Abstract
Injection of CO 2 into geologic formations is being practiced today to decrease the greenhouse gas effect, but it is not yet possible to predict with confidence storage volume, formation integrity and long term reliability. Potential CO 2 leakage towards the surface is associated with the cracking state of caprocks through the permeability-fracturing state relationship. A probabilistic method based on the initial distribution of defects is proposed to describe different aspects of the formation of crack networks in rocks under CO 2 injection conditions. Propagation of single cracks is discussed by studying the stress intensity factor variation and the possibility of crack network formation is shown. The interaction between cracks is modelled by considering obscuration zones corresponding to shielding effects created by each crack.
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