A novel upscaling procedure for characterising heterogeneous shale porosity from nanometer-to millimetre-scale in 3D. (15th August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ma, Lin; Dowey, Patrick J.; Rutter, Ernest; Taylor, Kevin G.; Lee, Peter D.
• Is Part Of: Energy. Volume 181(2019)
• Page Start: 1285
• Page End: 1297
• Publication Date: 2019-08-15
• Subjects: Multi-scale -- Pore system -- Upscaling -- Shale -- X-ray tomography -- FIB-SEM; Power resources -- Periodicals; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Energy consumption -- Periodicals; 333.7905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.06.011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-5442

Abstract

Abstract: Microstructures and pore systems in shales are key to understanding the role of shale in many energy applications. This study proposes a novel multi-stage upscaling procedure to comprehensively investigate the heterogeneous and complex microstructures and pore systems in a laminated and microfractured shale, utilising 3D multi-scale imaging data. Five imaging techniques were used for characterisation from sub-nanoscale to macroscale (core-scale), spanning four orders of magnitude. Image data collected using X-ray tomography, Focused Ion Beam, and Electron Tomography techniques range in voxel size from 0.6 nm to 13 μm. Prior to upscaling, a novel two-step analysis was performed to ensure sub-samples were representative. Following this, a three-step procedure, based on homogenising descriptors and computed volume coefficients, was used to upscale the quantified microstructure and pore system. At the highest resolution (nanoscale), four distinct pore types were identified. At the sub-micron scale equations were derived for three pore-associated phases. At the microscale, the volume coefficients were recalculated to upscale the pore system to the millimetre- scale. The accuracy of the upscaling methodology was verified, predicting the total porosity within 7.2% discrepancy. The results provide a unique perspective to understand heterogeneous rock types, breaking though prior scale limitations in the pore system. Highlights: A novel upscaling method is proposed to quantify pores from the nm-to mm-scale. Three advanced 3D imaging techniques are applied across five distinct scales. A two-step analysis prior to upscaling ensures the images are representative. Four types of pores are recognized at nanoscale and then all upscaled to mm-scale. Upscaled porosity differs by less than 10% compared to measured helium porosity.