skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Porosity, permeability, and their relationship in granite, basalt, and tuff

Abstract

This report discusses the porosity, storage, and permeability of fractured (mainly crystalline) rock types proposed as host rock for nuclear waste repositories. The emphasis is on the inter-relationships of these properties, but a number of reported measurements are included as well. The porosity of rock is shown to consist of fracture porosity and matrix porosity; techniques are described for determining the total interconnected porosity through both laboratory and field measurement. Permeability coefficient, as obtained by experiments ranging from laboratory to crustal scale, is discussed. Finally, the problem of determining the relationship between porosity and permeability is discussed. There is no simple, all encompassing relationship that describes the dependence of permeability upon porosity. However, two particular cases have been successfully analyzed: flow through a single rough fracture, and flow through isotropic porous rock. These two cases are discussed in this report.

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
INTERA Environmental Consultants, Inc., Houston, TX (USA)
OSTI Identifier:
6116963
Report Number(s):
ONWI-458
ON: DE83011519
DOE Contract Number:  
AC06-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; BASALT; PERMEABILITY; POROSITY; GRANITES; TUFF; FLUID FLOW; FRACTURES; PRESSURE DEPENDENCE; TEMPERATURE EFFECTS; FAILURES; IGNEOUS ROCKS; PLUTONIC ROCKS; ROCKS; VOLCANIC ROCKS; 580300* - Mineralogy, Petrology, & Rock Mechanics- (-1989); 052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage

Citation Formats

. Porosity, permeability, and their relationship in granite, basalt, and tuff. United States: N. p., 1983. Web. doi:10.2172/6116963.
. Porosity, permeability, and their relationship in granite, basalt, and tuff. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/6116963
. 1983. "Porosity, permeability, and their relationship in granite, basalt, and tuff". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/6116963. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6116963.
@article{osti_6116963,
title = {Porosity, permeability, and their relationship in granite, basalt, and tuff},
author = {},
abstractNote = {This report discusses the porosity, storage, and permeability of fractured (mainly crystalline) rock types proposed as host rock for nuclear waste repositories. The emphasis is on the inter-relationships of these properties, but a number of reported measurements are included as well. The porosity of rock is shown to consist of fracture porosity and matrix porosity; techniques are described for determining the total interconnected porosity through both laboratory and field measurement. Permeability coefficient, as obtained by experiments ranging from laboratory to crustal scale, is discussed. Finally, the problem of determining the relationship between porosity and permeability is discussed. There is no simple, all encompassing relationship that describes the dependence of permeability upon porosity. However, two particular cases have been successfully analyzed: flow through a single rough fracture, and flow through isotropic porous rock. These two cases are discussed in this report.},
doi = {10.2172/6116963},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6116963}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1983},
month = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1983}
}