Stress-Permeability Dependence in Geomaterials from Laboratory Testing of Cylindrical Specimens with Central Hole

Abstract

The laboratory setup is designed and manufactured to carry out permeability tests of cylindrical specimens with central hole modeling performance conditions of real producing wells under nonuniform stresses. The series of tests is accomplished with artificial specimens made of medium-grain sand conditioned by cryogel. The empirical dependence of permeability on effective stress is found; it is approximated by an exponential function with coefficient α = 0.0021 MPa⁻¹, which is an order of magnitude higher than α estimated based on compressibility of geomaterials and rocks.