ABSTRACT
The investigation concept of the aquifer analogue approach is being used to characterise fractured porous media. New laboratory and sample recovery techniques are presented enabling the determination of the three dimensional physical parameters of undisturbed fractured porous sandstone bench scale samples, (30cm diameter × 40 cm height). Gas tomographical flow and transport experiments with helium as a tracer in a specially designed experimental cell provide different scaled multi-dimensional information on the hydraulically important units and their respective hydraulic and transport parameters. This information is combined to generate an analogue of the fractured aquifer. Analysis of the results to date using a multiple shelled model have shown that the dimensionality of the flow field as well as the structure of the sample plays an important role in the understanding of the system.
