Shale Swelling/Shrinkage - The Effects of Shale and Fluid Properties, Stress, and Water and Ion Transfer

To study and understand shale swelling, a series of related lab tests was performed on samples obtained from nine different preserved shale cores. These cores came from wells located in various places around the world. All shale samples were kept fully preserved and were not contacted with any aqueous fluids prior to testing. The shales are all clay-rich (at least 60% clay) but represent a spectrum of different clay mineralogies and reactivity as well as different amounts of in situ burial and compaction.