Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 November 2022) | Viewed by 14833

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Physics of the Earth Russian Academy of Sciences, 123242 Moscow, Russia
Interests: rock-physics modeling; upscaling and downscaling; effective elastic; viscoelastic and transport properties

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will be focused on topics related to multiscale rock-physics modeling. As is known, a rock’s physical properties are different at different scales. Commonly, in geophysical practice, these scales include the core scale (from a few nanometers to tens millimeters), logging scale (decimeters and first meters), and seismic scale (tens and hundreds of meters). However, the properties on all scales are interrelated and the properties at previous scales manifest themselves at larger scales. The path from smaller to larger scales is called upscaling. This procedure is a prediction of macroscopic properties of a rock from the properties of components that are much smaller. A “return trip” assumes an estimation of the component’s properties from experimental data obtained at larger scales, and is called downscaling. To solve the up- and downscaling problems, different rock-physics approaches can be applied. Besides, the rock-physics allows one to find interrelations between different physical properties (elastic, viscoelastic and transport) at different scales based on the same rock’s inner structure controlling these physical properties. The transport properties include electrical and thermal conductivity, dielectrical permittivity, hydraulic permeability, and linear thermal expansion. All these problems are of vital importance from both the scientific and practical point of view since their solution provide insight into the problem of micro- and macroscale relation.

The following are some of the topics proposed to the Special Issue (but not limited to):

  • Rock-physics models of different physical properties: elastic, viscoelastic and transport
  • Rock-physics models at different scales: from core to seismic scales
  • Anisotropy in rock’s physical properties at different scales and its reflection in rock-physics models
  • Upscaling and downscaling problems
  • Interrelations between different physical properties of rocks

Dr. Irina Bayuk
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • rock-physics
  • upscaling
  • downscaling
  • effective physical properties
  • modeling

Published Papers (7 papers)

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28 pages, 9148 KiB  
Article
Carbonate Pore Shape Evaluation Using Digital Image Analysis, Tomography, and Effective Medium Theory
by Eduard Ziganshin, Danis Nourgaliev, Irina Bayuk, Rail Kadyrov and Thanh Hung Nguyen
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2696; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app13042696 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1797
Abstract
Carbonate rocks have a wide variety of pore shapes and different types of grains, which greatly affect the elastic properties and characteristics of the reservoir. This causes certain difficulties in petroelastic modeling. One of the problems is the scale of the input data, [...] Read more.
Carbonate rocks have a wide variety of pore shapes and different types of grains, which greatly affect the elastic properties and characteristics of the reservoir. This causes certain difficulties in petroelastic modeling. One of the problems is the scale of the input data, which is then used to build the rock physics model. The paper presents the results of studying three core samples of carbonate rocks of the Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous age, which are located in the South Tatar arch (Volga-Ural oil and gas basin (Russia)). To evaluate the structural characteristics of the pore space, the effective medium theory is used. The input data are the results of laboratory studies that include measurements of the velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves, porosity, and thin section and computed tomography analysis. When using the computed tomography, the core samples are analyzed at different resolution (12–37 µm/voxel). The tomography studies of pore space at different scales provide rather different values of porosity and pore aspect ratio. The tomography-based porosity estimations also differ from the experimentally measured porosity (up to 10%). The pore space characteristics provided by different datasets are used to build a rock physics model for the studied rocks that helps to estimate the elastic wave velocities with three different methods of effective medium theory (self-consistent approximation, differential effective medium (DEM), and the Kuster–Toksöz method). A comparison of the velocity estimations with their experimental analogs for dry rocks may indicate the presence of microcracks whose size is beyond the tomography resolution. Improved rock physics models incorporating both pores and microcracks are then used to predict the elastic wave velocities of fluid-saturated rock in a wide porosity range. It is demonstrated that the predicted values significantly differ (up to 30%) from those provided by the rock physics (RP) models constructed without the support of the tomography results. Moreover, other types of models are considered in which the difference in experimental and theoretical velocities is attributed to changes in the host matrix properties as compared to the calcite polycrystal, which are caused by various reasons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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21 pages, 3994 KiB  
Article
Pore Space Connectivity in Different Rock-Physics Methods—Similarity and Differences
by Irina Berezina and Irina Bayuk
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 10185; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app121910185 - 10 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1692
Abstract
This study is focused on the analysis of pore space connectivity in reservoir rocks. This parameter is of vital importance for the oil and gas industry since it controls hydraulic permeability. Five methods of rock physics are used for this goal. Three of [...] Read more.
This study is focused on the analysis of pore space connectivity in reservoir rocks. This parameter is of vital importance for the oil and gas industry since it controls hydraulic permeability. Five methods of rock physics are used for this goal. Three of these methods (self-consistent version of generalized singular approximation, Berryman self-consistent method, and differential scheme) take into account the pore space connectivity implicitly. The other two methods, the f-model of the generalized singular approximation and a similar modification of the Berryman method suggested in this work, allow for quantifying the connectivity via a special parameter (f-parameter). In order to reveal a physical meaning of this parameter, two simple models of carbonate rock (porous-cracked limestone) are considered. The first model is a double porosity model containing spherical pores and cracks. The second model contains only spherical pores, and their connectivity is expressed via the f-parameter. The pores and cracks are filled with brine and gas. Application of the two groups of methods for modeling the effective elastic properties of the carbonate rock gives a possibility of relating the f-parameter to the characteristics of the cracks and pores. The f-parameter is shown to be controlled by the relative crack volume in the total pore space. An increase in crack porosity and crack density leads to an increase in the f-parameter. A good correlation of the f-parameter with crack density is demonstrated. It is shown that for the porosity range 2–20%, a relationship between the f-parameter and crack density ε, in general, has the form f=alog10(ε)2+blog10(ε)+c for εεmin. For the crack density less than εmin the f-parameter can be approximated by a constant value fmin. The values of εmin and fmin and coefficients a, b, and c depend on the porosity of spherical pores, saturation type, and pair of methods used for finding the link. These results give f-models an advantage in searching zones of the enhanced permeability and quantifying the ability of these zones to filtrate fluids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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18 pages, 5581 KiB  
Article
Modeling Method to Characterize the Pore Structure of Fractured Tight Reservoirs
by You Zhou, Guangzhi Zhang and Junzhou Liu
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(4), 2078; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12042078 - 17 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1960
Abstract
The study of unconventional reservoirs has gained increasing attention with the deepening of exploration and development especially in deep-buried tight sandstone reservoirs. We could not obtain the accurate elastic parameters of reservoirs using the conventional rock physics model, since tight sandstone reservoirs have [...] Read more.
The study of unconventional reservoirs has gained increasing attention with the deepening of exploration and development especially in deep-buried tight sandstone reservoirs. We could not obtain the accurate elastic parameters of reservoirs using the conventional rock physics model, since tight sandstone reservoirs have the characteristics of strong heterogeneity, complex lithology and storage space. In order to better describe tight sandstone reservoirs, we improved the traditional tight sandstone rock physics model by combining the dual-connected pore model and the linear slip model. Since the combined modeling process subtly considers four characteristics including the diversity of tight sandstone matrix minerals, the irregularities of pores structure, the connectivity between pores, and the anisotropy caused by fractures, multiple reservoir characteristic parameters can be derived from the limited logging information by the improved model. These reservoir characteristic parameters could account for the difference of diagenesis, which are useful to distinguish different pore types and eliminate ineffective reservoirs. The practical application shows that the improved model can extract microscopic reservoir information hidden in the logging data more effectively than the traditional model. It provides a reliable tool for identifying effective reservoirs in tight sandstone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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23 pages, 5217 KiB  
Article
Problems of Multiscale Brittleness Estimation for Hydrocarbon Reservoir Exploration and Development
by Nikita Dubinya, Irina Bayuk and Milana Bakhmach
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1134; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12031134 - 21 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1612
Abstract
The study is focused on the problem of using geophysical data to estimate brittleness of rock masses for the needs of petroleum industry. Three main developed ways to estimate brittleness—mineral-based, log-based, and elastic-based brittleness indices—are discussed from the perspective of scaling factor. The [...] Read more.
The study is focused on the problem of using geophysical data to estimate brittleness of rock masses for the needs of petroleum industry. Three main developed ways to estimate brittleness—mineral-based, log-based, and elastic-based brittleness indices—are discussed from the perspective of scaling factor. The study highlights the contradictions between brittleness indices calculated from the same data using various ways of introducing brittleness. These contradictions are explained by scaling factor, as geophysical data used for brittleness estimation are typically obtained at different spatial and temporal scales. A model based on the effective medium theory is used to understand the relationships between inner structure of inhomogeneous rocks and their brittleness indices estimated from laboratory tests on core samples as well as log data analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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16 pages, 6217 KiB  
Article
Natural Hydrocarbon Samples Classification by Topological Analysis Method
by Andrey Fedotov, Pavel Grishin, Dmitriy Ivonin, Mikhail Chernyavskiy and Eugene Grachev
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 50; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12010050 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2144
Abstract
Nowadays material science involves powerful 3D imaging techniques such as X-ray computed tomography that generates high-resolution images of different structures. These methods are widely used to reveal information about the internal structure of geological cores; therefore, there is a need to develop modern [...] Read more.
Nowadays material science involves powerful 3D imaging techniques such as X-ray computed tomography that generates high-resolution images of different structures. These methods are widely used to reveal information about the internal structure of geological cores; therefore, there is a need to develop modern approaches for quantitative analysis of the obtained images, their comparison, and classification. Topological persistence is a useful technique for characterizing the internal structure of 3D images. We show how persistent data analysis provides a useful tool for the classification of porous media structure from 3D images of hydrocarbon reservoirs obtained using computed tomography. We propose a methodology of 3D structure classification based on geometry-topology analysis via persistent homology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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11 pages, 2800 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Parameters of a Shock Wave on the Wall of an Explosion Cavity with the Refraction of a Detonation Wave of Emulsion Explosives
by Pavel Igorevich Afanasev and Khairullo Faizullaevich Makhmudov
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 3976; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11093976 - 27 Apr 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2120
Abstract
At present, studying the parameters of shock waves at pressures up to 20 GPa entails a number of practical difficulties. In order to describe the propagation of shock waves, their initial parameters on the wall of the explosion cavity need to be known. [...] Read more.
At present, studying the parameters of shock waves at pressures up to 20 GPa entails a number of practical difficulties. In order to describe the propagation of shock waves, their initial parameters on the wall of the explosion cavity need to be known. With the determination of initial parameters, pressures in the near zone of the explosion can be calculated, and the choice of explosives can be substantiated. Therefore, developing a method for estimating shock wave parameters on an explosion cavity wall during the refraction of a detonation wave is an important problem in blast mining. This article proposes a method based on the theory of breakdown of an arbitrary discontinuity (the Riemann problem) to determine the shock wave parameters on the wall of the explosion cavity. Two possible variants of detonation wave refraction on the explosion cavity wall are described. This manuscript compares the parameters on the explosion cavity wall when using emulsion explosives with those obtained using cheap granular ANFO explosives. The detonative decomposition of emulsion explosives is also considered, and an equation of state for gaseous explosion products is proposed, which enables the estimation of detonation parameters while accounting for the incompressible volume of molecules (covolume) at the Chapman–Jouguet point. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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11 pages, 6514 KiB  
Technical Note
Influence of Crack Geometry on Dynamic Damage of Cracked Rock: Crack Number and Filling Material
by Feili Wang, Shuhong Wang and Zhanguo Xiu
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(1), 250; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11010250 - 29 Dec 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2106
Abstract
The dynamic damage of cracked rock threatens the stability of rock structures in rock engineering applications such as underground excavation, mineral exploration and rock slopes. In this study, the dynamic damage of cracked rock with different spatial geometry was investigated in an experimental [...] Read more.
The dynamic damage of cracked rock threatens the stability of rock structures in rock engineering applications such as underground excavation, mineral exploration and rock slopes. In this study, the dynamic damage of cracked rock with different spatial geometry was investigated in an experimental method. Approximately 54 sandstone specimens with different numbers of joints and different filling materials were tested using the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) apparatus. The energy absorption in this process was analyzed, and the damage variable was obtained. The experimental results revealed that the dynamic damage of cracked rock is obviously influenced by the number of cracks; the larger the number, the higher the energy absorption and the bigger the dynamic damage variable. Moreover, it was observed from the dynamic compressive experiments that the energy absorption and the dynamic variable decreased with the strength and cohesion of the filling material, indicating that the filling material of crack has considerate influence on the dynamic damage of cracked rock. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Rock-Physics Modeling)
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