Experimental Investigation on the Influence of High Pressure and High Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Deep Reservoir Rocks

Deep and ultra-deep resources extraction has resulted in the challenge of drilling into high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) environments. Drilling challenges at such extreme conditions prompted NETL to develop a specialized ultra-deep drilling simulator (UDS) for investigating drill behavior in such conditions. Using the UDS apparatus, complex laboratory tests were performed on Carthage marble (Warsaw limestone) and Crab Orchard sandstone, which represent the rocks in the basins of the Tuscaloosa trend in southern Louisiana and the Arbuckle play in Oklahoma and North Texas. Additionally, numerical models of the UDS were developed for performing parametric analyses that would be impossible with the UDS alone. Subsequently, it was found that the input properties for these two rock types at such extreme pressure and temperature conditions were unavailable. Therefore, a suite of unconfined compressive strength, indirect tensile strength, and triaxial compression tests (σ ₁ > σ ₂ = σ ₃) were performed on Carthage marble and Crab Orchard sandstone for investigating their behavior in HPHT environments. The HPHT experiments were performed at confining pressures ranging from atmospheric to 200 MPa, and with temperatures ranging from 25 to 180 °C. The influences of confining pressure and temperature on the mechanical properties of two rocks were investigated.