[CCoE Notice] Dissertation Announcement: Jeffrey Kojo Mbia Daniels, "Characterizing and Modeling the Pore Space of Conventional Reservoir Rocks Using Rate-Controlled Porosimetry and 2-D Rock Images"

[Greenwell, Stephen J]

[Dissertation Defense Announcement at the Cullen College of Engineering]
Characterizing and Modeling the Pore Space of Conventional Reservoir Rocks Using Rate-Controlled Porosimetry and 2-D Rock Images
Jeffrey Kojo Mbia Daniels
December 3rd, 2024; 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. (CST)
Location: Technology Bridge, Building 9, Room 140
Virtual Microsoft Teams Meeting Link <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19*3ameeting_MzFkMTE3OWQtOTE3Yy00NWIzLWFmMDMtZTA2MWE2YjFmNzZl*40thread.v2/0?context=*7b*22Tid*22*3a*22170bbabd-a2f0-4c90-ad4b-0e8f0f0c4259*22*2c*22Oid*22*3a*2219cd64ca-67c2-4e7a-839a-5900fabbde08*22*7d__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!LkSTlj0I!Hiy_GXIhY3fxgCYzzq-6ZfU9L1qLgab74_tFnqmRtzqH0iIogSBgnfC2ZOzy9HawkqbjyNsmt1kynJGQz2KzNoIe0J8$ >
Committee Chair:
Michael T. Myers, Ph.D.
Committee Members:
Lori A. Hathon, Ph.D. | Mohamed Y. Soliman, Ph.D. | Kyung Jae Lee, Ph.D. | John W. Dudley II, Ph.D.
Abstract
The pore structure of conventional reservoir rocks significantly determines their flow and transport properties and warrants comprehensive understanding to optimize hydrocarbon recovery and geologic CO2 storage. Traditional methods of comprehensive pore structure characterization require integrating data from multiple characterization techniques, making the process financially and computationally expensive. This dissertation explores integrating the analyses of rate-controlled porosimetry and digitized thin sections as an efficient and cost-effective pore structure characterization approach. We designed and constructed a bespoke Apparatus for Pore Examination (APEX) with high pressure and volumetric resolutions to infer micropores and larger-sized pores from rate-controlled capillary pressure measurements. The capability of an APEX to infer micropores represents a state-of-the-art advance. Two right circular cylindrical core plug samples widely considered as benchmarks were tested: the Berea Sandstone and the Indiana Limestone. Wavelet-based closure effect correction techniques were developed for their rate-controlled capillary measurements to allow for reliable pore space statistical inferences. Two-dimensional pore network models were developed using the proposed pore structure characterization approach to estimate single-phase permeability. Finally, fractal analysis was used to quantitatively describe their pore structure heterogeneity from the rate-controlled capillary measurements and digitized thin sections. The closure pressure levels determined by the wavelet-based closure effect correction techniques consistently agreed and aligned with values published in the literature. Their pore structure characteristics, including their capillary pressure increments, were observed to follow non-Gaussian distributions and exhibit power-law behavior with extreme tails. The magnitude spectra of their rate-controlled capillary curves were observed to follow "1/f β" scaling, indicative of their fractal characteristics. The single-phase permeabilities predicted from their two-dimensional pore network models closely agreed with their experimentally measured values (i.e., considered acceptable within a factor of 2). The findings suggest that integrating the analyses of rate-controlled porosimetry and 2-D rock images for the pore structure characterization and modeling of conventional reservoir rocks is a promising and cost-effective approach that allows for a robust understanding of their pore structure and its impact on fluid flow behavior to optimize hydrocarbon recovery and site selection for geologic CO2 storage.
[Engineered For What's Next]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://Bug.EGR.UH.EDU/pipermail/engi-dist/attachments/20241127/f99940e5/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 22744 bytes
Desc: image001.png
Url : http://Bug.EGR.UH.EDU/pipermail/engi-dist/attachments/20241127/f99940e5/attachment-0002.png 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5699 bytes
Desc: image002.png
Url : http://Bug.EGR.UH.EDU/pipermail/engi-dist/attachments/20241127/f99940e5/attachment-0003.png