The use of transient pressure analysis at the Dounreay Shaft Isolation Project / Die Verwendung der Analyse instationärer Druckentwicklung am Dounreay Schachtabdichtungsprojekt

This paper provides an assessment of the use of pressure fall-off data during the Dounreay Shaft Isolation Project. The instrumentation controlling the injection of grout monitors and records both the pressure and the flow rate throughout the process, so pressure fall-off data is collected during any pauses to, and at the end of, each grout injection. The shapes of the pressure fall-off vs time curves have been examined qualitatively and categorised. The fall-off data has also been examined using PanSystem well test software, which creates the pressure change and pressure derivative curves, then attempts to simulate the fall-off curve by iteration after selection of a flow and boundary model chosen from the wide range available. The implications that the shapes of the pressure and derivative curves and the flow and boundary models have for the grout curtain have been examined. The caveats that surround the quantitative use of results from Pan-System analyses for a cement grout rather than a Newtonian fluid are discussed.