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Investigating the relative permeability behavior of microporosity‐rich carbonates and tight sandstones with multiscale pore network models
Author(s) -
Bultreys Tom,
Stappen Jeroen Van,
Kock Tim De,
Boever Wesley De,
Boone Marijn A.,
Hoorebeke Luc Van,
Cnudde Veerle
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1002/2016jb013328
Subject(s) - imbibition , macropore , capillary pressure , porosity , relative permeability , permeability (electromagnetism) , geology , wetting , network model , porous medium , materials science , mineralogy , geotechnical engineering , composite material , chemistry , computer science , mesoporous material , artificial intelligence , biochemistry , membrane , botany , germination , biology , catalysis
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.