Influence of randomly distributed fractures on thermal extraction from a single-well enhanced geothermal system

Influence of randomly distributed fractures on thermal extraction from a single-well enhanced geothermal system | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Influence of randomly distributed fractures on thermal extraction from a single-well enhanced geothermal system Qiang Huang, Jia-Hao Chen, Hai-Bo Huang, Mao-Bin Hu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9478532/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) aim to efficiently explore the thermal resource of hot dry rock (HDR). A permeable fracture network is essential for the effective thermal extraction of EGS. In this paper, we developed a 3D discrete fracture network model and constructed a thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) coupling model to investigate the impact of structural heterogeneity, including fracture intensity, length and orientation. The results indicate that under the same fracture intensity, when the proportion of longer fractures is higher and the fracture orientation is more random, the thermal extraction efficiency will be higher. The calculation of percolation probability of fracture networks further confirmed the permeability of the EGS increase with these structural factors. The results provide valuable insights for optimizing fracture network design in EGS. Enhanced geothermal system Discrete fracture network Thermal energy extraction Percolation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 03 May, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 28 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 21 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9478532","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":633718370,"identity":"3b3c0746-bc0d-4db1-bc0f-06b37fdc50d9","order_by":0,"name":"Qiang Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qiang","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":633718371,"identity":"bd378488-ac96-474f-98fe-ca40b78b94c7","order_by":1,"name":"Jia-Hao Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jia-Hao","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":633718372,"identity":"e3b4d5a5-380d-4a97-a2d2-58529a0a0c79","order_by":2,"name":"Hai-Bo Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hai-Bo","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":633718373,"identity":"99a8f7a8-b0bb-4e0d-908c-298d93869251","order_by":3,"name":"Mao-Bin Hu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA00lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAxDB2CDBwA8VYGwgWotkA0Q10VqAjAPEajGXyE788HGHRZ7xjfTnD34w2MhuOMD87AE+LZYzcjdLzjwjUWx2I8ewsYchzXjDATZzA7wOu5G7QZq3TSJx240cxmYGhsOJGw7wsEkQ0LL5N0jL5hnpD4Fa/hOlZRvYlg0SCYZALQeI0HLm7TZLoF8SZ5x5YzizxyDZeOZhNjP8Wo7nbr7xcUddYn97+oMPPyrsZPuONz/DqwXdBCBmJkH9KBgFo2AUjALsAABMAU7A4FXBPAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mao-Bin","middleName":"","lastName":"Hu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-21 04:23:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9478532/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9478532/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108685667,"identity":"ca673de4-b343-4a54-bd51-6fc49bfeb485","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-07 09:59:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":5848237,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"FracturesV15GeoEn.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9478532/v1_covered_af455e2c-a42a-4583-9090-cc3be42bea53.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Influence of randomly distributed fractures on thermal extraction from a single-well enhanced geothermal system","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"geothermal-energy","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"geen","sideBox":"Learn more about [Geothermal Energy](https://geothermal-energy-journal.springeropen.com/about)","snPcode":"40517","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/40517/3","title":"Geothermal Energy","twitterHandle":"@SpringerOpen","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Enhanced geothermal system, Discrete fracture network, Thermal energy extraction, Percolation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9478532/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9478532/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eEnhanced geothermal systems (EGS) aim to efficiently explore the thermal resource of hot dry rock (HDR). 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