ABSTRACT

Data of this paper analysis indicates that the thermal conductivity increases with increasing water content. X-ray diffraction was used to analyze the mineral compositions of the rock samples. The rock samples were found to contain quartz, alkali-feldspar, and plagioclase. A theoretical equation was applied to calculate the skeleton thermal conductivity (λ_s)of the rocks in the Dandong region and the thermal conductivity of the saturated rocks (λ_sat)after conversion occurred, which were later compared to the quartz content. The quartz content was found to positively correlate with the skeleton thermal conductivity. Scanning electron microscopy was used to obtain images of the rock samples, which were used to determine the microscopic structure of the different rock types and to determine the relationship between the thermal conductivity and the porosity. We determined that the mineral content and porosity of igneous rocks is far higher than that of sedimentary rocks, and the thermal conductivity of igneous rocks is generally higher than that of sedimentary rocks. The relationship between thermal conductivity and porosity was investigated using eight different thermal conductivity-porosity models. The results indicate that thermal conductivity decreases with increasing porosity.