Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability

Fluid flow in rocks has a key role in many geological processes, such as in geothermal reservoirs and crustal deformation. Permeability is known to be dependent on porosity and flow path aperture, but direct quantification of pore structures is more difficult than direct estimation of permeability....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kazumasa Sueyoshi, Tadashi Yokoyama, Ikuo Katayama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Geofluids
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8818293
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832547653619023872
author Kazumasa Sueyoshi
Tadashi Yokoyama
Ikuo Katayama
author_facet Kazumasa Sueyoshi
Tadashi Yokoyama
Ikuo Katayama
author_sort Kazumasa Sueyoshi
collection DOAJ
description Fluid flow in rocks has a key role in many geological processes, such as in geothermal reservoirs and crustal deformation. Permeability is known to be dependent on porosity and flow path aperture, but direct quantification of pore structures is more difficult than direct estimation of permeability. The gas breakthrough method can be used to determine the radius of transport pores by using the gas pressure at which gas breaks through a water-saturated sample (ΔPbreak). In this study, we applied the gas breakthrough method under confining pressure to damaged granite, in order to evaluate the relationship between permeability and pore characteristics (i.e., porosity and transport flow path aperture) at pressures up to 30 MPa. The transport flow path aperture, permeability, and porosity of thermally cracked granite decrease with increasing confining pressure. We quantified the relationship between permeability and pore characteristics, which provides a better estimation of permeability by taking into account the fraction of hydraulically connected cracks.
format Article
id doaj-art-9601622b9f604011833494cd7178da7f
institution Kabale University
issn 1468-8115
1468-8123
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geofluids
spelling doaj-art-9601622b9f604011833494cd7178da7f2025-02-03T06:43:52ZengWileyGeofluids1468-81151468-81232020-01-01202010.1155/2020/88182938818293Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and PermeabilityKazumasa Sueyoshi0Tadashi Yokoyama1Ikuo Katayama2Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, JapanGraduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, JapanGraduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, JapanFluid flow in rocks has a key role in many geological processes, such as in geothermal reservoirs and crustal deformation. Permeability is known to be dependent on porosity and flow path aperture, but direct quantification of pore structures is more difficult than direct estimation of permeability. The gas breakthrough method can be used to determine the radius of transport pores by using the gas pressure at which gas breaks through a water-saturated sample (ΔPbreak). In this study, we applied the gas breakthrough method under confining pressure to damaged granite, in order to evaluate the relationship between permeability and pore characteristics (i.e., porosity and transport flow path aperture) at pressures up to 30 MPa. The transport flow path aperture, permeability, and porosity of thermally cracked granite decrease with increasing confining pressure. We quantified the relationship between permeability and pore characteristics, which provides a better estimation of permeability by taking into account the fraction of hydraulically connected cracks.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8818293
spellingShingle Kazumasa Sueyoshi
Tadashi Yokoyama
Ikuo Katayama
Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability
Geofluids
title Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability
title_full Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability
title_fullStr Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability
title_full_unstemmed Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability
title_short Experimental Measurement of the Transport Flow Path Aperture in Thermally Cracked Granite and the Relationship between Pore Structure and Permeability
title_sort experimental measurement of the transport flow path aperture in thermally cracked granite and the relationship between pore structure and permeability
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8818293
work_keys_str_mv AT kazumasasueyoshi experimentalmeasurementofthetransportflowpathapertureinthermallycrackedgraniteandtherelationshipbetweenporestructureandpermeability
AT tadashiyokoyama experimentalmeasurementofthetransportflowpathapertureinthermallycrackedgraniteandtherelationshipbetweenporestructureandpermeability
AT ikuokatayama experimentalmeasurementofthetransportflowpathapertureinthermallycrackedgraniteandtherelationshipbetweenporestructureandpermeability