Permeability Of Fractured Rocks Research Articles

Influence of shear and deviatoric stress on the evolution of permeability in fractured rock

The evolution of permeability in fractured rock as a function of effective normal stress, shear displacement, and damage remains a complex issue. In this contribution, we report on experiments in which rock surfaces were subject to direct shear under controlled pore pressure and true triaxial stress conditions while permeability was monitored continuously via flow parallel to the shear direction. Shear tests were performed in a pressure vessel under drained conditions on samples of novaculite (Arkansas) and diorite (Coso geothermal field, California). The sample pairs were sheared to 18 mm of total displacement at 5 μm/s at room temperature and at effective normal stresses on the shear plane ranging from 5 to 20 MPa. Permeability evolution was measured throughout shearing via flow of distilled water from an upstream reservoir discharging downstream of the sample at atmospheric pressure. For diorite and novaculite, initial (preshear) fracture permeability is 0.5–1 × 10−14 m2 and largely independent of the applied effective normal stresses. These permeabilities correspond to equivalent hydraulic apertures of 15–20 μm. Because of the progressive formation of gouge during shear, the postshear permeability of the diorite fracture drops to a final steady value of 0.5 × 10−17 m2. The behavior is similar in novaculite but the final permeability of 0.5 × 10−16 m2 is obtained only at an effective normal stress of 20 MPa.

A comparative simulation study of coupled THM processes and their effect on fractured rock permeability around nuclear waste repositories

This paper presents an international, multiple-code, simulation study of coupled thermal, hydrological, and mechanical (THM) processes and their effect on permeability and fluid flow in fractured rock around heated underground nuclear waste emplacement drifts. Simulations were conducted considering two types of repository settings (1) open emplacement drifts in relatively shallow unsaturated volcanic rock, and (2) backfilled emplacement drifts in deeper saturated crystalline rock. The results showed that for the two assumed repository settings, the dominant mechanism of changes in rock permeability was thermal–mechanically induced closure (reduced aperture) of vertical fractures, caused by thermal stress resulting from repository-wide heating of the rock mass. The magnitude of thermal–mechanically induced changes in permeability was more substantial in the case of an emplacement drift located in a relatively shallow, low-stress environment where the rock is more compliant, allowing more substantial fracture closure during thermal stressing. However, in both of the assumed repository settings in this study, the thermal–mechanically induced changes in permeability caused relatively small changes in the flow field, with most changes occurring in the vicinity of the emplacement drifts.

Analysis of thermally induced changes in fractured rock permeability during 8 years of heating and cooling at the Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test

We analyzed a data set of thermally induced changes in fractured rock permeability during a 4-year heating (up to 200 °C) and subsequent 4-year cooling of a large volume, partially saturated and highly fractured volcanic tuff at the Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test, Nevada, USA. Permeability estimates were derived from about 700 pneumatic (air-injection) tests, taken periodically at 44 packed-off borehole intervals during the heating and cooling cycle from November 1997 through November 2005. We analyzed air-permeability data by numerical modeling of thermally induced stress and moisture movements and their impact on air permeability within the highly fractured rock. Our analysis shows that changes in air permeability during the initial 4-year heating period, which were limited to about one order of magnitude, were caused by the combined effects of thermal-mechanically induced stress on fracture aperture and thermal-hydrologically induced changes in fracture moisture content. At the end of the subsequent 4-year cooling period, air-permeability decreases (to as low as 0.2 of initial) and increases (to as high as 1.8 of initial) were observed. By comparison to the calculated thermo-hydro-elastic model results, we identified these remaining increases or decreases in air permeability as irreversible changes in intrinsic fracture permeability, consistent with either inelastic fracture shear dilation (where permeability increased) or inelastic fracture surface-asperity shortening (where permeability decreased). In this paper, we discuss the possibility that such fracture asperity shortening and associated decrease in fracture permeability might be enhanced by dissolution of highly stressed surface asperities over years of elevated stress and temperature.

Application of Strain-Induced Permeability Model in a Coupled Geomechanics-Reservoir Simulator

Abstract A fully coupled geomechanics-reservoir model is developed to simulate the directional changes in permeability due to fluid injection and production in a reservoir. The model is implemented numerically by fully coupling a geomechanics model with a single-phase reservoir flow model using the finite element method. A strain-induced permeability model is developed based on the analysis of the grain fabric of intact and sheared oil sand specimens using a thin section imaging method. It can quantify the changes in permeability when material experiences shear deformation. In addition, the directions of the principal values of permeability are not restricted to some arbitrary axes, but governed by the induced strains. Thus, the effects of stress path and stress level are implicitly considered through effective stress-strain constitutive laws. The transient pressure response of a water injection test in a horizontal well is analyzed. Parametric studies are also conducted to investigate the effects of permeability, deformability and initial stress conditions on the injection pressure. It is found that the changes in permeability resulting from dilations of the oil sands cannot be captured using the conventional permeability model as a function of volumetric strain because the volumetric strain is small. However, the strain-induced permeability model can accurately reflect the directional increase in permeability during water injection. It is shown that the induced pore pressure is relatively insensitive to the deformation modulus of the reservoir, as compared to the permeability. The initial stress condition dominates the propensity of hydraulic fracturing. Introduction Geomechanics plays a key role in accounting for rock deformations due to pore pressure and temperature changes resulting from fluid injection and production in a thermal reservoir. During fluid injection and production, absolute permeability at any given location may change in response to localized changes in stress within the rock pore system owing to changes in reservoir pressure. Pore pressure changes can, in turn, influence the effective reservoir stress (overburden pressure minus pore pressure) which can alter the pore geometry of the reservoir rock; especially the shape and dimension of the pore and the pore throats(1–7). The geomechanical behaviour of porous media has become increasingly important in deformable and fractured reservoirs. In current geomechanics-reservoir coupled simulators, the permeability of the rock is assumed to be transversely or orthogonally isotropic(8,9). In other words, the direction of flow is aligned with the pressure gradient. This simplifying assumption is not valid in many cases. For example, the permeability of fractured rock is substantially dependent on microfractures. Therefore, the dominating orientation of the fractures can make the direction of flow different from that of the pressure gradient(10). Another example of permeability anisotropy is demonstrated in thermal recovery processes, such as cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). In these thermal recovery processes, shear dilation deformation takes place in local areas due to the increase of pore pressure, thereby enhancing permeability in these areas(11,12). Clearly, an understanding of permeability anisotropy is important. However, in the petroleum literature, the permeability change of a reservoir formation subjected to deformation changes is usually determined as a function of volumetric strain or porosity, which relates to the mean or minimum effective stress.

Hydraulic properties of fractured rock masses with correlated fracture length and aperture

Permeability of fractured rocks is investigated considering the correlation between distributed fracture aperture and trace length, based on a newly developed correlation equation. The influence of the second moment of the lognormal distribution of apertures on the existence of representative elementary volume (REV), and the possibility of equivalent permeability tensor of the fractured rock mass, is examined by simulating flow through a large number of stochastic discrete fracture network (DFN) models of varying sizes and varying fracture properties. The REV size of the DFN models increases with the increase of the second moment of the lognormal distribution, for both the correlated and uncorrelated cases. The variation of overall permeability between different stochastic realizations is an order of magnitude larger when the aperture and length are correlated than when they are uncorrelated. The mean square error of the directional permeability increases with increasing value of the second moment of the lognormal distribution function, and good fitting to an ellipsis of permeability tensor can only be reached with very large sizes of DFN models, compared with the case of constant fracture aperture, regardless of fracture trace length.

A clay grouting technique for granitic rock adjacent to clay bulkhead

Excavation and re-distribution of the stress around the tunnel lead to the development of an excavation damage zone (EDZ). While the bulkheads are keyed into the rock wall of the tunnel to act as cut-offs for the EDZ of the tunnel, clay grouting was conducted around the clay bulkhead as an additional measure to interrupt the connectivity of EDZ at the bulkhead. Clay grouting is being tested to determine if it is an effective method to reduce the permeability of fractured rock. The grouting into the EDZ is difficult because many of the fractures in the EDZ are connected with the excavation surface and cannot be filled efficiently by pressurizing the grout slurry. Therefore, the in situ injection tests of the clay grouting technique for the EDZ adjacent to the clay bulkhead were conducted to demonstrate the clay grouting technique and to estimate the ability of clay grouting to reduce permeability in the EDZ. This paper presents the results of these tests. Three in situ tests of clay grouting were performed during the Tunnel Sealing Experiment (TSX), conducted at Canada’s Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in the granitic rock to demonstrate technologies for tunnel sealing at full-scale. First, a clay grouting trial was conducted at a trial key in the tunnel about 25 m above the TSX tunnel. Secondly, the two series of clay grouting were performed in the TSX tunnel, on the upstream face of the key prior to the installation of the seal material of the clay key and later on the downstream side of the bulkhead. The results of these tests indicated a reduction in the permeability of granitic rock around the holes after grouting.

Whole-Core Analysis—Experience and Challenges

Summary Whole-core analysis is critical for characterizing directional permeability in heterogeneous, fractured, and/or anisotropic rocks. Whole-core measurements are essential for heterogeneous reservoirs because small-scale heterogeneity may not be appropriately represented in plug measurements. For characterization of multiphase-flow properties (special core analysis) in heterogeneous rocks, whole-core analysis is also required. Few commercial laboratories are equipped to conduct routine measurements on whole cores up to 4 in. in diameter and up to 8 in. long and, importantly, under simulated reservoir net confining stress (NCS). Special whole-core analyses are rarely conducted because of the difficulties associated with establishing a representative water saturation in drainage capillary pressure experiments and measuring directional effective permeabilities. Electrical properties also can be measured on whole cores to determine porosity and saturation exponents for situations in which resistivity tools are used in horizontal or highly deviated wells. In this paper, we provide an overview of routine and special core-analysis measurements on whole cores. Results from selected heterogeneous sandstone and carbonate rocks will be discussed. We also will show how the results relate to data obtained from plug analysis, with particular emphasis on directional absolute permeability, trapped-gas and fluid saturations, and the effect of NCS. Finally, we will describe a novel apparatus for special core analysis on whole cores and provide examples of the capabilities of the system. In this paper, we will present: Recommended techniques for the determination of directional absolute and effective permeability and for establishing initial water saturation in whole cores. Improved understanding of the effect of scale (sample size) on the measured properties. Description of a novel whole-core apparatus with measurement of fluid-saturation distribution using in-situ saturation monitoring.

Stress-dependent permeability of fractured rock masses: a numerical study

We investigate the stress-dependent permeability issue in fractured rock masses considering the effects of nonlinear normal deformation and shear dilation of fractures using a two-dimensional distinct element method program, UDEC, based on a realistic discrete fracture network realization. A series of numerical experiments were conducted to calculate changes in the permeability of simulated fractured rock masses under various loading conditions. Numerical experiments were conducted in two ways: (1) increasing the overall stresses with a fixed ratio of horizontal to vertical stresses components; and (2) increasing the differential stresses (i.e., the difference between the horizontal and vertical stresses) while keeping the magnitude of vertical stress constant. These numerical experiments show that the permeability of fractured rocks decreases with increased stress magnitudes when the stress ratio is not large enough to cause shear dilation of fractures, whereas permeability increases with increased stress when the stress ratio is large enough. Permeability changes at low stress levels are more sensitive than at high stress levels due to the nonlinear fracture normal stress-displacement relation. Significant stress-induced channeling is observed as the shear dilation causes the concentration of fluid flow along connected shear fractures. Anisotropy of permeability emerges with the increase of differential stresses, and this anisotropy can become more prominent with the influence of shear dilation and localized flow paths. A set of empirical equations in closed-form, accounting for both normal closure and shear dilation of the fractures, is proposed to model the stress-dependent permeability. These equations prove to be in good agreement with the results obtained from our numerical experiments.

Determining the permeability of fractured rocks based on joint mapping.

A typical fractured rock mass is intersected by several sets of discontinuities, which provide the main flowpath for ground water. Due to the limitations of data obtained by conventional field measurements, it is often difficult to estimate the anisotropic permeability tensor associated with the joints existing in the rock mass. For that reason, determining permeability tensors for fractured rocks is an important topic in rock mass hydraulics. Based on field surveys, joint parameters can be analyzed by using probabilistic and statistical tools, and three-dimensional mapping of the jointed rock mass. Through analysis of a single joint's hydraulic characteristics, the principal value of the permeability tensor for the jointed rock mass can be determined by using Monte Carlo methods and the searching percolation trace method, which is developed in this paper. The study reports on practical examples demonstrating that results from the methods discussed in this paper are in agreement with those from field hydrogeological surveys and measurements.

Critical stress-related permeability in fractured rocks

Abstract Conventional wisddom has always assumed that fluids prefer to flow along fractures that are orientated parallel to the maximum in-situ horizontal stress direction. These fractures have the lowest normal stresses across them and therefore provide the least resistance to flow movement. However more recent work (Barton et al. 1995) has suggested that those fractures that are orientated such that they experience a high ratio of shear to normal stress are most likely to flow. These critically stressed fractures are in a state of stress that is close to failure, allowing them to undergo a degree of shear. Even small shear displacements can cause significant dilation along a fracture surface as the two surfaces un-mate during sliding. This dilation results in a significant increase in fracture permeability, resulting in an increase in flow from these features. A review of past work reveals that this shear mechanism may be more important than previously thought. A case study from Sellafield in the UK is presented, where the critical stress technique has been successfully applied for predicting zones of enhanced permeability at the well scale. Difficulties for implementing the technique on a wider field wide scale are discussed.

The scaling of hydraulic conductivity in rock fracture zones

Beyond the scale of a few meters, fracture traces as viewed on aerial photographs represent fracture zones. Thus for bulk fractured rock permeability, the hydraulic properties of fracture zones are important. Here, observations on joint zones in sandstones from western Norway are used to build a quantitative model relating joint zone length and effective hydraulic conductivity. Using simple rules for hydraulic conductors in series and parallel applied to joint zone geometry, the ‘effective’ hydraulic aperture (the aperture of a single parallel‐walled channel that conducts the same flow) is estimated for 72 joint zones of known length. A power law relation between trace length, l, and effective hydraulic aperture, be, with an effective exponent of around 0.27 is found which may extend to km scales. This exponent contrasts with values of 0.5 to 2.0 reported for veins.

Triaxial equipment for measuring the permeability and strength of intact and fractured rocks

Triaxial equipment for measuring the permeability and strength of intact and fractured rocks

Characteristics of microseismic events induced during hydraulic fracturing experiments at the Hijiori hot dry rock geothermal energy site, Yamagata, Japan

Microseismicity accompanying hydraulic injection experiments at the Hijiori hot dry rock site was monitored by a network of ten borehole seismic stations deployed at an average distance of 2 km from the injection well. While expanding hydraulic fractures are almost aseismic, they can induce microseismic events. These events are probably caused by shear failures induced by high pore fluid pressures occurring on planes of weakness in the rock surrounding the main hydraulic fracture. Thus we can use these induced events to locate the hydraulic fracture and follow its growth. Microseismic events induced during the 1988 hydraulic fracturing experiment with a high injection pressure were located near the injection point in the early stage of the experiment and clearly migrated towards the east and distributed along a vertical plane. The strike of seismicity is nearly parallel to the direction of the maximum principal stress. The vertical orientation and east–west strike of the seismic events are essentially coplanar with the caldera ring-fault structure in the southern portion of the Hijiori Caldera. This indicates that a preexisting fracture zone was being re-opened and developed in the direction of the maximum principal stress, although microseismic events were caused by shear failures. The space–time distribution of the microseismic events shows that the events migrated at a rate proportional to time to the power 2/3. Assuming that migration of events is attributed to fracture propagation, the propagation of the hydraulically stimulated fracture can be explained by one of two petroleum industry models tested. Seismicity accompanying the 1989 circulation test with a low injection pressure was diffuse and showed a seismic cloud. The permeability was estimated from the hypocenter migration as 10 −16 m 2, which is intermediate between the permeability of core samples of granodiorite taken from the production well and the permeability of fractured rocks obtained by an injection test between the injection well and the production well. It is therefore concluded that the seismic cloud accompanying the circulation test is due to the permeation of water into joints which slip when the effective stress is reduced by the increased pore fluid pressure accompanying the hydraulic injection. Microseismic events occur and migrate along those joints.

Chalk fracture system characteristics: implications for flow and solute transport

Abstract Bulk groundwater flow and solute advection occur in the fractures of the UK Chalk, and a knowledge of the frequency and aperture of these fractures is crucial to understanding these two key processes in the Chalk. Fracture frequencies in the Chalk of southeast England have been assessed regionally by means of outcrop scanline measurements. Measurements of radon dissolved in Chalk groundwaters allow the estimation of fracture apertures in the saturated zone. These data provide valuable controls on the conceptualization and estimation of hydraulic properties for the Chalk aquifer. In particular, standard hydraulic models of fractured rock permeability applied on the basis of these data are shown to be insufficient to explain the higher permeabilities measured in the unconfined Chalk beneath valley axes. In these settings, conduit flow mechanisms must be invoked; this in turn implies that modifications to standard matrix diffusion models are required to describe solute transport accurately.

Pore pressure profiles in fractured and compliant rocks1

AbstractFluid permeability in fractured rocks is sensitive to pore‐pressure changes. This dependence can have large effects on the flow of fluids through rocks. We define the permeability compliance γ= 1/k(k/δpp)pc, which is the sensitivity of the permeability k to the pore pressure pp at a constant confining pressure pc, and solve the specific problems of constant pressure at the boundary of a half‐space, a cylindrical cavity and a spherical cavity. The results show that when the magnitude of permeability compliance is large relative to other compliances, diffusion is masked by a piston‐like pressure profile. We expect this phenomenon to occur in highly fractured and compliant rock systems where γ may be large. The pressure profile moves rapidly when fluids are pumped into the rock and very slowly when fluids are pumped out. Consequently, fluid pressure, its history and distribution around injection and production wells may be significantly different from pressures predicted by the linear diffusion equation. The propagation speed of the pressure profile, marked by the point where δpp/δx is a maximum, decreases with time approximately as and the amplitude of the profile also dissipates with time (or distance).The effect of permeability compliance can be important for fluid injection into and withdrawal from reservoirs. For example, excessive drawdown could cause near‐wellbore flow suffocation. Also, estimates of the storage capacity of reservoirs may be greatly modified when γ is large. The large near‐wellbore pressure gradients caused during withdrawal by large γ can cause sanding and wellbore collapse due to excessive production rates.

Radon anomalies on three kinds of faults in California

Radon emanation is known to be anomalously high along active faults in many parts of the world. We tested this relationship in California during July and early August 1992, using a portable radonmeter to conduct soil-air radon surveys at 5 sites across three kinds of faults: Creeping, locked, and freshly broken. Along a 350-m long survey line across a creeping segment of the San Andreas fault at Nyland Ranch in San Juan Bautista, we found anomalous radon concentrations not in the creep zone itself as determined by a creepmeter, but on the adjacent sides, 10 and 30 meters from the center line of the fault. The anomalous values were 5 times higher than the background values measured farther away from the fault. A similar radon anomaly was observed along a 420-m long survey line across a creeping segment of the Calaveras fault near 7th Street in Hollister. There, the anomalous values were about 6 to 11 times the background values and about 40 and 50 m from the center line of the fault. The double-peaked featire of the anomalies may be indicative of a relatively low gas permeability of the fault-gouge materials in the creeping zones and high permeability of fractured rocks in the adjacent shear zones. Along a 144-m survey line across the currently locked segment of the San Andreas fault at the Earthquake Trail near Olema, the radon concentration was indeed anomalously high in the fault zone, by a factor of two above background values. However, the maximum values (3 to 6 times background) again were recorded about 10 meters from the center line. Three weeks after the magnitude 7.5 Landers earthquake of 28 June 1992, we conducted a survey along a 300-m line across the earthquake fault alongside Encantado Road in the epicenter area. The radon values measured at the two main fault breaks were an order of magnitude higher than the background values. A similar result was found along a 420-m line alongside Reche Road about 1.7 km south of Encantado Road.

Shear wave birefringence and directional permeability in fractured rock : Xu, S; King, M S Sci DrillingV1, N1, 1989, P27–33

Shear wave birefringence and directional permeability in fractured rock : Xu, S; King, M S Sci DrillingV1, N1, 1989, P27–33

Shear-wave birefringence and directional permeability in fractured rock : King, M S; Xu, S Proc International Symposium on Rock at Great Depth, Pau, 28–31 August 1989 V1, P265–272. Publ Rotterdam: A A Balkema, 1989

Shear-wave birefringence and directional permeability in fractured rock : King, M S; Xu, S Proc International Symposium on Rock at Great Depth, Pau, 28–31 August 1989 V1, P265–272. Publ Rotterdam: A A Balkema, 1989

Stochastic continuum representation of fractured rock permeability as an alternative to the REV and fracture network concepts : Neuman, SP Proc NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Advances in Analytical and Numerical Groundwater Flow and Quality Modelling, Lisbon, 2–6 June 1987P331–362. Publ Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987

Stochastic continuum representation of fractured rock permeability as an alternative to the REV and fracture network concepts : Neuman, SP Proc NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Advances in Analytical and Numerical Groundwater Flow and Quality Modelling, Lisbon, 2–6 June 1987P331–362. Publ Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987

886141 Permeability changes during shear deformation of fractured rock : Teufel, L W Proc 28th US Symposium on Rock Mechanics, Tucson, 29 June–1 July 1987P473–480. Publ Rotterdam: A A Balkema, 1987

The effect of shear deformation on the permeability of fractured rock has been investigated in drained triaxial compression experiments on prefractured samples of Coconino sandstone. These experiments show that permeability across a fracture decreases with increasing shear deformation because of localized deformation along the fractures and the evolution of a gouge zone. Petrographic observations show a progressive decrease in grain size and porosity of the gouge zone with increasing shear displacement. With increasing normal stress there is a more rapid reduction in grain size and a higher degree of compaction of the gouge per increment of shear displacement, which results in a faster decline in permeability during sliding. Although not tested in this study, the observed localized microfracture zone immediately adjacent to the sliding surface suggests that a narrow channel of high permeability parallel to the fracture might also develop during shear deformation.