T67 Unconventional Energy Resources: Advances and Evolution in Tight Reservoir Assessment and Production (Posters)

Sunday, 22 October 2017
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Halls 4EF

APPLICATION OF NEUTRON SCATTERING TO QUANTIFY THE INFLUENCE OF WETTABILITY ON SHALE PORE CONNECTIVITY

Paper number: T67-9
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

Hydrocarbon transport in tight shale is greatly controlled by the pore connectivity between matrix pores and stimulated fracture network. The target of this study focuses on the organic-rich siliceous and calcareous shales from several typical shale plays with different thermal maturity and mineralogy. Pore structure (including porosity, pore size distribution, and pore accessibility) of the shales was characterized by using small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-SANS (USANS) techniques, as well as mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) analyses. Owing to the capabilities of detecting inaccessible pore spaces not measurable by other fluid-invasion approaches, SANS/USANS can measure total porosity (i.e., connected and closed porosity) across nm-mm spectrum. Furthermore, contrast-matching experiments, using mixed deuterated/non-deuterated fluids (i.e., water and n-decane), were conducted on the same specimen to quantify the volume fraction of hydrophobic and hydrophilic pores. Results indicate that a significant contribution of pores at >100 nm diameter to the total porosity from (U)SANS, while MICP detects accessible porosity with predominant pore-throat size ranges in <50 nm. A combination of (U)SANS and MICP techniques gives a comprehensive picture of shale pore structure related to wettability.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-308038

© Copyright 2017 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.