Knowledge about the permeability of surrounding rock (salt rock and mudstone interlayer) is an important topic, which acts as a key parameter to characterize the tightness of gas storage. The goal of experiments that test the permeability of gas storage facilities in rock salt is to develop a synthetic analogue to use as a permeability model. To address the permeability of a mudstone/salt layer...

Most salt rock has interbed of mudstone in China. Owing to the enormous difference of mechanical properties between the mudstone interbed and salt rock, the stress-strain and creep behaviors of salt rock are significantly influenced by neighboring mudstone interbed. In order to identify the rules of wellbore shrinkage and casings equivalent stress in bedded salt rock stratum, three-dimensional ...

In order to investigate the mechanical properties of lime mudstone, conventional triaxial compression tests under different confining pressures (0, 5, 15 and 20 MPa) are performed on lime mudstone samples. The test results show that, from the overall perspective of variation law, the axial peak stress, axial peak strain and elastic modulus of lime mudstone tend to gradually increase with increa...

An integrated nomenclature scheme is proposed to capture the inherent heterogeneity of fine-grained sedimentary rocks at the 102 to 1023 mm scale and to assist the evaluation of these rocks as sinks of organic carbon, barriers to fluid flows, and reservoirs of oil and gas. This scheme incorporates previous knowledge and the latest field, petrographic, and laboratory observations. We propose to ...

Sedimentary rocks at Yellowknife Bay (Gale crater) on Mars include mudstone sampled by the Curiosity rover. The samples, John Klein and Cumberland, contain detrital basaltic minerals, calcium sulfates, iron oxide or hydroxides, iron sulfides, amorphous material, and trioctahedral smectites. The John Klein smectite has basal spacing of ~10 angstroms, indicating little interlayer hydration. The C...

H2O, CO2, SO2, O2, H2, H2S, HCl, chlorinated hydrocarbons, NO, and other trace gases were evolved during pyrolysis of two mudstone samples acquired by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay within Gale crater, Mars. H2O/OH-bearing phases included 2:1 phyllosilicate(s), bassanite, akaganeite, and amorphous materials. Thermal decomposition of carbonates and combustion of organic materials are can...

The impacts of temperature on the surface thermal damage of rock salt, gypsum and mudstone from the Yingcheng salt mine, China were investigated by the surface crack growth and propagation tests at different temperatures. We found that: (a) high temperature could strengthen the rock salt molecular thermal motion and weaken the cohesion among the rock salt grains, so that the grain boundaries we...

Coal-measure mudstone is a typical dual-porosity media, and grouting in a matrix system is dominantly controlled by the imbibition effect for silica sol. This paper studies the imbibition effect using mudstone in the Huaibei mining area and silica sol as grouting material as an example. Groutability, driving force, and diffusion difficulty affecting the imbibition effect were tested by a mercur...

Fine-grained sedimentary rocks (shale and mudstone) play important roles in global CO2 abatement efforts through their uses in carbon capture and storage (CCS), radioactive waste storage, and shale gas extraction. These different technologies, however, rely on seemingly conflicting premises regarding the sealing properties of shale and mudstone, suggesting that those rocks that lend themselves ...

The Sheepbed mudstone, Yellowknife Bay formation, Gale crater, represents an ancient lakebed now exhumed and exposed on the Martian surface. The mudstone has four diagenetic textures, including a suite of early diagenetic nodules, hollow nodules, and raised ridges and later diagenetic light-toned veins that crosscut those features. In this study, we describe the distribution and characteristics...