TY - GEN
T1 - Micro-ct analysis of pores and organics in unconventionals using novel contrast strategies
AU - Fogden, Andrew
AU - Latham, Shane
AU - McKay, Thomas
AU - Marathe, Rohini
AU - Turner, Michael
AU - Kingston, Andrew
AU - Senden, Tim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright 2014, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC).
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The utility of high-resolution micro-CT for characterising the structure of unconventionals on length scales from millimetres down to microns was advanced by implementation of a sample preparation and scanning workflow to selectively increase the X-ray attenuation of pores or organic matter (OM) and thus enhance their contrast and resolution in tomographic images. Subsamples (of 2-3 mm diameter) of a siliceous and a calcareous shale, both organic-rich, were scanned in the following four states: 1) initial, 2) infiltrated with diiodomethane, 3) post-dry, and 4) stained with iodine. All four tomograms were spatially registered to align perfectly, from which their differences highlighted either the pore space (with diiodomethane) or the OM (with iodine). These 3D digitised maps provided unprecedented insight into the forms of the resolvable pore and OM features and their distribution in relation to the background of sub-resolution porosity and OM. Segmentation of the pore and OM phases yielded total contents in reasonable quantitative agreement with helium porosity and TOC measurements on neighbouring material. Further statistical methods were applied to quantify the co-location of porosity and OM within the tomograms, as a basis for classifying their main feature types and the frequency of their occurrence.
AB - The utility of high-resolution micro-CT for characterising the structure of unconventionals on length scales from millimetres down to microns was advanced by implementation of a sample preparation and scanning workflow to selectively increase the X-ray attenuation of pores or organic matter (OM) and thus enhance their contrast and resolution in tomographic images. Subsamples (of 2-3 mm diameter) of a siliceous and a calcareous shale, both organic-rich, were scanned in the following four states: 1) initial, 2) infiltrated with diiodomethane, 3) post-dry, and 4) stained with iodine. All four tomograms were spatially registered to align perfectly, from which their differences highlighted either the pore space (with diiodomethane) or the OM (with iodine). These 3D digitised maps provided unprecedented insight into the forms of the resolvable pore and OM features and their distribution in relation to the background of sub-resolution porosity and OM. Segmentation of the pore and OM phases yielded total contents in reasonable quantitative agreement with helium porosity and TOC measurements on neighbouring material. Further statistical methods were applied to quantify the co-location of porosity and OM within the tomograms, as a basis for classifying their main feature types and the frequency of their occurrence.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959245851&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.15530/urtec-2014-1922195
DO - 10.15530/urtec-2014-1922195
M3 - Conference contribution
T3 - Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE/AAPG/SEG Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
BT - Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE/AAPG/SEG Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
PB - Society of Petroleum Engineers
T2 - SPE/AAPG/SEG Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
Y2 - 25 August 2014 through 27 August 2014
ER -