Determining the relationship of thermal conductivity and compressional wave velocity of common rock types as a basis for reservoir characterization

To investigate the effect of water saturation on thermal conductivity and compressional wave velocity 118 sedimentary samples (arkose and fine-, medium- and coarse sandstones) were saturated in de-aired water and the heat conduction and acoustic velocity were remeasured. The obtained data shows that both thermal conductivity and compressional wave velocity of saturated samples markedly increase in contrast to dry samples. The extent of the thermal conductivity and compressional wave velocity gain is mainly controlled by porosity. Thermal conductivity of saturated samples increases twice as much for higher porous samples than for low porous fine and medium sandstones. In contrast, the gain of compressional wave velocity of saturated sandstones decreases with increasing porosity.