FILTRATION FRONTS IN PRESSURE COMPLIANT RESERVOIRS

Investigates the possibility of the generation of filtration fronts in initially impermeable reservoirs with permeability increasing from zero to a constant finite value when pore pressure exceeds a given limit. A one-dimensional plane filtration in an initially impermeable half-space is examined assuming that pressure is constant at its boundary. Using the mass and momentum conservation conditions on the filtration front, the problem is reduced to an ordinary differential equation. A simple analytical approximation predicts that the speed of the filtration front is inversely proportional to the square root of the time. -from Authors