Effective stress law for the permeability of clay‐bearing sandstones by the Modified Clay Shell model

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, the effective stress law for the permeability of two core plugs selected from Berea (Cleveland Quarries, OH, USA) and Knorringfjellet (Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway) sandstones is studied experimentally by measuring the core permeability (k) under varying confining stress (σc) and pore pressures (Pp). The obtained results demonstrate that the permeabilities of the two core plugs decrease with increasing σc or decreasing Pp. The effective stress coefficient for the permeability (αk) values are more than 1.0 for both sandstone core plugs indicating higher sensitivity of the permeability with respect to the applied Pp compared to the applied σc. The previously presented models for calculating αk, such as the Clay Free, Clay Shell, and Clay Particle models, are discussed and a new modified Clay Shell model considering spherical geometry is presented to account for the considerable contrast between the elastic moduli of quartz and clay minerals. The discussed models strongly depend on the magnitude of the considered elastic moduli for the clay minerals. While the Clay Shell and Clay Particle models are capable of describing the observed αk values by considering extremely low elastic moduli for clays, the new modified Clay Shell model is capable of predicting αk values by considering moderate to low values of elastic moduli of clays. The increasing trend of αk values by increasing the σc is discussed and a new correlation based on the observed k values for calculation of αk is presented. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.