MEASURING THE PERMEABILITY OF OPEN-FRAMEWORK GRAVEL

by Ferreira, James Thomas

Open-framework gravel has permeability, k, above the measurement range of most conventional constant-head permeameters used in laboratories. Here I addressed the challenge of measuring such high k by using a permeameter long enough that the differences in head across it were on the order of 10-3 m and therefore measurable. I collected data over the range from linear-laminar flow to non-linear, non-Darcian flow. In doing so, I verified that k was measured under Darcian flow. I measured k between 4,000 and 100,000 Darcies among experiments using different sediments.