Publication Name: AEGC 2021
Authors: Ulrich Kelka Stefan Westerlund Thomas Poulet Luk Peeters
Date Published: September 2021
Number of Pages: 3
Abstract:
Fracture networks and fault zones play an important role for subsurface fluid flow. Estimating the impact on the permeability field of such structures is of high interest for reservoir characterization, groundwater management, and exploration targeting. Of particular interest is the anisotropic permeability resulting from fracture sets, which can be represented as a tensor. These permeabilities of small- to mesoscale fracture networks can be utilized in macroscale models of macroscale fault networks. Obtaining exact permeability values from fractured rocks through laboratory experiments is challenging and subject to large uncertainties. Numerical methods can help estimating reliable values but are computationally expensive.