| Title | Characterization of Fracture Aperture and Spacing Using Well Tests and Radon |
|---|---|
| Authors | T. KUO, T. C. CHEN |
| Year | 2023 |
| Conference | Stanford Geothermal Workshop |
| Keywords | Fracture aperture; Spacing; Radon; Well tests |
| Abstract | Fracture aperture and spacing are normally concealed properties of undisturbed fractured rocks. These two properties are disturbed by exposure; therefore, an indirect method is required to evaluate the in-situ values of fracture aperture and spacing. This paper presents a quantitative method to characterize fracture aperture and spacing. Precursory radon data is used to determine fracture porosity in a naturally fractured aquifer. Well tests are used to estimate aquifer transmissivity and fracture permeability. Assuming three mutually orthogonal sets of fractures are common in nature, in-situ fracture aperture and spacing can be characterized from fracture porosity and permeability. |