Experimental Study of Fracture Permeability in Porous Rock

Fluid flow through fractured porous subsurface reservoirs is an important but often unquantified property. The necessary quantification of this flow is achieved by both laboratory and field measurements. Laboratory experiments of the effect of temperature and confining pressure on permeability in Navajo Sandstone indicate that simulated fractures in porous rock (1) have a higher percentage rate of permeability decline with depth than whole rock, (2) experience a greater degree of permanent deformation with depth than whole rock, (3) are healed effectively when fracture permeabilty approaches that of the whole rock, and (4) experience a reduction in permeability dependent on the macroscopic ductility and previous maximum depth of burial of the host sandstone.