Report on the experimental results of fluid fracking

Two sets of experiments will be undertaken firstly to improve understanding of the response of a fracture network to changes in an anisotropic stress field in shale and secondly to simulate the actual act of fracking and development of a new fracture network under fluid pressure Controlled fluid volumes will be injected at high pressure via an artificial borehole into these samples to simulate the fracking conditions expected Analogue samples will be chosen which show various degrees of discontinuities or compositional heterogeneity The development of the fracture network as a response to the fluid injection under anisotropic stress conditions in these samples will be monitored closely The samples will then be analysed in detail to determine the location and geometry of the experimentally generated fracture network and used to validate numerical models of the fracking process