Experimental Investigation of Wave Velocity-Permeability Model for Granite Subjected to Different Temperature Processing

Abstract

Understanding the change of permeability of rocks before and after heating is of great significance for exploitation of hydrocarbon resources and disposal of nuclear waste. The rock permeability under high temperature cannot be measured with most of the existing methods. In this paper, quality, wave velocity, and permeability of granite specimen from Maluanshan tunnel are measured after high temperature processing. Quality and wave velocity of granite decrease and permeability of granite increases with increasing temperature. Using porosity as the medium, a new wave velocity-permeability model is established with modified wave velocity-porosity formula and Kozeny-Carman formula. Under some given wave velocities and corresponding permeabilities through experiment, the permeabilities at different temperatures and wave velocities can be obtained. By comparing the experimental and the theoretical results, the proposed formulas are verified. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is performed to examine the effect of particle size, wave velocities in rock matrix, and pore fluid on permeability: permeability increases with increasing particle size, wave velocities in rock matrix, and pore fluid; the higher the rock wave velocity, the lower the effect of wave velocities in rock matrix and pore fluid on permeability.