Bp Corporation North America Inc.

Nathan Lane

Joanne Fredrich

Julianna J Toms

Abdulla Kerimov

Jennie Cook

Julianna Toms

A method for analyzing a rock sample to determine a mechanical property of the rock sample includes (a) segmenting a digital image volume corresponding to an image of the rock sample. In addition, the method includes (b) partitioning the digital image volume to associate a plurality of voxels in the digital image volume with a plurality of grains of the rock sample. Further, the method includes (c) determining the voxels of the plurality of voxels that are adjacent to each other to identify a plurality of contact interfaces between the grains. Still further, the method includes (d) determining a contact area of each of the contact interfaces using adjacent voxels at the corresponding grain-grain interface. The method also includes (e) determining a number of contact interfaces that each grain of the plurality of grains has with each adjacent grain. Moreover, the method includes (f) determining the one or more mechanical properties of the rock sample based on the number of the contact interfaces of each of the plurality of grains and the contact area of each of the contact interfaces.

Systems and methods for estimating mechanical properties of rocks using grain contact models

A method for analyzing a rock sample includes segmenting a digital image volume corresponding to the rock sample, to associate voxels in the digital image volume with pore space or solid material. A distance transform is applied to each pore space voxel. The distance transform assigns a distance value to the pore space voxel specifying distance from the pore space voxel to a solid material voxel. Drainage is numerically simulated by, for a pore space, selecting each distance value assigned to a pore space voxel that is greater than a predetermined threshold value to represent a radius of a sphere of a non-wetting fluid introduced into the pore space. The sphere is centered at the pore space voxel corresponding to the distance value. The digital image volume is numerically analyzed to characterize a material property of the rock sample at a non-wetting fluid saturation produced by the drainage.

Direct numerical simulation of petrophysical properties of rocks with two or more immicible phases

A testing system for performing image based direct numerical simulation to characterize petrophysical properties of a rock sample under the simulated deformation condition, for example as representative of subsurface conditions. A digital image volume corresponding to x-ray tomographic images of a rock sample is segmented into its significant elastic phases, such as pore space, clay fraction, grain contacts and mineral type, and overlaid with an unstructured finite element mesh. A simulated deformation is applied to the segmented image volume, and the resulting deformed unstructured mesh is numerically analyzed, for example by way of direct numerical simulation, to determine the desired petrophysical properties.

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Katy, TX, United States of America

Nathan Lane