Hydraulic fracturing – Myths & Realities

A two-day workshop on well stimulation by hydraulic fracturing on June 8-9, 2023 is aimed at decision makers, regulators, NGOs, project engineers, geologists and geophysicists. The workshop will take place at EPFL main campus, organized by the Gaznat chair on Geo-Energy.

The goal of this two-day workshop is to introduce decision makers, regulators, NGOs, project engineers, geologists & geophysicists on the importance of modern well stimulation techniques in order to ensure successful economics of geo-energy projects requiring the injection/withdrawal of fluids from deep boreholes. In particular, the goal is to demystify the perceived risks associated with hydraulic fracturing by introducing in-details the physics, engineering and control of the process. It will be organized around three half-days of lectures and open-discussions.

The first half-day of the workshop will be dedicated to a general overview, followed by two additional half-days with more in-depth discussions of key technical sub-topics (equipment, materials, design, field studies etc.). Participants can register either for the first introductory half-day, or the complete duration of the workshop.

The lecturers will bring together more than 100 years of experience in the research, development and engineering deployments of the technology in a wide array of applications – from hydrocarbon reservoirs, block caving mining to deep geothermal systems. 45 minutes lectures will be interbedded with open discussions. Specific topics brought up by the participants will be encouraged.