Backeberg, NR;
Iacoviello, F;
Rittner, M;
Mitchell, TM;
Jones, AP;
Day, R;
Wheeler, J;
... Striolo, A; + view all
(2017)
Quantifying the anisotropy and tortuosity of permeable pathways in clay-rich mudstones using models based on X-ray tomography.
Scientific Reports
, 7
(1)
, Article 14838. 10.1038/s41598-017-14810-1.
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Abstract
The permeability of shales is important, because it controls where oil and gas resources can migrate to and where in the Earth hydrocarbons are ultimately stored. Shales have a well-known anisotropic directional permeability that is inherited from the depositional layering of sedimentary laminations, where the highest permeability is measured parallel to laminations and the lowest permeability is perpendicular to laminations. We combine state of the art laboratory permeability experiments with high-resolution X-ray computed tomography and for the first time can quantify the three-dimensional interconnected pathways through a rock that define the anisotropic behaviour of shales. Experiments record a physical anisotropy in permeability of one to two orders of magnitude. Two- and three-dimensional analyses of micro- and nano-scale X-ray computed tomography illuminate the interconnected pathways through the porous/permeable phases in shales. The tortuosity factor quantifies the apparent decrease in diffusive transport resulting from convolutions of the flow paths through porous media and predicts that the directional anisotropy is fundamentally controlled by the bulk rock mineral geometry. Understanding the mineral-scale control on permeability will allow for better estimations of the extent of recoverable reserves in shale gas plays globally.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Quantifying the anisotropy and tortuosity of permeable pathways in clay-rich mudstones using models based on X-ray tomography |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-017-14810-1 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14810-1 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10028166 |
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