Pore Space Connectivity and the Transport Properties of Rocks

Journal Article · Thu Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Oil and Gas Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2516/ogst/2015037· OSTI ID:1395332

Bernabé, Yves ^[1]; Li, Min ^[2]; Tang, Yan-Bing ^[2]; Evans, Brian ^[1]

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1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Dept.
2. Southwest Petroleum Univ., Chengdu (China). State Key Lab. of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation

Pore connectivity is likely one of the most important factors affecting the permeability of reservoir rocks. Furthermore, connectivity effects are not restricted to materials approaching a percolation transition but can continuously and gradually occur in rocks undergoing geological processes such as mechanical and chemical diagenesis. Here, we compiled sets of published measurements of porosity, permeability and formation factor, performed in samples of unconsolidated granular aggregates, in which connectivity does not change, and in two other materials, sintered glass beads and Fontainebleau sandstone, in which connectivity does change. We compared these data to the predictions of a Kozeny-Carman model of permeability, which does not account for variations in connectivity, and to those of Bernabé et al. (2010, 2011) model, which does [Bernabé Y., Li M., Maineult A. (2010) Permeability and pore connectivity: a new model based on network simulations, J. Geophys. Res. 115, B10203; Bernabé Y., Zamora M., Li M., Maineult A., Tang Y.B. (2011) Pore connectivity, permeability and electrical formation factor: a new model and comparison to experimental data, J. Geophys. Res. 116, B11204]. Both models agreed equally well with experimental data obtained in unconsolidated granular media. But, in the other materials, especially in the low porosity samples that had undergone the greatest amount of sintering or diagenesis, only Bernabé et al. model matched the experimental data satisfactorily. In comparison, predictions of the Kozeny-Carman model differed by orders of magnitude. The advantage of the Bernabé et al. model was its ability to account for a continuous, gradual reduction in pore connectivity during sintering or diagenesis. Though we can only speculate at this juncture about the mechanisms responsible for the connectivity reduction, we propose two possible mechanisms, likely to be active at different stages of sintering and diagenesis, and thus allowing the gradual evolution observed experimentally.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: FG09-97ER14760; FG02-97ER14760
• OSTI ID: 1395332
• Journal Information: Oil and Gas Science and Technology, Vol. 71, Issue 4; ISSN 1294-4475
• Publisher: IFPEN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES