Surface permeability tests: experiments and modelling for estimating effective permeability

Abstract

This paper presents a technique for determining the near surface permeability of geomaterials and involves the application of a uniform flow rate to an open central region of a sealed annular patch on an otherwise unsealed flat surface. Darcy's flow is established during attainment of a steady pressure at a constant flow rate. This paper describes the experimental configuration and its theoretical analysis via mathematical and computational techniques. The methods are applied to investigate the surface permeability characteristics of a cuboidal block of Indiana limestone measuring 508 mm. An inverse analysis procedure is used to estimate the permeability characteristics at the interior of the Indiana limestone block. The resulting spatial distribution of permeability is used to estimate the effective permeability of the tested block.

Isothermal Permeability of the Argillaceous Cobourg Limestone

“…An analytical study of the fluid flow into a half-space through a pressurized circular aperture at a sealed surface is given by Selvadurai (2010) and Selvadurai and Selvadurai (2010). The study by Selvadurai and Selvadurai (2010) developed a "Patch Permeability Test", which involves an annular sealed region, to estimate the effective permeability of a cuboidal sample.…”

“…The study by Selvadurai and Selvadurai (2010) developed a "Patch Permeability Test", which involves an annular sealed region, to estimate the effective permeability of a cuboidal sample. The mathematical solution was developed using the results given by Singh (1984, 1985).…”

“…The range of permeabilities encountered in environmental geosciences and rock mechanics tends to vary from values for limestone:~10 À14 m 2 to~10 À15 m 2 (Selvadurai and Głowacki, 2008;Selvadurai and Selvadurai, 2010); concrete:~10 À17 m 2 to~10 À20 m 2 (Aldea et al, 1999;Mehta and Monteiro, 2014); cement grout:~10 À20 m 2 to~10 À21 m 2 (Selvadurai and Carnaffan, 1997); granite:~10 À18 m 2 to~10 À20 m 2 Najari, 2013, 2015), Callovo-Oxfordian Argillite:~10 À18 m 2 to~10 À21 m 2 (Davy et al, 2007(Davy et al, , 2009) to the Cobourg Limestone:~10 À19 m 2 to~10 À22 m 2 (Vilks and Miller, 2007;Selvadurai et al, 2011;Selvadurai and Jenner, 2012). There is no strict definition of what constitutes Oil & Gas Science and Technology -Rev.…”

Boundary heating of poro-elastic and poro-elasto-plastic spheres

“…particularly those conferences devoted to poromechanics (Selvadurai 1996;Thimus et al 1998;Auriault et al 2002;Abousleiman et al 2005), articles with extensive reviews (Selvadurai 2007;Schanz 2009;Selvadurai & Selvadurai 2010) and the recent articles on nuclear waste management cited previously, for further information.…”

Thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in fractured rock formations during a glacial advance

“…Thermohydro-mechanical effects have also been of interest to many geoenvironmental processes including the geologic disposal of heat-emitting nuclear waste, frictional heating of faults (Lachenburch, 1980;Rice, 2006), geothermal energy extraction (Dickson and Fanelli, 1995), and ground freezing resulting from buried chilled-gas pipelines (Selvadurai et al, 1999a, b). Solutions to pure fluid flow in heterogeneous formations and coupled thermo-poroelastic problems for fluidsaturated geological materials have been obtained by several researchers (Booker and Savvidou, 1985;McTigue, 1986;Nguyen, 1995, 1997;Nguyen and Selvadurai, 1995;Selvadurai, 1996;Khalili and Selvadurai, 2003;Selvadurai and Selvadurai, 2010;Suvorov, 2012, 2014). Recent mathematical and computational studies of THM behaviour of fluid-saturated media with both elastic and elasto-plastic skeletal behaviour are given by Suvorov (2012, 2014) and experimental manifestations of the thermo-poroelastic Mandel-Cryer effect are also given by Najari and .…”