Effect of confining pressure on diffusion coefficients in clay-rich, low-permeability sedimentary rocks

Results from the shales (including Opalinus Clay) indicate that the pressure effect on De can be represented by a linear relationship between De and ln(CP), which provides valuable predictive capability. The nonlinearity results in a relatively small change in De at high CP, suggesting that it is not necessary to apply the exact in situ pressure conditions in order to obtain a good estimate of the in situ diffusion coefficient. Most importantly, the CP effect on shale is reversible (± 12%) suggesting that, for argillaceous rocks, it is possible to obtain De values that are representative of the in-situ condition by conducting measurements on re-pressurized samples that were obtained with standard drilling practices. This may not be the case for brittle rock samples as the results from limestone suggest that irreversible damage occurred during the pressure cycling.