Academic literature on the topic 'Inaccessible pore volume'

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) have been used to study a carbonate rock from a deep saline aquifer that is a potential candidate as a storage reservoir for CO2sequestration. A new methodology is developed for estimating the fraction of accessible and inaccessible pore volume using SANS/USANS measurements. This method does not require the achievement of zero average contrast for the calculation of accessible and inaccessible pore volume fraction. The scattering intensity at highQincreases with increasing CO2pressure, in contrast with the low-Qbehaviour where the intensity decreases with increasing pressure. Data treatment for high-Qscattering at different pressures of CO2is also introduced to explain this anomalous behaviour. The analysis shows that a significant proportion of the pore system consists of micropores (<20 Å) and that the majority (80%) of these micropores remain inaccessible to CO2at reservoir pressures.

In the paper a low-temperature thermoporometry using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed for analyse of influence of siliceous fly ash (FA) on pore structure of non-air-entrained mortars (pore size, connectivity). A method of interpreting a heat flux differential scanning calorimetry records in pore structure was used for this purpose. The results demonstrated that the: (i) fly ash mortars have virtually no pores inaccessible to water, unlike the mortars with plain Portland cement in which inaccessible pores constitute a significant fraction, growing with the increase in w/b; (ii) with a decrease in w/b the ink-bottle volume decreases. Fraction of this pore type is relatively larger in fly ash mortars; (iii) Siliceous fly ash increased the volume of pores greater than 8 nm, in particular in the group with radii larger than 20 nm at all w/b ratios.

Summary This study introduces a novel outlook on a shale-pore system and on the potential effect of pore compressibility on the production performance. We divide porosity of the system into accessible and inaccessible pores, and incorporate inaccessible pores with grains into the part of the rock that is not accessible. In general, accessible pores contribute to flow directly, whereas inaccessible pores do not. We present a mathematical model that uses mercury-injection capillary pressure (MICP) data to determine the accessible-pore and inaccessible part of the rock (IRP) compressibility as a function of pressure. During MICP testing in a typical shale sample, the rock sample experiences conformance, compression, and intrusion as effective pressure increases. We characterize the compressibility value dependent on MICP data as a function of pressure. The calculated compressibility values for accessible pores generally appear to be much greater (two to three orders of magnitude) than those of IRP. Next, we evaluate how calculated accessible-pore-compressibility values affect gas recovery in several shale-gas plays. Our results suggest that substitution of total pore compressibility with accessible-pore compressibility can significantly change the reservoir-behavior prediction. The fundamental rock property used in many reservoir-engineering calculations including reserves estimates, reservoir performance, and production forecasting is the total pore-volume (PV) compressibility, which has an approximate value typically within the range of 1 × 10−6 to 1 × 10−4 psi−1 (Mahomad 2014). By recognizing the part of the pore system that actually contributes to production and identifying its compressibility, we can substitute total pore compressibility with accessible-pore compressibility. The result changes the value by nearly two orders of magnitude. The outcome of the paper changes the industry's take on prediction of reservoir performance, especially the rock-compaction mechanism. This study finds that production caused by rock compaction is in fact much greater than what has often been regarded, which will change the performance evaluation on a great number of reservoirs in terms of economic feasibility.

Polymer flooding is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method that reduces the mobility ratio between the displaced oil and the displacing injected water. The flow of polymer solutions through porous media is subject to some process-specific phenomena, such as the inaccessible pore volume (IAPV). Due to IAPV, polymer molecules move faster through the porous medium than smaller ones. Thus the IAPV value needs to be accounted for in experiments and field projects. Recent reports found that polymer in-situ rheology correlates with the IAPV. The objective of this paper is to develop a method for estimating IAPV based on the in-situ rheology of polymers. The methodology proposed here can be used in both single- and two-phase experiments. The technique requires measurement of polymer resistance factor (RF) and residual resistance factor (RRF) at steady state conditions. Core permeability, porosity, and residual oil saturation, as well as water and polymer bulk viscosities, also need to be taken into account. Correlations for polymer in-situ viscosity and shear rate are solved simultaneously, to wield an estimative for the IAPV. Aiming at to prove the method, we report 16 core-flooding experiments, eight single- and eight two-phase experiments. We used a flexible polymer and sandstone cores. All the tests were run using similar rock samples. In the single-phase experiments, we compare the alternative method with the classic tracer method to estimate IAPV. The results show an average relative difference of 11.5% between the methods. The two-phase results display, on average, an 18% relative difference to the IAPV measured in the single-phase experiments. The difference between single- and two-phase results can be an effect of the higher shear rates experienced in the two-phase floodings since, in these cases, the aqueous phase shear rate is also dependent on the phase saturation. Additionally, temperature, core length, pore pressure, and iron presence on the core did not show any influence on the IAPV for our two-phase experiments. The method proposed in this paper is limited by the accuracy of the pressure drop measurements across the core. For flexible polymers, the method is valid only for low and mid shear rates, but, accoording to literature, for rigid polymers the method should be accurate for a broad range of shear rates. The method proposed here allows the measurement of polymer IAPV on two- and single- phase core-flooding experiments when a tracer is not used.

Inaccessible pore volume (IAPV) can have an important impact on the placement of gelant during in situ gel treatment for conformance control. Previously, IAPV was considered to be a constant factor in simulators, yet it lacked dynamic characterization. This paper proposes a numerical simulation model of IAPV. The model was derived based on the theoretical hydrodynamic model of gelant molecules. The model considers both static features, such as gelant and formation properties, and dynamic features, such as gelant rheology and retention. To validate our model, we collected IAPV from 64 experiments and the results showed that our model fit moderately into these lab results, which proved the robustness of our model. The results of the sensitivity test showed that, considering rheology and retention, IAPV in the matrix dramatically increased when flow velocity and gelant concentration increased, but IAPV in the fracture maintained a low value. Finally, the results of the penetration degree showed that the high IAPV in the matrix greatly benefited gelant placement near the wellbore situation with a high flow velocity and gelant concentration. By considering dynamic features, this new numerical model can be applied in future integral reservoir simulators to better predict the gelant placement of in situ gel treatment for conformance control.