhihe Wang, Feng Xiong, Qinghui Jiang, Lianbo Zeng, Leon Faulkner, Zhao Feng Tian, Peter Dowd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Geosciences
• Subjects: discrete fracture network; modelling of coupled hydro-thermo-chemical fluid flow; geothermal application; in-situ recovery of minerals
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/11/4/153

Most rock masses contain natural fractures. In many engineering applications, a detailed understanding of the characteristics of fluid flow through a fractured rock mass is critically important for design, performance analysis, and uncertainty/risk assessment. In this context, rock fractures and fracture networks play a decisive role in conducting fluid through the rock mass as the permeability of fractures is in general orders of magnitudes greater than that of intact rock matrices, particularly in hard rock settings. This paper reviews the modelling methods developed over the past four decades for the generation of representative fracture networks in rock masses. It then reviews some of the authors’ recent developments in numerical modelling and experimental studies of linear and non-linear fluid flow through fractures and fracture networks, including challenging issues such as fracture wall roughness, aperture variations, flow tortuosity, fracture intersection geometry, fracture connectivity, and inertia effects at high Reynolds numbers. Finally, it provides a brief review of two applications of methods developed by the authors: the Habanero coupled hydro-thermal heat extraction model for fractured reservoirs and the Kapunda in-situ recovery of copper minerals from fractures, which is based on a coupled hydro-chemical model.