Experimental study on fracture initiation and propagation in shale using supercritical carbon dioxide fracturing

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) fracturing is a promising technology for developing shale gas because it can effectively solve problems related to shale swelling and lack of water resources. This work conducted simulation experiments on SC-CO2 fracturing in shale for the first time. Compared with hydraulic fracturing, using SC-CO2 as the fracturing fluid reduces the pressure needed to initiate fractures by more than 50%. This reduction is...