Researchers identified two processes that generate larger rock fractures at lower pressures using StimuFrac™With funding and technical support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) came up with an alternative. Researchers developed an eco-friendly fracturing fluid called StimuFrac™ that leverages lower pressures to fracture highly impermeable rocks in EGSs. StimuFrac addresses this significant EGS challenge by creating potentially safer, cost-effective fractures that penetrate high-temperature reservoirs. The PNNL team recently identified two processes that generate larger rock fractures at lower pressures when StimuFrac is used.
"After six years since the conception of this technology, we now know how it works,” PNNL chemist Carlos A. Fernandez said. "We knew the benefits of StimuFrac but didn't understand the mechanism for fracturing at lower pressures compared to the conventional fluids until now.”
The PNNL team published findings about two processes that confirmed StimuFrac’s potential in the American Chemical Society journal Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. Researchers conducted a computational and experimental study of StimuFrac, determining that it consistently fractures rock material at lower pressures compared to conventional hydraulic and waterless fluids.
Researchers are now evaluating different injection strategies in foot-scale rock samples to identify injection strategies that show promise for potential field deployment. PNNL is seeking industrial partners to transition this technology to the field within the next two years, Fernandez said.
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