IN-SITU HYDRAULIC TESTING OF LOW

PERMEABILITY MATERIALS
Dr Martin Preene, Preene Groundwater Consulting, UK
Stephan Rohs, Golder Associates, Germany

www.preene.com
 SYNOPSIS

Definitions and current UK

practice
Specialist applications
Test equipment
Test interpretation
Conclusion

www.preene.com
 PRACTICE PROFILE

Preene Groundwater Consulting is the Professional Practice of Dr

Martin Preene and provides specialist advice and design services in the
fields of dewatering, groundwater engineering and hydrogeology to
clients worldwide

Dr Martin Preene has more than 25 years experience on projects

worldwide in the investigation, design, installation and operation of
groundwater control and dewatering systems. He is widely published on
dewatering and groundwater control and is the author of the UK
industry guidance on dewatering (CIRIA Report C515 Groundwater
Control Design and Practice) as well as a dewatering text book
(Groundwater Lowering in Construction: A Practical Guide to
Dewatering)

www.preene.com
 DEFINITION OF PERMEABILITY

Hydraulic conductivity is a measure of how easily water can pass

through soil or rock. Also known as coefficient of permeability or
permeability
Symbol k
Units of velocity metres/sec, metres/day
Very wide range of values in natural soils and rocks,10 -2 to 10-11 m/s
Hydraulic conductivity depends on the properties of the soil/rock
and the properties of water. The viscosity of water varies with
temperature, so hydraulic conductivity will vary with temperature

www.preene.com
 DEFINITION OF HYDRAULIC TESTING

The goal of hydraulic testing is to characterize the hydraulic

properties of the system composed of the borehole and
geological formation
Formation properties: Borehole properties:
Permeability Wellbore storage coefficient
Static formation pressure
Flow model

Near wellbore properties:

Skin

www.preene.com
 DEFINITION OF HYDRAULIC TESTING

Hydraulic properties (including permeability) cannot

be measured directly

They are derived from the hydraulic reaction

(variation of pressure and/or flow) of the system:
Pressure (P) in the test interval as function of time P = f1(t)

Flow rate (q) of the test interval as function of time q = f2(t)

www.preene.com
DEFINITION OF HYDRAULIC TESTING

www.preene.com
 CURRENT UK GEOTECHNICAL PRACTICE

Current (and historic) UK practice is defined in BS5930:1999 (amended 2010)

Falling
head

Variable and Packer injection

constant head tests tests (sometimes
in boreholes, referred to as
typically analysed Lugeon tests)
by the methods of
Hvorslev (1951)

Rising
head

www.preene.com
 CURRENT UK GEOTECHNICAL PRACTICE

Analysis methods are based on references from the 1950s and 1960s
New standards (related to Eurocode 7) have being
developed for permeability testing for geotechnical
purposes
BS EN ISO 22282 Geohydraulic Tests
Part 1. General rules
Part 2. Water permeability test in borehole without packer
Part 3. Water pressure test in rock
Part 4. Pumping tests
Part 5. Infiltrometer tests
Part 6. Closed packer systems
The new standards use similar methods of analysis to
BS5930
More sophisticated methods of testing and analysis have
been developed outside the geotechnical industry

www.preene.com
 APPLICATIONS FOR SPECIALIST TESTING

The specialist testing and interpretation methods described in

this presentation are derived from methods used in reservoir
engineering in the oil and gas industries
Potential applications related to construction and geotechnics
include:
Nuclear repository engineering
High specification cut-off walls
Critical consolidation analyses
Unconventional gas (shale gas) development
Gas storage caverns
Deep geothermal systems

www.preene.com
 TEST DESIGN

In moderate to high permeability

environments constant rate tests and/or slug
tests are appropriate
In low permeability environments the choice
of viable test methods is limited:
Very low flow rates involved

Large wellbore storage effect

Time constraints

www.preene.com
 TEST DESIGN

Pulse tests are an appropriate hydraulic test method for very low
permeabilities
For a pulse test a defined volume of test fluid is injected or extracted from
the test interval, which results in a pressure decrease or increase. The
subsequent pressure recovery is used in the analysis

www.preene.com
 TEST DESIGN

A typical pulse test consists of the following steps:

1. Packer Inflation (INF) and Packer Compliance
(COM)
2. Pressure Static Recovery (PSR)
3. Pulse Injection (PI) or Pulse Withdrawal (PW)
4. Packer Deflation (DEF)

www.preene.com
 TEST EQUIPMENT

Main parts of the downhole

Control lines
equipment

Pressure gauges 1. Packer to isolate the

Shut-in tool section of interest
2. Pressure gauges
Upper Packer
3. Shut-in tool (SIT)

Test interval

Lower Packer

www.preene.com
 INFLUENCES ON TEST RESPONSE

Volume change of test interval due to:

1. Packer compliance P re s s u re
kP a
P re s s u re
1 2 0 0 .0 0 k P a
S o u r c e W e ll 1 / T e s t 1 / T e s t D a t a
S o u r c e W e ll 1 / T e s t 1 / T e s t D a t a

1 2 0 0 .0 0

1 1 0 0 .0 0

2. Borehole convergence 1 1 0 0 .0 0

1 0 0 0 .0 0
1 0 0 0 .0 0

9 0 0 .0 0
9 0 0 .0 0

8 0 0 .0 0
8 0 0 .0 0

7 0 0 .0 0
7 0 0 .0 0

Temperature change
6 0 0 .0 0
6 0 0 .0 0

5 0 0 .0 0
5 0 0 .0 0
- 1 7 5 .0 0 - 1 5 0 .0 0 - 1 2 5 .0 0 - 1 0 0 .0 0 - 7 5 .0 0 - 5 0 .0 0 - 2 5 .0 0 0 .0 0 h rs
T im e
- 1 7 5 .0 0 - 1 5 0 .0 0 - 1 2 5 .0 0 - 1 0 0 .0 0 - 7 5 .0 0 - 5 0 .0 0 - 2 5 .0 0 0 .0 0 h rs
T im e

Borehole history effects

www.preene.com
 ANALYSIS METHODS

Traditional geotechnical methods of analysis are based on the

analysis of pressure (or head) vs time (e.g. Hvorslev analysis)
More sophisticated analyses use the first derivative (the rate of
change of fluid pressure with time) as well as pressure vs. time
Furthermore, tests are interpretated against the wider geological
context and conceptual model
Suitable flow regime (porous media, multiple fissures, single fissure)
Borehole history
Strata type and hydrogeological conceptual model

The desired outcome is to test interpretation rather than

simply analysing the test data

www.preene.com
 TEST INTERPRETATION

Pulse test analysis method is based on a signal processing technique known

as deconvolution, which:
1. Increases the ability to identify an appropiate flow model
2. Improves the sensitivity of the analysis with regard to permeability

Analysis is normally done

by numerical modelling
using proprietary software
packages
Multiple analyses allow
better interpretation of
test results
The numerical analysis
allows a full test simulation

www.preene.com
 TEST INTERPRETATION

Parameter correlation
e.g. influence of different borehole
histories on parameters, including
formation permeability and static
formation pressure

Relationship between
different parameters (e.g.
static formation pressure
and permeability)

www.preene.com
 CONCLUSION

More sophisticated methods of permeability testing and analysis

have been developed in other industries and may have
applications in geotechnical engineering
Pulse tests are an appropriate method to measure the hydraulic
properties of very low permeable formations
The deconvolution method of analysis allows a reliable flow model
identification and permeability estimation and, in combination
with statistical methods, the reliability of the derived parameters
and connected uncertainties can be quantified
These methods are likely to be used in any future investigations for
nuclear repository engineering

www.preene.com
IN-SITU HYDRAULIC TESTING OF LOW
PERMEABILITY MATERIALS
Dr Martin Preene, Preene Groundwater Consulting, UK
Stephan Rohs, Golder Associates, Germany

www.preene.com