Pulsed Power Fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing has revolutionized the oil and gas industry, yet its quasi-static nature constrains fracture propagation to the direction of minimum in situ stress. For applications such as in-situ mining, geothermal energy extraction, geological hydrogen stimulation, and emerging technologies like pulsed-power fracturing, alternative approaches are needed to mitigate short-circuiting, enhance permeability, and increase geochemical reaction surfaces by orders of magnitude. The Geosystem Innovation Laboratory (GIL) is addressing these challenges by developing advanced numerical tools to model the coupled poro-dynamic fracturing process.