Finite Element Analysis of Transient Pulse Method for Permeability Measurements

Abstract

There are various methods to measure the permeability of rocks in literature. Among these methods, Transient Pulse Method proposed by Brace et al. (1968) has been widely used for rocks with low permeability in recent years. When the experimental relations of elapsed time with pressure difference between at the ends of a specimen are used to obtain the permeability of rocks, the compressibility of intrinsic rock material and fluid is not taken into account. Therefore, it is natural to expect that computed permeability values may be different from actual values. In this article, the author proposes a finite element method to model the transient pulse method by taking into account the compressibility of intrinsic rock material and fluid and investigate its effect on the computed permeability values through a series of parametric analyses and simulations of permeability tests.