Pore Network Modelling

for Carbonates using Pore Space Images

An Integrated Workflow Approach

Anwar Al-Kharusi and Martin Blunt

Imperial College London, 20th January 2006
 Outline
• Introduction
• New pore network extraction technique at
a glance
• Applications on real datasets
– Fontainebleau sandstone
– Berea sandstone
– Carbonate from subsurface Oman
• Present work
Project Definition
101010101 3D micro-CT
0 1 0 1 01 1 0 1 image

Imaging software Voxelize

Multiple point statistics
Binarize
2D image 2D binary 3D binary
file file

New algorithm
PORENET
Integrated workflow

Predict Create
transport 3D pore
properties network model

Coordination number,
Absolute permeability,
Pore size distribution,
Relative permeability, Compare with Throat size distribution,
Capillary pressure etc.
measured data Porosity etc.
 Pore Scale Modelling:
Present Day Capabilities
• Representations of the rock pore space [excellent]
– Sedimentary process
– Statistical methods (multiple point statistics, successful for carbonates - Okabe 2004)
– Microtomography (resolution improving, poor for sub-micron pores in carbonates)
• Extracting networks [very poor, 3 networks at present]
– Berea
– Fontainebleau
– Random close packing of equally sized spheres
• Pore scale fluid flow simulations [excellent]
– Two-phase fluid flow simulations (robust codes available)
– Three-phase fluid flow simulations (improving)
Integrated modular
research project
Image
representation

Pore network
extraction

Predict
transport
properties
Scale up from
pore to log
scale
?? Investigate
Recovery
processes
 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2D binary representation
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0
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1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
4 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
5 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
6 6 0 0 1
0 1 0 0
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0 0 0 0
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0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 0
0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10 10 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
11 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
12 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
15 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
16 16 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 17 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Image voxelization 1
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Image binarization 1
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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

3D binary representation assuming

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

isotropy using multiple point statistics 1

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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[Okabe and Blunt, 2004] 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Present day micro-CT scanning cannot image

sub-micron scale required for most carbonates
 Pore Network Extraction Algorithm
• Read image (reading all zero entries in 3D image)
• Grow a maximal ball in each zero voxel location
• Delete included balls
• Depth first search algorithm
– Make up structure for master and slave balls
– Make up structure for cluster (equal) balls PORENET
• Pore body and throat assignment
– Common slaves/clusters
– Rectifying subroutines
• Use cluster structure to walk between 2 direct slaves
• Use joining subroutine to join nearby large spheres
• Delete isolated pores (not part of network)
• Apply cluster cutting repair
• Display codes
– Skeleton view
– Detailed pore/throat cell view per layer
• Code split file for re-runs (after maximal ball computation)
 Included sphere, will be deleted

Calculating maximal balls

Deleting Included balls

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2 0 2 0
3 3
4 0 4 0
5 0 0 5 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0
17 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0
Sphere of radius 0 Sphere of radius 1 Sphere of radius 2

Z=1 0

0
0 0 0 0 0 0
Z=2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0

0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Z=3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Required zeros to Required zeros to 0
construct ball of construct ball of
0
radius 0 radius 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Z=4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0

0
Z=5 0

0
0
0 0 0
0

0
Build MASTER – SLAVE hierarchy

Apply Depth First Search

Largest master

Master to 7

1
Slave to 1 Master to 9
6
2 7 8
Slave to 2 9
Master to 2 & 6 Master to 8
3
Slave to 3
4
Slave to 4 5 [Relationship: The slave of ‘my slave’ becomes my ‘slave’]

Arrangement by radius
Attachment of slaves to parent
Storing slave list information in largest master
 Limited or bounded clusters
Handling equal in radius spheres
Largest master

Connected equal spheres

Direct slave

Limited cluster of small spheres

Touching cluster Direct slave

Largest master

Cluster growth bounded by direct slaves

Overlapping cluster

Hierarchy for equal spheres

Unlimited or unbounded clusters

a b c

Three equal balls ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’, they are called clusters
Ball ‘a’ is a cluster to ball ‘b’
Ball ‘b’ is a cluster to ball ‘a’ and to ball ‘c’
Unlimited cluster of large spheres
Ball ‘c’ is a cluster to ball ‘b’

[Relationship: The cluster of ‘my cluster’ becomes my ‘cluster’]

Cluster growth bounded by grains or

used up cluster cells
Constructing pore bodies and throats Repair clusters suffering from
Pore bodies are defined as largest master spheres plus: cluster-cutting problems
• their slaves (when no throat is available)
• their clusters Largest master

Pore body can be a complex A

A

entity of spheres
Largest master
C
Yellow cluster C

Largest master
B
Green cluster
B
Largest master

Cluster-based throat Two direct slaves not

closest to opposite
master

Simple throat largest

master

Direct slave
closest to
opposite master

Direct slave
largest closest to
master opposite master
Different to concept described by Silin et al
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 44 55 66 77 88 99 10
10 11
11 12
12 13
13 14
14 15 16 17
17 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
0 00 00 00 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 11 00 0 0 00 1 0 0 0 0
2 22 00 2 0

Assignment of network properties 33

3 3
4 4 4 00 4 0
5 55 00 00 5 0 0
6 66 00 00 00 00 0
0 6 0 0 0 0 0
7 7 70 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 8 80 0 0 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 9 90 0 0 0
0 0 00 00 00 00 00 9 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
10 10 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 1415 0 0 00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 1516 0 00 00 0 00 0 0 16 0 0 0 0
16 1617 0 00 00 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0
17 17 0 0 0 0

Volumes obtained from original image voxels, overlap

removed

Pore body radius computed as effective radius of a

sphere

Throat radius computed as effective radius of a cylinder,

length inferred from maximum distance between slaves

Element shape factor assumed constant (0.048 of an

equilateral triangle)

Element clay volume not calculated

Absolute permeability calculated assuming network

saturated with single phase

Capillary pressure and relative permeability computed

using II-Phase fluid flow code [Valvatne and Blunt, 2004]
 Simple hand-made test images
GRAPH_code
11011111111111111111
10001111111111111011
00000000000000000001
10001111111111111011
11011111111111111111
11111111111111111111
11111111101111111111
11111111000111111111
11111111101111111111 2D cross-section highlighting two pore
11111111101111111111 bodies (in red and in blue) with a connecting
throat (in yellow) extracted from the Berea
10111111101111111101 64 voxel image. The ‘white’ space shows
void space of the original image while the
00000000000000000000 ‘grey’ space shows grains

10111111101111111101
11111111101111111111
11111111101111111111
11111111101111111111
11111111101111111111
11111111101111111111
11111111000111111111
11111111101111111111 Skeleton_code
 Network extraction from the Fontainebleau 3D image

3D image of the extracted pore network (75 voxels)

A 3D pore-space image of the Fontainebleau sandstone. The pore space
is shown in grey. The image was generated using micro-CT scanning
with a resolution of 7.5 μm (300 voxels)

Comparison of pore size distribution: This work This work

Comparison of throat size distribution:
Fontainebleau sandstone Oren and Bakke [2003] Fontainebleau sandstone Oren and Bakke [2003]

30%
25%

25%
Pore size distribution for the 20%
Normalized frequency

Throat size distribution for the

Normalized frequency

20% Fontainebleau sample

Fontainebleau sample
15%

15%

10%
10%

5%
5%

0%
0%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 27.5 30.0 32.5 35.0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75

Pore radius (microns) Throat radius (microns)

 Oren and Bakke [2003]
Coordination number distribution
This work
[Fontainebleau 3D image]
This work with boundary pores removed

0.45

0.40

0.35
Normalized frequency

0.30 Coordination number distribution for the Fontainebleau sample

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 22

Coordination number

This work (averaged) Øren and Bakke (2003)

Size of image (mm): 0.56 2.25
Volume of image (mm3): 0.18 11.39
Number of pores: 52 4997
Number of throats: 116 8192
Average connection number: 4.1 (3.3 to 4.9) 3.2
Number of connections to inlet: 9 227
Number of connections to outlet: 7 206
Median throat length to radius ratio: 12.5 8.7
Net porosity (%): 13.2 13.6
Absolute permeability (mD): 538 582
Formation factor: 34 35
Table 2: Properties of the network extracted from 12 central cubical portions of the
Properties of the network extracted from 12 central cubic portions of the original 2.25mm 3D Fontainebleau image
original 2.25mm, 3D Fontainebleau image.
 Original image size (mm) 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25
Original image total voxels 300 300 300 300 300 300
Sliced image sequence Image 01 Image 02 Image 03 Image 04 Image 05 Image 06
Sliced image size (mm) 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56
Sliced image voxels 75 75 75 75 75 75
Number of pores 47 50 59 48 53 55
Number of throats 112 123 134 89 115 124
Average connection number 4.47 4.46 4.22 3.44 4.04 4.16
Number of connections at inlet 6 11 11 9 9 8
Number of connections at outlet 8 12 8 4 7 11
Ratio of median throat length to radius 11.7 12.2 13.2 12.9 11.2 12.7
Net porosity (%) 12.9 13.9 12.4 10.7 15.5 13.7
Absolute permeability 137 1535 162 157 1152 813
Formation factor 31.8 20.7 41.5 61.6 15.9 22.6

Original image size (mm) 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25
Original image total voxels 300 300 300 300 300 300
Sliced image sequence Image 07 Image 08 Image 09 Image 10 Image 11 Image 12
Sliced image size (mm) 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56
Sliced image voxels 75 75 75 75 75 75
Number of pores 50 52 41 61 63 44
Number of throats 125 100 72 161 142 91
Average connection number 4.68 3.58 3.32 4.97 4.25 3.82
Number of connections at inlet 6 10 4 12 12 9
Number of connections at outlet 10 4 4 7 6 5
Ratio of median throat length to radius 13.0 13.1 13.8 11.2 13.3 11.8
Net porosity (%) 14.1 9.9 10.8 17.3 14.3 13.1
Absolute permeability 648 311 122 213 178 1026
Formation factor 16.5 49.1 75.7 16.8 35.9 17.7
Table 1: Properties of the network extracted from 12 central cubical slices of the original
Properties 2.25mm,
of the network extracted from image.
3D Fontainebleau 12 central cubic portions of the original 2.25mm 3D Fontainebleau image

Fontainebleau sample Network model Network model Experimental

(this work) (Øren & Bakke - 2003) (core plug)
Porosity computed in extracted networks 13.2 % 13.6 % 14.8 %
or measured experimentally using a core plug sample
Permeability computed in extracted networks 538 mD 582 mD 1400 mD
or measured experimentally using a core plug sample
Permeability calculated on image, by Okabe, using the 956 mD
Lattice Boltzmann method (Okabe and Blunt, 2004)
Table 6: Comparison with measured properties for the Fontainebleau sample.
Comparison with measured properties for the Fontainebleau sample
 Comparison of pore and throat size distribution for Berea
Network extraction from the Berea 3D image between our network model and that of Øren and Bakke (2003)

100.00% This work

Oren and Bakke [2003]

10.00%

Normalized frequency
1.00%

0.10%

0.01%
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
A 3D pore-space image of the Berea sandstone. The pore space is Pore radius (microns)
shown in grey. The image was generated using micro-CT scanning
This work
with a resolution of 10 μm.
Oren and Bakke [2003]
100.0%

Normalized frequency
10.0%

1.0%

0.1%
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Three-dimensional image of the extracted pore
network for the Berea central image (64 voxels)
Throat size (microns)
 0.50 12,000 pores Berea 3mm, Oren
70 pores Berea 0.64mm, this work
0.45

0.40
normalized frequency

0.35

0.30 Oren and Bakke: cube of length 3.00mm

This work: cube of length 0.64mm
0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
connection numbers

The coordination number distribution of the network extracted from the Berea 64
voxel image compared to that generated by Øren and Bakke (2003)

This work (averaged) Øren and Bakke (2003)

Size of image (mm): 0.64 3.00
Volume of image (mm3): 0.26 27.00
Number of pores: 69 12349
Number of throats: 168 26145
Average connection number: 4.5 4.19
Number of connections to inlet: 12 254
Number of connections to outlet: 13 267
Median throat length to radius ratio: 13.0 11.7
Net porosity (fraction): 0.163 0.183
Absolute permeability (mD): 1409 2551
Formation factor: 30 15
Table 4: Properties of the network extracted for the Berea sample compared to results
fromof Øren
Properties and Bakke
the network (2003).
extracted for the Berea sample compared to results from Øren and Bakke [2003]
Original image size 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28
(mm)
Original image total 128 128 128 128 128 128 128 128 128
voxels
Sliced image sequence Central Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Average
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Sliced image size (mm) 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64
Sliced image voxels 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64
Number of pores 77 70 73 75 73 63 66 73 55 69
Number of throats 183 171 163 189 195 141 156 199 114 168
Average connection 4.4 4.5 4.2 4.7 4.9 4.1 4.3 5.1 3.9 4.5
number
Number of 14 13 11 13 13 15 13 10 8 12
connections at inlet
Number of 15 11 9 15 16 11 14 16 7 13
connections at outlet
Ratio of median throat 11.3 12.8 14.2 13.2 10.3 12.5 11.8 13.1 17.4 13.0
length to radius
Net porosity (%) 14.4 16.7 16.8 16.1 15.4 17.2 17.1 17.3 15.8 16.3
Absolute permeability 1045 1834 883 1189 1594 1171 2830 1762 371 1409
Formation factor 26 23 34 26 25 28 21 23 66 30
Table 3: Comparison of the properties of the network extracted for all slices of the Berea
3D image. of the properties of the network extracted for all slices of the Berea 3D image
Comparison

Berea sample Network model Network model Experimental

(this work) (Øren & Bakke - 2003) (core plug)
Porosity computed in extracted networks 16.3 % 18.3 % 23 %
or measured experimentally using a core plug sample
Permeability computed in extracted networks 1409 mD 2551 mD 1100 mD
or measured experimentally using a core plug sample
Permeability calculated on image, by Okabe, using the 1346 mD
Lattice Boltzmann method (Okabe and Blunt, 2004)
Table 7: Comparison with measured properties for the Berea sample.
Comparison with measured properties for the Berea sample
 Network extraction
from the carbonate
2D image

3D image of the extracted pore network for the

carbonate image (60 voxels).
A thin section image from subsurface Oman. The area highlighted in white is the
portion used for network extraction (size of white area: 0.0718mm, image
resolution is 1.2 μm).

25%

20%
Normalized frequency

15%
Coordination number distribution for the carbonate sample

10%

5%

0%
A 3D image of the carbonate sample, generated
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 26 34 36
using multiple point statistics
Coordination number
 35%

30%
Pore size distribution for the subsurface carbonate sample Image size (mm) 0.072
Image total voxels 60
25% Number of pores 138
Normalized frequency

Number of throats 454

20% Average connection number 6.2
Number of connection at inlet 28
15%
Number of connections at outlet 22
Ratio of Median throat length to radius 16.5
Net porosity 23.3%
10%
Absolute permeability 2.6
Formation factor 31.8
5% TableNetwork
5: Network properties for the carbonate sample.
properties for the carbonate sample
0%
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5

Pore radius (microns)

Carbonate sample Network model Experimental
(this work) (core plug)
Porosity computed in extracted networks 23.3 % 23.4 %
or measured experimentally using a core plug sample
Permeability computed in extracted networks 2.6 mD 0.9 mD
50% or measured experimentally using a core plug sample
Permeability calculated on image, by Okabe, using the 0.71 mD
45% Lattice Boltzmann method (Okabe and Blunt, 2004)
40%
Table 8: Comparison
Comparison withwith measured
measured properties
properties forcarbonate
for the the Carbonate
samplesample.
Normalized frequency

35% Throat size distribution for the carbonate sample

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0

Throat radius (microns)

 Carbonate Carbonate PORES

Berea Berea

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
radius in micrometer
Fontainebleau Fontainebleau

Berea Berea

Carbonate Carbonate THROATS

Bar plot showing a comparison of the pore and throat sizes for the three samples: Fontainebleau, Berea and the Carbonate samples
Present work
s19d s41
Phase II: Imbibition & Secondary Drainage Pc s42 s44a

• Analysis of oil wet

s61 s83
s85b s85d
10 s86a s89a
s89c s90b
s90c s91a
s91b s94a

carbonate system using

s94c s95
5 s41 s42
s44a s83
s85b s85d
s86a s89a
s89c s90b

Pc [psi]
available capabilities: 0
s90c
s91b
s94c
s91a
s94a
s95

– Complete dataset -5

– Core plugs with different

-10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Sw

experiments
– Homogenous and
s44a: Kw=2.6 md

heterogeneous core plugs 45

2-17:5.9 m d
45
Hg-air Pc
40 s2_17_pd

– Leading into better

40
s44a_pd
35
35

estimation of recovery from 30

Capillary pressure [psia]

30

25

transition zone 20
25

20
15
15
10
10
5

5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0
Wetting phase saturation [%Vp] 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
 Plate A Plate B

209 mD 0.137 mD

0.428 mD

132 mD
1.043 mD

2.2 mm 0.5 mm

Plate C Plate D

0.4 0.5

0.3
0.03

0.3

0.03

0.5 mm
0.1 mm
Core Plug: Porosity 28.4%, permeability (brine) 3.38 mD
% mD carbonate core plug
extracted network k-phi
measured plug permeability
phi k
1000
27% 209.653
22% 132.741 100
25% 0.137
26% 1.043 10

permeability
24% 0.428
19% 0.437 1

22% 0.269
20% 0.279 0.1

23% 0.525
0.01
24% 0.031 0.15 0.17 0.19 0.21 0.23 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.31
porosity
29% 0.027
Pore/throat size comparison: Plug 41 network model, single image
core plug

0.9

0.8
cumulative pore volume

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
1000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001
size (micrometer)
Proposed workflow:

Capillary pressure and relative permeability predictions

Network model generated too small for fluid flow calculations

Use either Berea network model or regular lattice to generate large networks
Berea network: max. coordination number 4
Regular lattice: max. coordination number 6
New: Centred cubic lattice: max. coordination number 14

Use connection number, porosity and throat size distribution from small network
to predict drainage Pc for large network

Use experimental wettability data (Amott index) and match to network by

changing network contact angles to predict imbibition Pc, kro and krw behaviours
 Predicting basic properties from the 11 images investigated

Oil-wet carbonate sample:

Used regular lattice model to generate a larger network assuming

maximum coordination number of 6

Next test with Berea to study effect of real rock topography

Image number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Image slice Aa Ab Ba Bb Bc Ca Cb Cc Da Db Dc
Number of pores 280 219 90 73 104 137 46 132 278 123 127
Number of throats 1898 1166 327 324 441 513 186 560 962 447 491
Average connection number 13.2 10.3 6.8 8.5 8.1 7.1 7.6 8.1 6.7 6.8 7.4
Number of connections to inlet 55 39 23 19 21 33 12 27 35 30 21
Number of connections to outlet 42 36 20 12 18 18 10 22 36 23 27
Number of physically isolated elements 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Number of singlets removed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Number of triangular shaped elements 2180 1387 329 399 547 652 234 694 1242 572 620
Number of square shaped elements 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Number of circular shaped elements 0 0 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Median throat length to radius ratio 9.7 10.3 14.6 13.0 12.9 13.8 12.0 14.1 14.4 13.7 14.1
Net porosity 27.5% 21.6% 25.4% 26.1% 24.3% 19.5% 22.5% 20.4% 23.3% 24.3% 28.9%
Clay bound porosity 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Absolute permeability (mD) 210 133 0.137 1.043 0.428 0.437 0.269 0.279 0.525 0.031 0.027
Absolute permeability (m2) 2.1E-13 1.3E-13 1.4E-16 1.0E-15 4.2E-16 4.3E-16 2.7E-16 2.8E-16 5.2E-16 3.1E-17 2.7E-17
Formation factor 1.5 2.7 20.0 11.2 13.0 17.0 20.0 15.5 4.9 11.6 11.0
 Contact angle hysteresis in oil-wet and water-wet systems

primary drainage
Capillary pressure from Pore Network Model
waterflood
Due to trapping of
secondary drainage
water
100,000 secondary imbibition

80,000

60,000
Spontaneous imbibition of water into
smaller pores
40,000

20,000 Drainage process, large elements filled

first, small elements need higher pressures
Pc (Pa)

Sw
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Secondary drainage
-20,000 Hysteresis in contact
angle
-40,000

-60,000

-80,000 Forced imbibition of water into larger pores

Equivalent to drainage process: water
injected into oil-wet system
-100,000
Check basic static properties √ done Oil recovery from transition zone

Check oil-wet behaviour

√ done
Explore relationship:
whether it is reproducible
Soi - Sor
in the network model
1. Study effect of resolution
2. Study effect of different image √ running
parts at same resolution

Quantitative match: √ running

Detailed match:
drainage capillary pressure Loop until match is reached
Change contact angles
to match Amott index
Static properties
Wettability,
Quantitative match: Contact angles
imbibition capillary pressure,
relative permeability behaviour,
end points