Measurement of Aperture Distribution, Capillary Pressure, Relative Permeability and Saturation in a Rock Fracture Using CT Scanning
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- We developed an experimental technique that uses CT scanning to provide high resolution measurements of aperture distribution and in-situ saturation along with capillary pressure and relative permeability for the same rough-walled fracture. We applied this technique to an induced fracture in a cylindrical basalt core under going air/water drainage. The sum of the liquid and gas relative permeabilities was much less than 1 at intermediate saturations and krw showed a sharp change over a narrow range of average water saturations. In-situ saturation maps showed channeling of air and significant retention of the wetting phase (water). Capillary pressures exhibited non-monotonic variation with water saturation. Examination of the saturation maps indicated that decreases in the capillary pressure with increasing air saturation are due to the local rearrangement of fluid under the influence of both capillary and viscous forces. This suggests that a macroscopic capillary pressure, based theoretically on considerations of capillary equilibrium, may be inadequate for describing fracture flow.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 1999 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Bertels, Stephanie Petra |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Blunt, Martin |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of Petroleum Engineering |
Subjects
| Subject | School of Earth Energy & Environmental Sciences |
|---|---|
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Bertels, Stephanie Petra. (1999). Measurement of Aperture Distribution, Capillary Pressure, Relative Permeability and Saturation in a Rock Fracture Using CT Scanning. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/jq221dh9354
Collection
Master's Theses, Doerr School of Sustainability
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- brannerlibrary@stanford.edu
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