Quantitative Characterization of Tight Rock Microstructure of Digital Core

Abstract

The fluid flow is closely related to the reservoir microstructure. And the pore throat is small, and the pore structure is complex of tight reservoirs, so the fluid flow mechanism is different from the conventional sandstones. In this paper, the sample size and scanning accuracy are determined by mercury-pressure experiments, and the gray-scale images of core samples are enhanced, filtered, and noise reduced, segmented by Avizo software, and finally 3D digital cores are constructed to realize quantitative characterization of pore throat parameters. The results show the following: (i) It is highly accurate to determine 3D digital core by comparing porosity measurement and calculating porosity; (ii) the average pore radius of the three samples is more than 7 μm, the pore number is less than 651, the average throat length is greater than 159 μm, and the percentage of connected pore volume is above 95%; (iii) large pores are mainly developed in the reservoir, while a certain number of isolated pores exist, and the connected pores are distributed in sheets and strips; (iv) the pores of tight reservoir are mainly micron pores, and the distribution frequency histogram of pore radius is single peak; (v) porosity is related to connectivity, pore radius, and pore number; and (vi) the influence of throat on porosity and permeability is greater than that of pore. This paper is helpful for quantitative evaluation of reservoir microscopic parameters and provides technical support for visualization and quantitative characterization of rock microstructure.

Fracture Process and Failure Characteristics of Sandstone with Different Height-to-Diameter Ratios

“…The microstructure of rocks, including microcracks, voids, and mineral inclusions, significantly influences the development of microscopic cracks. The expansion and penetration stages of these cracks are fundamentally linked to the macroscopic damage and destruction of rocks, determining the stability and structural safety of engineering rock masses [4][5][6]. Consider the ore pillar in underground engineering, which singularly bears the uniaxial compressive load.…”