Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Characterization of pore structure by a combination of quantitative photomicrography and mercury porosimetry

Journal Article · · J. Colloid Interface Sci.; (United States)

The methods of quantitative stereology have been applied to pore size distribution determination. In the sphere pore segment (SPS) model, the pore structure is approximated by a 3-dimensional network consisting of strings of touching spheres. The porous samples are saturated with Wood's metal, and photomicrographs prepared of polished sections are scanned by an automatic image analyzing computer. The photomicrographic pore size distribution curves generally differ from and are more realistic than the mercury porosimetry curves. The SPS model has been applied successfully to the pore size distribution determination of a large number of sandstone samples. Comparison with the mercury porosimetry curves has resulted in an excellent correlation between petrography and tertiary oil recovery. For the case of strongly anisometric pores, the general pore segment (GPS) model has been proposed. Equations have been developed and used for the photomicrographic size distribution determination of pores of arbitrary shape. Marked improvement has been observed over the SPS model in the case of the void size distribution in packed beds of spheres. (23 refs.)

OSTI ID:
6543008
Journal Information:
J. Colloid Interface Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Colloid Interface Sci.; (United States) Vol. 47:2; ISSN JCISA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English