Drainage capillary pressure distribution and fluid displacement in a heterogeneous laminated sandstone
File(s)2021GL093604.pdf (3.44 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Lin, Qingyang
Bijeljic, Branko
Raeini, Ali Q
Rieke, Holger
Blunt, Martin J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We applied three-dimensional X-ray microtomography to image a capillary drainage process (0–1,000 kPa) in a cm-scale heterogeneous laminated sandstone containing three distinct regions with different pore sizes to study the capillary pressure. We used differential imaging to distinguish solid, macropore, and five levels of subresolution pore phases associated with each region. The brine saturation distribution was computed based on average CT values. The nonwetting phase displaced the wetting phase in order of pore size and connectivity. The drainage capillary pressure in the highly heterogeneous rock was dependent on the capillary pressures in the individual regions as well as distance to the boundary between regions. The complex capillary pressure distribution has important implications for accurate water saturation estimation, gas and/or oil migration and the capillary rise of water in heterogeneous aquifers.
Date Issued
2021-07-28
Date Acceptance
2021-06-19
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2021, 48 (14), pp.1-11
ISSN
0094-8276
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
48
Issue
14
Copyright Statement
© 2021. The Authors.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Identifier
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL093604
Subjects
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-06-30