Quantification of Natural Gradient Flow Using Active Fiber Optic DTS in Sealed Boreholes

Abstract:

Temperature has been used for many years to characterize flow in fractured rock systems. Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) was adopted by the oil/gas industry over two decades ago for monitoring processes in deep fractured rock environments. Improvements in DTS system resolutions, methodology advancements, and improved data processing techniques have caused recent popularity for shallow fractured rock hydrogeologic applications. A powerful advance in DTS methodology is the use of response data collected during active cable heating. When applied to borehole applications active heating creates a thermal disequilibrium in the aquifer system that enhances the detection of groundwater flow. Active DTS has been applied to open borehole environments; however, characterization methods based on open borehole measurements are limited in that only the effects of unnatural flow (i.e. vertical cross-connection and redistribution of flow creating local, induced flows) can be observed. To characterize natural gradient flow processes borehole effects need to be minimized.

The literature shows borehole sealing using flexible impervious fabric liners creates a static water column in the well that eliminates the negative effects of cross-connection. Measurements in this sealed environment have been shown by others to be representative of natural gradient flow conditions, rather than the conditions created by the borehole short circuiting units or fractures with varying hydraulic head. A new method for flow system characterization using active DTS in sealed boreholes has been developed with excellent prospects for quantitation of natural gradient groundwater fluxes and related hydraulic properties. This project demonstrates the utility of using an analytical solution for calculating apparent thermal conductivities and natural gradient groundwater fluxes at depth-discrete intervals observed continuously along a borehole using active DTS. Groundwater flux data can then be used in conjunction with other site datasets (e.g. gradients) to estimate profiles of formation hydraulic properties including transmissivity.