An innovative experimental equipment for liquid nitrogen fracturing

Abstract

Due to the unique physical and chemical properties of liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ), LN 2 fracturing has been considered as a promising reservoir stimulation technique. In order to further investigate the feasibility of LN 2 fracturing, a new device is designed to research the effect of LN 2 fracturing under different conditions, such as different specimen sizes, temperatures, and confining pressures. The setup consists of three units: a high-pressure LN 2 generating system, a true-triaxial loading and heating system, and a control and data acquisition system. Now, a series of experiments have been successfully carried out based on the setup. The results have proven the excellent fracturing effect of LN 2 and the applications of this setup. The apparatus lays a foundation for the application of LN 2 fracturing in both conventional and geothermal reservoirs.