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On Pressure Pulse Techniques for Testing Low Permeability Geological Materials and Formations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

M. Zhang  and
M. Takeda
M. Zhang
Affiliation:
Research Center for Deep Geological Environments, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8567, JAPAN
M. Takeda
Affiliation:
Research Center for Deep Geological Environments, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8567, JAPAN
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Abstract

The accurate hydraulic characterization of low permeability geological materials and formations has important practical implications, such as the geological disposal of radioactive nuclear waste. In this paper, we discuss pressure pulse techniques, which are methods that are commonly adopted both in the laboratory and in situ for testing low permeability geological materials and formations. The results obtained in this study illustrate that: 1) the use of nominal values for water compressibility will lead to significant underestimation of permeability from the pressure pulse tests; 2) specific storage is also an important parameter that should be evaluated simultaneously with permeability; 3) to shorten the time required to measure low permeability in the laboratory, it is advisable to use disk-shaped specimens; 4) when a geological formation is anisotropic, the value of permeability calculated using an isotropic model is between the maximum and minimum permeabilities of the geological formation; 5) the values of permeability and specific storage derived from an in situ pressure pulse test may only reflect the hydraulic properties of the domain closely surrounding the test well. Caution should be exercised when interpreting data derived from the pressure pulse tests for the purpose of safety assessment.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 807: Symposium Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVII , 2003 , 545
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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