Estaillades Carbonate #2


Publications

  1. Estaillades Carbonate #2>
    . Multi-scale, micro-computed tomography-based pore network models to simulate drainage in heterogeneous rocks. Advances in Water Resources. .
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    Abstract — The multi-phase flow behavior of complex rocks with broad pore size distributions often digresses from classical relations. Pore-scale simulation methods can be a great tool to improve the understanding of this behavior. However, the broad range of pore sizes present makes it difficult to gather the experimental input data needed for these simulations and poses great computational challenges. We developed a novel micro-computed-tomography (micro-CT) based dual pore network model (DPNM), which takes microporosity into account in an upscaled fashion using symbolic network elements called micro-links, while treating the macroporosity as a traditional pore network model. The connectivity and conductivity of the microporosity is derived from local information measured on micro-CT scans. Microporous connectivity is allowed both in parallel and in series to the macropore network. We allow macropores to be drained as a consequence of their connection with microporosity, permitting simulations where the macropore network alone does not percolate. The validity of the method is shown by treating an artificial network and a network extracted from a micro-CT scan of Estaillades limestone.

  2. Estaillades Carbonate #2>
    . Simulating secondary waterflooding in heterogeneous rocks with variable wettability using an image-based, multiscale pore network model. Water Resources Research. .
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    Abstract — The two-phase flow properties of natural rocks depend strongly on their pore structure and wettability, both of which are often heterogeneous throughout the rock. To better understand and predict these properties, image-based models are being developed. Resulting simulations are however problematic in several important classes of rocks with broad pore-size distributions. We present a new multiscale pore network model to simulate secondary waterflooding in these rocks, which may undergo wettability alteration after primary drainage. This novel approach permits to include the effect of microporosity on the imbibition sequence without the need to describe each individual micropore. Instead, we show that fluid transport through unresolved pores can be taken into account in an upscaled fashion, by the inclusion of symbolic links between macropores, resulting in strongly decreased computational demands. Rules to describe the behavior of these links in the quasistatic invasion sequence are derived from percolation theory. The model is validated by comparison to a fully detailed network representation, which takes each separate micropore into account. Strongly and weakly water-and oil-wet simulations show good results, as do mixed-wettability scenarios with different pore-scale wettability distributions. We also show simulations on a network extracted from a micro-CT scan of Estaillades limestone, which yields good agreement with water-wet and mixed-wet experimental results.

  3. Estaillades Carbonate #2>
    . Investigating the relative permeability behavior of microporosity-rich carbonates and tight sandstones with multiscale pore network models. Journal of geophysical research: solid earth. .
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    Abstract — The relative permeability behavior of rocks with wide ranges of pore sizes is in many cases still poorly understood and is difficult to model at the pore scale. In this work, we investigate the capillary pressure and relative permeability behavior of three outcrop carbonates and two tight reservoir sandstones with wide, multimodal pore size distributions. To examine how the drainage and imbibition properties of these complex rock types are influenced by the connectivity of macropores to each other and to zones with unresolved small-scale porosity, we apply a previously presented microcomputed-tomography-based multiscale pore network model to these samples. The sensitivity to the properties of the small-scale porosity is studied by performing simulations with different artificial sphere-packing-based networks as a proxy for these pores. Finally, the mixed-wet water-flooding behavior of the samples is investigated, assuming different wettability distributions for the microporosity and macroporosity. While this work is not an attempt to perform predictive modeling, it seeks to qualitatively explain the behavior of the investigated samples and illustrates some of the most recent developments in multiscale pore network modeling.