• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.157-171
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• 2019

The fracturing by liquid carbon dioxide ($LCO_2$) as a fracking fluid has been an alternative to mitigate the environmental issues often caused by the conventional hydraulic fracking since it facilitates the fluid permeation owing to its low viscosity. This study presents how $LCO_2$ injection influences the breakdown pressure, acoustic emission, and fracture morphology. Three fracturing fluids such as $LCO_2$, water, and oil are injected with different pressurization rate to the synthetic and porous mortar specimens. Also, the shale which has been a major target formation in conventional fracking practices is also tested to examine the failure characteristics. The results show that $LCO_2$ injection induces more tortuous and undulated fractures, and particularly the larger fractures are developed in cases of shale specimen. On the other hand, the relationship between the fracturing fluids and the breakdown pressure shows opposite tendency in the tests of mortar and shale specimens.