3D pore analysis of sedimentary rocks

A 3D representation of the internal structure and fabric of sedimentary rocks is of paramount interest to evaluate their structural parameters such as porosity, pore-size distribution and permeability. The classical experimental technique to evaluate the pore space volume and pore size distribution is the Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP). Computer-based methods use 3D imaging technologies such as Computer Tomography (CT) scanned images to construct and evaluate a 3D virtual representation of the internal pore distribution. In this work, based on a three samples set of sandstone, we apply two numerical (computer-based) methods in order to reconstruct and analyse the internal pore network, and compare it with the results obtained by MIP analysis. The first numerical method performs a virtual simulation of MIP. The second one obtains a graph of pores using a sphere-filling based approach. For all methods, we compute the global porosity and the pore-size distribution. Moreover, with the numerical methods, we obtain the total porosity and a graph representing the pore space that can be visualized with 3D illustration techniques.

Graphical AbstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (62 K)Download as PowerPoint slideResearch Highlights►Measurement with MIP of the porosity of sandstone samples. ►MicroCT scanning and 3D voxel model reconstruction of the samples. ►Numerical simulation of MIP on the voxel models. ►Numerical computation of pores with a region growing method. ►Comparison of the results.