Thermal conductivity of carbonate rocks

The thermal conductivities of several well-defined carbonate rocks were determined near 40°C. Values range from 1.2 W m⁻¹C⁻¹ for a highly porous chalk to 5.1 W m⁻¹C⁻¹ for a dolomite. The thermal conductivity of magnesite (5.0) is at the high end of the range, and that for Iceland Spar Calcite (3.2) is near the middle. The values for limestones decrease linearly with increasing porosity. Dolomites of comparable porosity have greater thermal conductivities than limestones.

Water-sorbed samples have expected greater thermal conductivities than air-saturated (dry) samples of the same rock. An anomalously large increase in the thermal conductivity of a water-sorbed clayey dolomite over that of the same sample when dry is attributed to the clay fraction, which swells during water inhibition, causing more solid-to-solid contacts within the dolomite framework.

Measurements were made with a Colora Thermoconductometer. Chemical and mineralogical analyses were made and tabulated. Porosity of the rocks was determined by mercury porosimetry and also from density measurements. The Iceland Spar Calcite and magnesite were included for reference.