Quantifying fluid distribution and phase connectivity with a simple 3D cubic pore network model constrained by NMR and MICP data

A computer algorithm is implemented to construct 3D cubic pore networks that simultaneously honor nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) measurements on core samples. The algorithm uses discretized pore-body size distributions from NMR and pore-throat size versus incremental pore-volume fraction information from MICP as initial inputs. Both pore-throat radius distribution and body-throat correlation are iteratively refined to match percolation-simulated primary drainage capillary pressure with MICP data. It outputs a pore-throat radius distribution which is not directly measurable with either NMR or MICP. In addition, quasi-static fluid distribution and single-phase connectivity are quantified at each capillary pressure stage. NMR measurements on desaturating core samples are simulated from the quantitative fluid distribution in a gas-displacing-water drainage process and are verified with laboratory measurements. We invoke effective medium theory to quantify the single-phase connectivity in two-phase flow by simulating percolation in equivalent sub-pore-networks that consider the remaining fluid phase as solid cementation. Primary drainage relative permeability curves quantified from fluid distribution and phase connectivity show petrophysical consistency after applying a hydrated-water saturation correction. Core measurements of tight-gas sandstone samples from the Cotton Valley formation, East Texas, are used to verify the new algorithm.