A New Method for Calculating the Cementation Exponent of Triple-Porosity Media Reservoirs

The value of a cementation exponent, usually obtained by rock and electricity experiments, significantly affects the calculation of water saturation, thickness of the hydrocarbon reservoir, and recovery rate. The determination of the cementation exponent for porous-media reservoirs has been a challenge because of the limited core sampling. A new method was proposed to determine the value of cementation exponent for complex triple-porosity media reservoirs in the work. Firstly, the work discussed the effects of fractures and nonconnected vugs on the cementation exponent of the reservoir as well as the calculation method of the cementation exponent of the dual-porosity media reservoir. Then, a new model for calculating the cementation exponent of triple-porosity media reservoirs was derived by combining the Maxwell-Garnett theory and series-parallel theory, which matched with the real physical-experiment data of rocks. The results showed that the fractures decreased the cementation exponent of the reservoir but the vugs increased. The mixture of matrix pores, fractures, and vugs made the value of the cementation exponent of the triple-porosity media reservoir vary around 2.0. The conductivity of the triple-porosity media reservoir was the external macroscopic expression of the microscopic conductive network. The new calculation model of the cementation exponent proposed in the work could reasonably predict the cementation exponent of the strongly inhomogeneous triple-porosity media reservoir.