Digital characterization and fractal quantification of the pore structures of tight sandstone at multiple scales

Pore structures determine reservoir storage capacity, control rock transportation characteristics and represent microscopic properties of the rock. Therefore, the characterization and quantification of the pore structures of tight oil and gas reservoir are of primary importance for quality evaluation and the successful production of these unconventional resources. In this study, we obtained X-CT images with two resolutions of the same tight sandstone and studied the pore structures and heterogeneity of tight sandstone using digital rock technology combined with fractal theory. In traditional Euclidean space, digital image analysis shows that the pore structure of tight sandstone is mainly flat, isolated pores that occupy a large number ratio in high-resolution images and a large volume ratio in low-resolution images. Most seepage channels are mainly composed of large pores. The porosity analysis of 2D and 3D suggests that the representative elementary volume of low-resolution digital rock is 300 voxels, and the axial heterogeneity of tight sandstone is stronger than the bulk heterogeneity. In non-Euclidean space, fractal characterization parameters indicate that the fractal dimension (FD) of low-resolution digital rock is 2.6548, that of high-resolution digital rock is 2.6194, and the FD of tight sandstone is insensitive to imaging resolution. The lacunarity of high-resolution digital rock is obviously larger than that of low-resolution digital rock, which suggests that lacunarity can be used to analyze the heterogeneous structures with similar FD of tight sandstone precisely.

Automated summary

The characterization and quantification of the pore structures of tight oil and gas reservoir are essential for evaluation and production. In this study, the pore structures and heterogeneity of tight sandstone were investigated using digital rock technology combined with fractal theory. The results showed that the pore structure of tight sandstone is mainly flat, isolated pores, and the most seepage channels are composed of large pores. The axial heterogeneity of tight sandstone is stronger than the bulk heterogeneity, and the fractal dimension of tight sandstone is insensitive to imaging resolution. The lacunarity of high-resolution digital rock can be used to analyze the heterogeneous structures with similar fractal dimension of tight sandstone precisely.