Integrated Experimental and Computational Study of Hydraulic Fracturing and the Use of 
Alternative Fracking Fluids

Shale gas is an unconventional fossil energy resource that is already having a profound 
impact on US energy independence and is projected to last for at least 100 years. 
Production of methane and other hydrocarbons from low permeability shale involves 
hydrofracturing of rock, establishing fracture connectivity, and multiphase fluid-flow 
and reaction processes all of which are poorly understood. The result is inefficient 
extraction with many environmental concerns. A science-based capability is required to 
quantify the governing mesoscale fluid-solid interactions, including microstructural 
control of fracture patterns and the interaction of engineered fluids with hydrocarbon 
flow. These interactions depend on coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) 
processes over scales from microns to tens of meters. Determining the key mechanisms in 
subsurface THMC systems has been impeded due to the lack of sophisticated experimental 
methods to measure fracture aperture and connectivity, multiphase permeability, and 
chemical exchange capacities at the high temperature, pressure, and stresses present in 
the subsurface. This project uses innovative high-pressure microfluidic and triaxial 
core flood experiments on shale to explore fracture-permeability relations and the 
extraction of hydrocarbon. These data are integrated with simulations including lattice 
Boltzmann modeling of pore-scale processes, finite-element/discrete element models of 
fracture development in the near-well environment, discrete-fracture modeling of the 
reservoir, and system-scale models to assess the economics of alternative fracturing 
fluids. The ultimate goal is to make the necessary measurements to develop models that 
can be used to determine the reservoir operating conditions necessary to gain a degree 
of control over fracture generation, fluid flow, and interfacial processes over a range 
of subsurface conditions.