Publications
Characteristics of Soil Under Variations in Clay Content and Compaction Pressure
Aikman, M.J.L., Kantzas, A., Mirotchnik, K. Marentette, D. and Allsopp, K.
DOI: 10.2118/97-188 & 10.2118/99-13-33
CIM paper 97-188, presented at the 7th Saskatchewan Petroleum Conference, held in Regina Saskatchewan, October 19-22, 1997;
J. Can. Pet. Tech., 38(13), December 1999.
ABSTRACT
An investigation is underway at the University of Calgary/TIPM Laboratory to examine a potential in situ soil remediation process. The focus is intended to demonstrate the potential to adapt proven and economic petroleum engineering methods to soil remediation. Specific methods to be applied are envisioned to be water and gas displacement processes in conjunction with horizontal boreholes as the injection and production points. The potential application of this method is for such sites where soil excavation and treatment would be impossible. This would be the case for spills that seep beneath a plant or other immovable infrastructure.
The characterization of native soil samples, obtained from an industrial plant in central Alberta, has been completed using methods such as grain size analysis, microscopic visualization, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and capillary pressure determination. The data obtained from the characterization process was used to construct synthetic, representative synthetic soil specimens to use as test materials in laboratory experiments. The use of synthetic soils allows for parametric studies to be performed, as well as a generalization of various observations to other soil types that may fall in the range of the synthetic soil constructs.
In order to understand the impact of clay and overburden pressure upon the rock structure and fluid flow characteristics, various synthetic soils have been packed into conventional core analysis equipment. The parameters studied so far have been variations in clay content, and the overburden pressure. The impact of these variations upon the core characteristics such as porosity, and single phase flow permeability have been quantified, and are reported herein. The saturations of the various fluids have been investigated using packed columns and capillary pressure measurements. Implications of the results upon both the contaminant displacement process, and the laboratory equipment, are reported. Future work that is proposed for further investigation is outlined in brief.
A full version of this paper is available on OnePetro Online.