Savonnières carbonate


Publications

  1. Savonnières carbonate>
    . Investigating the relative permeability behavior of microporosity-rich carbonates and tight sandstones with multi-scale pore network models. Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth. .
    Links

    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.

  2. Savonnières carbonate>
    . A multi-scale, image-based pore network modeling approach to simulate two-phase flow in heterogeneous rocks. Society of Core Analysts. .
    Links

    Abstract — Despite the large interest in the multi-phase flow properties of rocks with broad pore size distributions, most digital rock physics approaches struggle with the presence of multiple pore scales. In this work, we present a method to estimate relative permeability (Kr) and resistivity index (RI) curves of such heterogeneous rocks during drainage. In our dual pore network model (DPNM), macropores are represented as pores and throats , while unresolved microporosity is treated as a continuous porous medium. The scales are coupled by including microporosity as symbolic network elements in the DPNM, based on 3D image analysis. The validity of the method is investigated by treating two carbonate rocks (Estaillades and Savonnières limestone). We present a sensitivity analysis of the drainage behaviour of these networks on the microporosity’s petrophysical properties, which are provided as input. While a number of challenges persist, the presented examples show how DPNM can help increase the understanding of two-phase flow in complex carbonate rocks.