CT BASED ANALYSIS OF PORE NETWORK OF RESERVOIR ROCKS

Abstract

High-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) is a novel technique suited to a wide range of geological investigations. It is a quick and non-destructive method to produce images that correspond closely to serial sections through an object. Sequential contiguous images are compiled to create three-dimensional representations that can be manipulated digitally to perform efficiently a large array of measurements and visualizations. In this study we combined conventional core analysis technique with micro-scale Computed Tomography imaging technique to extract pore network properties of carbonate rocks. In order to detect pore properties from the CT images different filtering algorithms and various segmentation techniques were applied to obtain robust data, which were compared with those of mercury injection texts carried out in the laboratory on the same samples. The methodology is applied to a set of real porous media and the resulting pore network statistics showed great variability compared to lab results due to limitations in voxel resolution. Despite this, useful information about the pore constituents could be extracted.