Characterization of two-phase flow in a single rock joint

Abstract

An experimental study using a triaxial apparatus was used to analyze the two-phase flow patterns in jointed rock specimens. Rock specimens having a single natural fracture were tested for two-phase flow of water and air. Triaxial tests were conducted to characterize the two-phase flow through fractured granite specimens at low confining pressures. It was found that for a relatively smooth joint (JRC<6), bubble flow pattern occurred within the rock joint when the gas velocity is below 15 m/s. The average velocity of water usually varied between 0.1 and 0.5 m/s for bubble flow patterns. In this velocity range, air bubbles were able to form along the joint walls or to be randomly displaced within the water phase. When the gas velocity inside the rock joint exceeded 22 m/s, the flow patterns took annular form for non-zero capillary pressures (i.e., injected gas pressure is not equal to injected water pressure). At elevated (>0.25 MPa) gas injection pressures, the gas occupied the main part of the fracture and the liquid was able to flow as an unstable film forming an annular flow along the joint. When the annular flow developed, the mixture flow pattern was independent of the air flow velocity. This was due to the fact that once the injected air velocity reached a critical value (i.e., 20 m/s), water velocity inside the joint was negligible for a given confining pressure and injected water pressure. Further increase in inlet air pressures developed a single-phase air flow with no water flow.