Laboratory Studies of Fluid Flow Through Borehole Seals

South, D.L.; Daemen, J.J.K.

doi:10.1557/proc-15-703

Cited by 1 publication

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“…The hydraulic conductivity of an intact basalt rock matrix is expected to be lower than that for clay. For example, a hydraulic conductivity of the order of 10-•3 cm/s was measured for an intact basalt core sample in the laboratory [South, 1983]. Figure 13 shows the computed and the best fit polar plots for flow through a colonnade network of clay-filled fractures with lognormally distributed apertures.…”

Section: Clay-filled Fracturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale dependence of continuum models for fractured basalts

Khaleel¹

1989

Water Resources Research

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Numerical simulations are carried out to determine the scale above which an equivalent porous medium (EPM) model can be used to represent flow through the dense interiors of fractured basalts. Steady laminar flow is assumed to occur through the interconnected network of conduits formed by the intersecting column-defining fracture patterns of the basalt dense interiors. The basalt rock matrix is considered to be impermeable. A porous medium equivalence is established in terms of fluid (Darcian) fluxes. A polar plot for the equivalent hydraulic conductivity is used to test whether a given fractured basalt system can be approximated as an EPM. For interconnected colonnade network models of filled or untilled fractures with uniform apertures and a column diameter of 1 m, EPM models are appropriate at a length scale of approximately 6 times the column diameter. For network models of filled or untilled fractures with a lognormal aperture (b, millimeters) distribution (mean In b --1.945 and øln b = 0.896), EPM models can be justified at length scales of approximately 22 and 27 times the column diameter, respectively. The computed equivalent K values for clay-filled fractures compare favorably with the field-measured data. This suggests that a model comprised of an interconnected network of filled fractures may not be an unlikely representation of flow through the dense interiors at the small scales considered in this study. Several limitations of the study are noted. 1.

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Section: Clay-filled Fracturesmentioning

confidence: 99%