0000000001251590
AUTHOR
Paul Marschall
Experimental analysis of the water retention behaviour of shales
Shales are among the most commonly considered geomaterials in current energy-related geomechanical investigations, as they are involved in engineering applications such as the unconventional extraction of natural gas, CO2 sequestration and nuclear waste geological storage. A deep understanding of their behaviour with regard to variations in the degree of saturation is of primary significance for such applications. With the aim to establish a sound protocol for shale retention behaviour analysis, this paper presents an advanced experimental methodology that takes into account the specificities of shales such as small pore size dimensions and the large variations in water potential to be appl…
Characterization of gas flow through low-permeability claystone: laboratory experiments and two-phase flow analyses
For the characterization of gas migration through a low-permeability clay host rock for deep underground repositories, a comprehensive understanding of the relevant phenomena of gas and fluid flow through low-permeability clay is required. The National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) in Switzerland has developed a comprehensive programme to characterize gas flow in low-permeability Opalinus Clay through laboratory tests and detailed numerical analyses for developing appropriate constitutive models. Laboratory tests were performed on cores by two different laboratories, the Laboratory for Soil Mechanics at EPFL and the Department of Geotechnical Engineering and Geos…