Micromechanical analysis of hydraulic fracturing in the toughness-dominated regime: implications to supercritical carbon dioxide fracturing

Laboratory hydraulic fracturing experiments on crystalline rock for geothermal purposes

“…The PKN model corresponds to a viscosity-dominated regime, which is applicable for most hydraulic fracturing field treatments (Detournay et al, 2007). Many previous studies have discussed the use of the toughness-dominated regime and the viscosity-dominated regime for hydraulic fracturing applications (Garagash and Detournay, 2002;Bunger et al, 2005;Detournay, 2004Detournay, , 2016Detournay et al, 2007;Kovalyshen and Detournay, 2009;Lecampion et al, 2017;Li et al, 2019).…”

Grain-scale analysis of fracture paths from high-cycle hydraulic fatigue experiments in granites and sandstone

“…In fracture mechanics, fracture toughness plays the key role in the initiation phase, while in the propagation phase, mineral-and bonding-strength at micro-scale and the intact rock strength (tensile strength in case of tensile failure) at macro-scale plays the key role in determining how the fracture morphology develops in terms of fracture aperture, length, tortuosity. [7][8][9]38 Tensile strength degradation via water saturation is significant in high-porosity sandstones, and could reach beyond 40-50% of tensile strength at full saturation. As a result, BP reduction in CHF could be more significant in sandstone during the initially dry state compared with during the saturated state.…”

Guest Editorial to the CouFrac 2018 Special Issue Coupled Thermal-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical Processes in Fractured Media: Microscale to Macroscale Numerical Modeling

“…In a study of the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) as a working fluid for hydraulic fracturing, Li et al [5] developed a new coupled fluid-solid model based on the discrete element method (DEM). Based on a number of simulations, including comparison with high-viscosity fracturing fluid, the authors concluded that SC-CO 2 could be an alternative fracturing fluid to induce more effective fracture networks for hydrocarbon production.…”