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

Title: Saturated permeability measurements on pumice and welded-tuffaceous materials

Abstract

An experimental apparatus was designed and built to allow water-saturated permeabilities as low as 10{sup -18} m{sup 2} to be measured on cores of diameter 5 cm and length 10 cm under steady-state flow conditions. This same apparatus can also be utilized in a transient (pressure-decay) mode in order to measure permeabilities several orders of magnitude lower than the steady-state limit. Tests were conducted on samples of pumice, fractured welded tuff, and welded tuff, representing a permeability range of seven orders of magnitude. Based on present measurements and calculations, the following results were obtained: Liquid-saturated permeability of the pumice core from Mount St. Helens was 2.76 x 10{sup -12} m{sup 2}; the corresponding Ergun constant was 4.43 x 10{sup 11} kg/m{sup 4}. The ultimate compressive strength of this material was found to be greater than 1.8 MPa, but less than 3.6 MPa; liquid-saturated permeability of the unfractured welded-tuff core was 5.6 x 10{sup -19} m{sup 2}; liquid-saturated permeability for the fractured welded-tuff core was found to decay to 2 x 10{sup -18} m{sup 2} after long-time-scale exposures to continuous-flow and applied-load conditions, independent of the initial fracture state (open vs closed); with an initially closed (naturally existing) fracture, core permeabilitymore » decreased by a factor of about 2 over a 200-h test period; with an initially open fracture, core permeability decreased by a factor of about 4 under the influence of a comparable load-time history to that experienced in the natural-fracture test; final core permeability was found to be reduced by an order of magnitude from its initial level during a total 700-h test period; and the final effective hydraulic fracture aperture was calculated to be 10{sup -6} m for both tests on the fractured welded-tuff core; the final effective fracture permeability was calculated to be 10{sup -13} m{sup 2}, five orders of magnitude greater than the matrix-material prmeability. 28 references, 10 figur« less

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
59567
Report Number(s):
SAND-84-0126C; CONF-850101-1
ON: DE85001358
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-76DP00789
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Conference: International congress on hydrology of rocks of low permeability, Tucson, AZ (United States), 7-12 Jan 1985; Other Information: PBD: 1985
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 05 NUCLEAR FUELS; TUFF; PERMEABILITY; PUMICE; FRACTURES; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; TIME DEPENDENCE; Yucca Mountain Project

Citation Formats

Reda, D C, and Hadley, G R. Saturated permeability measurements on pumice and welded-tuffaceous materials. United States: N. p., 1985. Web.
Reda, D C, & Hadley, G R. Saturated permeability measurements on pumice and welded-tuffaceous materials. United States.
Reda, D C, and Hadley, G R. 1985. "Saturated permeability measurements on pumice and welded-tuffaceous materials". United States.
@article{osti_59567,
title = {Saturated permeability measurements on pumice and welded-tuffaceous materials},
author = {Reda, D C and Hadley, G R},
abstractNote = {An experimental apparatus was designed and built to allow water-saturated permeabilities as low as 10{sup -18} m{sup 2} to be measured on cores of diameter 5 cm and length 10 cm under steady-state flow conditions. This same apparatus can also be utilized in a transient (pressure-decay) mode in order to measure permeabilities several orders of magnitude lower than the steady-state limit. Tests were conducted on samples of pumice, fractured welded tuff, and welded tuff, representing a permeability range of seven orders of magnitude. Based on present measurements and calculations, the following results were obtained: Liquid-saturated permeability of the pumice core from Mount St. Helens was 2.76 x 10{sup -12} m{sup 2}; the corresponding Ergun constant was 4.43 x 10{sup 11} kg/m{sup 4}. The ultimate compressive strength of this material was found to be greater than 1.8 MPa, but less than 3.6 MPa; liquid-saturated permeability of the unfractured welded-tuff core was 5.6 x 10{sup -19} m{sup 2}; liquid-saturated permeability for the fractured welded-tuff core was found to decay to 2 x 10{sup -18} m{sup 2} after long-time-scale exposures to continuous-flow and applied-load conditions, independent of the initial fracture state (open vs closed); with an initially closed (naturally existing) fracture, core permeability decreased by a factor of about 2 over a 200-h test period; with an initially open fracture, core permeability decreased by a factor of about 4 under the influence of a comparable load-time history to that experienced in the natural-fracture test; final core permeability was found to be reduced by an order of magnitude from its initial level during a total 700-h test period; and the final effective hydraulic fracture aperture was calculated to be 10{sup -6} m for both tests on the fractured welded-tuff core; the final effective fracture permeability was calculated to be 10{sup -13} m{sup 2}, five orders of magnitude greater than the matrix-material prmeability. 28 references, 10 figur},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/59567}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1985},
month = {Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1985}
}

Technical Report:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that may hold this item. Keep in mind that many technical reports are not cataloged in WorldCat.

Save / Share: