U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24, 1993, Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015

A New Method of Performing Controlled Injection of Traced Fluid in Fractured Crystalline Rock

Abstract

A new method is presented for the controlled injection of traced fluids into permeable intervals in bedrock wells. Prior to the tracer injection, an inflatable packer is used to seal fractures in the injection interval, allowing downhole mixing of the tracer with borehole water. After a uniform mixture is achieved, the packer is deflated to inject the traced fluid into the fractures. The injection apparatus requires smooth borehole walls and no more than a few closely spaced permeable fractures in the injection interval. In this paper, operation of the equipment is presented for the instantaneous injection of a known volume of traced fluid into the formation. The equipment can also accommodate other injection procedures, such as the continuous injection of traced fluids into the formation.