End effects on stress dependent permeability measurements

Permeability changes have been studied under deviatoric stresses for chalk cores and under both hydrostatic- and deviatoric stresses for sandstone cores at room temperature. To avoid end effects in the triaxial cell, caused by friction between the axial steel pistons and the sample, the cell was modified to have pressure outlets from the mid-section of the sample with pressure tubes connected to the outside of the cell for pressure recording. Both permeabilities over the mid-section and over the total core were determined during the action of stresses. The chalk cores with permeability in the range of 1–3 × 10^− 15 m² and porosity of about 40–45% were flooded with methanol, while the sandstone cores with permeability values varying from 8 to 100 × 10^− 15 m² and porosity of about 30% were flooded with a mineral oil. Major observations were:

(1) For the chalk cores, 4 out of 8 samples showed a mid-section permeability with a factor of 1.2 to 1.4 higher than the overall permeability, the remaining 4 samples did not show differences in permeability values taking into account the error on measurements.

(2) For the sandstone samples, the mid-section permeability was a factor of 1.2 to 2.4 higher than the overall permeability.

(3) In all cases during the deviatoric phase, the change in permeability was rather small, even if the tests were run beyond the yield point.

(4) The permeability generally decreased with increasing hydrostatic stresses.

Deformation Behavior of Chalk Studied Close to In Situ Reservoir Conditions

A laboratory test program, which simulated reservoir conditions of pressure and temperature, was conducted on outcrop and reservoir chalk samples of various porosities. All the samples experienced a stress path following uniaxial strain condition K ₀ that led to compaction failure, i.e. pore collapse. The experiments were loaded by depletion of pore pressure conducted under load controlled conditions. This depletion phase was followed by a creep period, where time-dependent deformation was monitored. The intention of creating such reservoir condition in these laboratory experiments was to gain knowledge of the nature of chalk compaction. Chalk is an important reservoir rock for the oil and gas industry with unique storage capability with porosities up toward 50%. However, this rock is also very weak which has resulted in significant reservoir compaction and in turn severe seabed subsidence and casing failure. Mapping of the mechanical behavior of chalk in terms of deformation is thus decisive for a proper understanding of these reservoirs. The results of this study show that chalk is indeed a rate-dependent material under laboratory loading conditions as time effects were revealed as the loading rate was varied. However, the results raise uncertainty about the importance of rate dependency for chalk under completely drained conditions. Further, such high-porosity chalk suffers for substantial plastic strains and obvious strain hardening. Indeed, a relation between deformation/porosity and hardening is proposed by the introduction of real-time modulus values. Time-dependent deformation, also called creep was influenced by the depletion phase, as consolidation or transient creep influenced the deformation response for as much as 175 h after a change in load. This indicates that transient creep is dependent on the stress history. However, observations suggest the existence of a universal mechanism for steady state creep, governed by neither the initial porosity nor the stress history or chalk type, which thus seems to be an independent strain contributor. Finally, time dependence is found on the K ₀ development for chalk tested at typically laboratory rates, which has been discussed as a reflection of the nature of the grain re-arrangement during failure and plastic deformation. Ultimately, such time dependence of the K ₀ may contribute to the understanding of stress path data deduced from field data.     

Effect of multilayered groundwater mounds on water dynamics beneath a recharge basin: Numerical simulation and assessment of surface injection

Interactions between groundwater mounds caused by a geologic layer contrast affect the efficiency of managed aquifer recharge in arid areas. However, research has rarely examined the roles of groundwater mounding size variations on soil water dynamics in a stratified vadose zone in response to a sustained infiltration source. Numerical experiments were conducted on a two-dimensional vertical-section domain using HYDRUS software to simulate the behaviours of two adjacent (upper and lower) groundwater mounds underlying an infiltration basin subjected to clay loam and sandy alternately-layered soil profiles. The model successfully predicted the volume and extent of perched water and approximated vertical travel times during events generating downward fluxes from the surface injection. The response time of the mounding width (lateral extension) to the surface injection was delayed as compared to that of the mounding height (vertical extension), especially for the lower water mound. The mounding heights and widths show a strongly positive correlation with the infiltration rates of both high- and low-permeability layers where the injected water mounded, while the water storage amounts in the high- and low-permeability layers were governed by the mounding height and width, respectively. Exploratory simulations were then employed to assess the dependence of groundwater mounding behaviours and recharge performances on surface injection strategies. Results suggest that, by reducing injection rate or shortening injection duration, the near-term fraction of the surface injection converted to deep recharge is likely to be increased due to the narrowed groundwater mounding size, which would be limited by the water-retarding effect of layer contrasts. This study has important implications for predicting and understanding multilayered groundwater mounding behaviours and associated water mass balance under the geologic stratification, and is expected to aid in optimizing the infiltration basin operation for aquifer recharge.     

A New Large-Eddy Simulation Model for Simulating Air Flow and Warm Clouds Above Highly Complex Terrain. Part II: The Moist Model and its Application to Banner Clouds

In Part I the dry version of a new large-eddy simulation (LES) model was presented that is specifically designed to simulate air flow and clouds above highly complex terrain. Here the implemented moisture physics are described and a new method for the generation of turbulent inflow conditions for meteorological LES is proposed. As a typical area of application the new model is applied to simulate banner clouds developing downwind of pyramidal mountain peaks. Banner clouds are shown to be primarily a dynamical phenomenon, and form in the lee of steep mountain peaks as a result of dynamically forced lee upslope flow. Due to the highly asymmetric flow field induced by the extreme orography, banner clouds can form even under horizontally homogeneous initial conditions regarding both moisture and temperature. Thus, additional leeward moisture sources, distinct air masses on both windward and leeward sides, or radiation effects are no prerequisite for banner-cloud formation. The probability of banner-cloud formation increases with increasing obstacle height and steepness and is, to a first approximation, independent of the pyramid’s orientation. Simulations with and without moisture physics reveal that, for the set-up chosen, moisture is of only secondary importance for banner-cloud dynamics. The reinforcement of lee upslope flow and corresponding cloud formation due to latent heat release turns out to be almost negligible. Nevertheless moisture physics are shown to induce a dipole-like structure in the vertical profile of the Brunt-Väisälä frequency, which in turn leads to a moderate increase in leeward turbulence.