Flow Simulation of Fracturing Shale Reservoir Rocks Using Liquid Carbon Dioxide

The feasibility of effectively fracturing hard shale reservoir rocks containing potential hydrocarbons using an environmentally sound technique was simulated. Liquid carbon dioxide was injected under variable pressure conditions for a shale reservoir containing hydrocarbons of fixed thickness and depth. The variation in pressure generated fractures of various lengths and half widths. The propagation of fractures and their closures under variable fracture dimensions was studied. The analysis was done through computational fluid dynamic analysis by assuming a single phase Newtonian viscous fluid flow. The simulation successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of fractures to remain open in propagating hydrocarbons and also demonstrated areas where additional solvents are required in order to keep the fractures from closing and hindering the hydrocarbon recovery process.