Improving the jar slake, slake index, and slake durability tests for shales
Paul M. Santi
University of Missouri-Rolla, Department of Geological and Petroleum Engineering, Rolla, MO, United States
This study proposes modifications to three shale durability tests to improve reproducibility, reduce the level of effort required, and better correlate the test to actual slaking characteristics. Modifications to the jar slake test reduced test variability by one-third, offering a substantial improvement in consistency, with only a slight loss in the ability of the test to predict slake durability. Analysis showed that slake index test error could be reduced or at least pinpointed by testing groups of samples, rather than single samples. Furthermore, the wet-sieving procedure should be more carefully defined. Analysis of correlations between single- and multiple-cycle slake durability tests shows that the first cycle slake durability, ID(1), is an excellent predictor of later cycles. Therefore, testing of the second cycle, ID(2), as recommended by ASTM D4664-87, is unnecessary.
This record provided courtesy of AGI/GeoRef.
