Intercomparison of 3D pore-scale flow and solute transport simulation methods

Multiple numerical approaches have been developed to simulate porous media fluid flow and solute transport at the pore scale. These include 1) methods that explicitly model the three-dimensional geometry of pore spaces and 2) methods that conceptualize the pore space as a topologically consistent set of stylized pore bodies and pore throats. In previous work we validated a model of the first type, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes employing a standard finite volume method (FVM), against magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) measurements of pore-scale velocities. Here we expand that validation to include additional models of the first type based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), as well as a model of the second type, a pore-network model (PNM). The PNM approach used in the current study was recently improved and demonstrated to accurately simulate solute transport in a two-dimensional experiment. While the PNM approach is computationally much less demanding than direct numerical simulation methods, the effect of conceptualizing complex three-dimensional pore geometries on solute transport in the manner of PNMs has not been fully determined. We apply all four approaches (FVM-based CFD, LBM, SPH and PNM) to simulate pore-scale velocity distributions and (for capable codes) nonreactive solute transport, and intercompare the model results. Comparisons are drawn both in terms of macroscopic variables (e.g., permeability, solute breakthrough curves) and microscopic variables (e.g., local velocities and concentrations). Generally good agreement was achieved among the various approaches, but some differences were observed depending on the model context. The intercomparison work was challenging because of variable capabilities of the codes, and inspired some code enhancements to allow consistent comparison of flow and transport simulations across the full suite of methods. This study provides support for confidence in a variety of pore-scale modeling methods and motivates further development and application of pore-scale simulation methods.     

裂缝-孔隙介质储层渗透率表征及其影响因素分析

含裂缝多孔介质渗透率预测是非常规油气资源勘探开发的一个紧迫问题.现有多孔介质岩石物理模型通常利用圆形孔管模拟宏观岩石孔隙空间,难以定量描述软孔隙/裂缝在压力作用下的闭合情况,缺乏裂缝/孔隙间流量交换的连通机制.本文提出含三维裂缝/软孔隙网络多孔介质模型,将储层岩石裂缝/软孔隙表示为椭圆截面微管,建立了周期性压力作用下微观裂缝流量表达式,通过网络模型和流量守恒条件,得到含有三维裂缝/软孔隙网络的多孔介质渗透率计算方法.数值算例表明,预测结果与实验数据分布范围吻合很好,能够给出不同类型岩心对应孔隙纵横比的分布图.三维裂缝/软孔隙网络模型建立了宏观可观测量与裂缝参数之间关系,能够定量分析岩石渗透率随裂缝体密度、纵横比、孔隙流体类型和围压等因素的变化规律,为复杂条件下储层渗透率预测提供了一种有效方法.

     

各向异性多孔介质数字岩心模型重构通用算法

多孔介质材料内部的微观孔隙结构直接决定着其宏观的各类物理特性, 岩石等天然多孔介质材料内部分布有复杂的孔隙结构, 且呈现出较明显的各向异性特征, 准确的描述和捕捉该特征对于岩石高精度数字岩心模型的构建以及后续的孔隙尺度模拟至关重要.基于先前所提出的重构加速框架, 选用单点概率函数、两点概率函数和线性路径函数等统计函数来对孔隙结构特征进行定量化描述, 通过对孔隙结构在不同方向上的分布特征进行独立的提取表征, 提出了一种能够适用于岩石等各类天然各向异性多孔介质数字岩心模型构建的改进模拟退火算法.以具有显著各向异性特征的人工合成二维切片图像及真实碳酸盐岩和砂岩三维CT扫描图像作为测试参考样本, 分别采用传统方法和本研究所提出方法构建了其相应的数字岩心模型, 并对两者的连通性及不同方向上孔隙结构的分布情况和渗透特性进行了全面的综合对比分析, 结果表明: 相比于传统方法, 本研究所提出方法在确保重构岩心模型具有良好连通性的前提下, 能够对不同方向上孔隙结构分布的差异性进行更加准确的捕获和表征, 且重构岩心模型各个方向上的渗透性也与参考真实岩心表现出了较高程度的一致性, 实现了高精度还原重建参考图像中孔隙结构各向异性特征的目标, 从而验证了本研究所提出的各向异性多孔介质数字岩心模型重构方法的准确性和有效性.

     

饱和岩石的动态渗透率和动电耦合系数解析式

动态渗透率和动电耦合系数是描述岩石中渗流波动和弹性-电磁耦合波效应的重要参数.本文基于毛细管束模型,提出了流体饱和孔隙介质的动态渗透率和动电耦合系数的解析表达式和简化表达式,并通过与前人近似式结果的对比,分析了不同表达式的合理性和适用性.在此基础上,理论分析了孔隙几何形状和孔径分布对渗透率和动电耦合系数的频率响应以及井孔震电耦合波场的影响.研究结果表明：当认为孔道均匀且达西渗透率、孔隙度和弯曲度恒定时,孔隙几何形状的影响很小,可以忽略,而前人的近似式高估了孔隙几何形状的影响;孔径分布的影响显著,随着孔径分布的增大,渗透率的临界频率显著减小,动电耦合系数的临界频率显著增加,震电测井的斯通利波及其伴随电场幅度显著增大.

     

Calibrating Lattice Boltzmann flow simulations and estimating uncertainty in the permeability of complex porous media

A common way to simulate fluid flow in porous media is to use Lattice Boltzmann (LB) methods. Permeability predictions from such flow simulations are controlled by parameters whose settings must be calibrated in order to produce realistic modelling results. Herein we focus on the simplest and most commonly used implementation of the LB method: the single-relaxation-time BGK model. A key parameter in the BGK model is the relaxation time τ which controls flow velocity and has a substantial influence on the permeability calculation. Currently there is no rigorous scheme to calibrate its value for models of real media. We show that the standard method of calibration, by matching the flow profile of the analytic Hagen-Poiseuille pipe-flow model, results in a BGK-LB model that is unable to accurately predict permeability even in simple realistic porous media (herein, Fontainebleau sandstone). In order to reconcile the differences between predicted permeability and experimental data, we propose a method to calibrate τ using an enhanced Transitional Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, which is suitable for parallel computer architectures. We also propose a porosity-dependent τ calibration that provides an excellent fit to experimental data and which creates an empirical model that can be used to choose τ for new samples of known porosity. Our Bayesian framework thus provides robust predictions of permeability of realistic porous media, herein demonstrated on the BGK-LB model, and should therefore replace the standard pipe-flow based methods of calibration for more complex media. The calibration methodology can also be extended to more advanced LB methods.     

Petrophysical characterization of porous media starting from micro-tomographic images

A quasi-static scheme based on pore space spatial statistics is presented to simulate pore-scale two-phase capillary-dominant displacement processes. The algorithm is coupled with computational fluid dynamics in order to evaluate saturation functions. Wettability heterogeneity in partial and fractional/mixed-wet media is implemented using a contact angle map. The simulation process is pixel-wised and performed directly on binary images. Bypassing and snap-off are tackled as non-wetting phase trapping mechanisms. Post-processing results include residual saturations, effective permeability and capillary pressure curves for drainage and imbibition scenarios. The primary advantages of the proposed workflow are eliminating pore space skeletisation/ discretization, superior time efficiency and minimal numerical drawbacks when compared to other direct or network-based simulation techniques.     

三维层状孔隙介质中弹性波的一种积分表达式I：理论

孔隙介质弹性波传播理论在地球物理勘探、地震工程和岩土动力学等领域有着广泛的应用.而孔隙介质中的弹性波受孔隙度、渗透率、流体黏滞系数等参数的影响,因此研究波场的传播特征将有助于分析和提取这些信息.本文在Biot理论的基础上,针对三维层状孔隙介质模型,利用在合成理论地震图的研究中已经被证实具有稳定、高效且适用范围较广的Luco-Apsel-Chen（LAC）广义反透射方法,给出了弹性波场的一种积分形式的半解析解,可通过数值方法高效、准确地计算层状孔隙介质中的理论波场,所以该积分形式的半解析解可为三维层状孔隙介质波场传播特征的理论数值模拟研究提供一种新的途径和手段.     

Stochastic modelling and risk analysis of groundwater pollution using FORM coupled with automatic differentiation

The first order reliability method (FORM) has been widely used in probabilistic modelling of groundwater problems. The FORM approach requires an iterative optimization procedure to find out the system failure point (the most probable point).The advantages of this approach are that it does not require many computations in comparison with other methods when applied to simple problems, and it produces reasonably accurate results. However, it has been found that the computations of FORM can equal or exceed that of other methods in case of large number of variables.In this paper, a new implementation of FORM was proposed with more efficiency and accuracy than the traditional FORM method. In the proposed approach, automatic differentiation is used to obtain the gradient vector of the limit state function, which is required by FORM, instead of using finite difference estimation. This way, the first order derivative was obtained with a very good accuracy, and with less computational effort. Based on the obtained results, it is found that the proposed implementation of FORM is a very good tool for probabilistic risk assessment and uncertainty analysis in groundwater problems.     

含黏性流体孔隙介质分界面上反透射系数特征研究

地下岩石由岩石骨架和孔隙流体组成,通常流体含黏性.地震波在地下介质中传播时受岩石骨架和黏性流体的影响会呈现出复杂的变化.本文将流、固体位移和应力连续作为边界条件,推导出含黏性流体孔隙介质分界面上反透射系数方程;通过建立上层为饱油、下层为饱盐水的砂岩孔隙介质模型,开展反透射系数特征研究,分别分析不同频率、不同黏滞系数条件下,含黏性流体孔隙介质分界面上反透射系数随入射角的变化.研究表明,孔隙介质分界面上和等效介质分界面上的反透射系数分别随入射角的变化趋势基本一致,说明方程推导和数值计算的正确性;快纵波反透射系数受频率、流体黏性的影响较小,而快横波反透射系数在一定入射角范围内受频率、流体黏性的影响比较大;由于黏性孔隙流体的作用,慢纵波和慢横波的反透射系数受入射角、频率及流体黏性的影响都很大.

     

Developing a new form of permeability and Kozeny–Carman constant for homogeneous porous media by means of fractal geometry

The semi-empirical Kozeny–Carman (KC) equation is the most famous permeability–porosity relation, which is widely used in the field of flow in porous media and is the starting point for many other permeability models. However, this relation has many limitations from its inception, and the KC constant is an empirical parameter which was proved to be not a constant. In this paper, we briefly reviewed the KC equation, its modifications and various models for the KC constant. We then derived an analytical expression for the permeability in homogeneous porous media based on the fractal characters of porous media and capillary model. The proposed model is expressed as a function of fractal dimensions, porosity and maximum pore size. The analytical KC constant with no empirical constant is obtained from the assumption of square geometrical model. Furthermore, a distinct linear scaling law between the dimensionless permeability and porosity is found. It is also shown that our analytical permeability is more closely related to the microstructures (fractal dimensions, porosity and maximum pore size), compared to those obtained from conventional methods and models.     

A lattice Boltzmann study on the impact of the geometrical properties of porous media on the steady state relative permeabilities on two-phase immiscible flows

In the current paper, the effect of the geometrical characteristics of 2-D porous media on the relative permeability in immiscible two-phase flows is studied. The generation of the different artificial porous media is performed using a Boolean model based on a random distribution of overlapping circles/ellipses, the size and shape of which are chosen to satisfy the specific Minkowski functionals (i.e. volume fraction, solid line contour length, connectivity). The study aims to identify how each different Minkowski functional affects the relative permeability of each phase at various saturations of the non-wetting phase. A 2-D multi-relaxation time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann model (LBM) that can handle high density ratios is employed in the simulation. The relationship between the driving forces G and the relative permeabilities of the two phases for every artificial structure is quantified. It is found that for high non-wetting phase saturations (fully connected flow), a non-linear relationship exists between the non-wetting phase flow rate and the driving force, whilst this relationship becomes linear at higher magnitudes of the latter. The force magnitude required to approach the linear region is highly influenced by the pore size distribution and the connectivity of the solid phase. For lower non-wetting phase saturation values, its relative permeability in the linear regime decreases as the fraction of small pores in the structure increases and the non-wetting phase flow becomes disconnected. A strong influence of the solid phase connectivity is also observed.     

二相介质饱和土中群桩动力阻抗分析

用流体饱和多孔介质材料描述土体，由饱和土和群桩及承台系统的位移协调条件和力平衡条件建立饱和土和群桩及承台系统动力相互作用的控制方程，分析饱和土中群桩动力阻抗。结果表明：孔隙流体对饱和土中桩基础动力阻抗有一定的影响；在饱和土具有不同的流体渗透系数时，饱和土中群桩动力阻抗也有一定差别。在地基上与基础结构动力相互作用研究中应该考虑地基土中孔隙流体的影响。     

Pore geometry of sandstone derived from pulsed field gradient NMR

Several parameters of pore geometry are needed for estimating permeability which is a key parameter for the characterization of reservoir sandstones. Powerful techniques for probing the pore space are the self-diffusion and the relaxation time NMR methods. However, the quality of results depends on the petrophysical model which underlies the interpretation of measurements. We applied the pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR) technique and measured time-dependent self-diffusion coefficients, D(Δ), of water in anhydrite cemented sandstones with low porosity and high tortuosity. The conventional method of fitting data with a function (Padé approximation) of the surface-to-volume ratio and the tortuosity yielded uncertain results. As part of a novel approach, we developed a numerical simulation code based on physical principles and a fractal pore space model. We compared our method with the Padé approximation and tested with data from the literature. For porous media with low tortuosity values and simple geometry such as randomly packed glass beads, both methods are in good agreement and give similar results. In sedimentary rocks, however, the new method of calculation is able to determine more accurate details of the pore geometry. However, its main advantage occurs in porous media with fractal geometry or with constricted pores, where the D(Δ)/D₀ curves deviate from the characteristic shape that is found for randomly packed glass beads.     

Seismic wave attenuation in fluid-saturated porous media

Contrary to the traditional view, seismic attenuation in Biot's theory of fluid-saturated porous media is due to viscous damping of local (not global) pore-fluid motion. Since substantial inhomogeneities in fluid permeability of porous geological materials are to be expected, the regions of highest local permeability contribute most to the wave energy dissipation while those of lowest permeability dominate the fluid flow rate if they are uniformly distributed. This dichotomy can explain some of the observed discrepancies between computed and measured attenuation of compressional and shear waves in porous earth. One unfortunate consequence of this result is the fact that measured seismic wave attenuation in fluid-filled geological materials cannot be used directly as a diagnostic of the global fluid-flow permeability.     

地下固体介质弹性模量反演

地下固体介质弹性模量是固体地球定量表征的重要参数,是探测地球内部结构、地下流体分布、设计合理工程方案的关键之一.本文首先简要分析常用的流体饱和孔隙介质岩石物理模型,在此基础上通过数值计算,详细讨论了流体饱和多孔介质等效弹性模量对固体基质、孔隙度、孔隙结构和孔隙流体的敏感性,探讨了利用等效介质弹性模量反演固体基质弹性模量的可行性,建立了固体基质弹性模量的非线性方程系统,提出了该方程系统的数值迭代求解方法,并通过对三类岩石样本实验室测量数据的反演和结果分析,验证了方法的有效性.文中同时通过不同条件下对实验数据的反演,探讨了孔隙结构、孔隙流体和等效介质弹性模量对反演效果的影响,为方法的合理有效应用提供依据.

     

渗流方程的三维粗化算法

本文提出了地下流体渗流问题的三维解粗化算法,在粗网格内流体压强分布用直接解法求解三维渗流方程,用这些解计算粗网格的等效渗透率,在流体流速大的区域仍采用精细网格的计算方法.用所得等效渗透率计算了粗化网格的渗流场的压强分布,结果表明渗流方程的三维粗化解非常逼近采用精细网格的解,但计算的速度比采用精细网格提高了100多倍.     

含泥质低孔渗各向异性黏弹性介质中的波频散和衰减研究

本文定义了各向异性黏弹性参数修正因子,并将其引入到黏弹性模型中以体现泥质含量对黏弹性机制的影响,同时将波传播过程中孔隙介质骨架黏弹性力学机制与两种孔隙流体流动力学机制（Biot流动和喷射流动机制）有机地统一起来处理,从而给出了描述含泥质低孔渗孔隙各向异性介质中波传播规律的黏弹性Biot/squirt (BISQ)模型.数值计算结果表明,入射波的方位角、各向异性渗透率以及泥质含量等对含流体复杂孔隙介质中波频散和衰减的影响具有显著的方位各向异性特征,在低频范围内（地震波勘探频率）黏弹性力学机制对波传播能量的衰减起主导作用.     

Geostatistical modeling of clay spatial distribution in siliciclastic rock samples using the plurigaussian simulation method

In order to implement secondary and enhanced oil recovery processes in complex terrigenous formations as is usual in turbidite deposits, a precise knowledge of the spatial distribution of shale grains is a crucial element for the fluid flow prediction. The reason of this is that the interaction of water with shale grains can significantly modify their size and/or shape, which in turn would cause porous space sealing with the subsequent impact in the flow. In this work, a methodology for stochastic simulations of spatial grains distributions obtained from scanning electron microscopy images of siliciclastic rock samples is proposed. The aim of the methodology is to obtain stochastic models would let us investigate the shale grain behavior under various physico-chemical interactions and flux regimes, which in turn, will help us get effective petrophysical properties (porosity and permeability) at core scale. For stochastic spatial grains simulations a plurigaussian method is applied, which is based on the truncation of several standard Gaussian random functions. This approach is very flexible, since it allows to simultaneously manage the proportions of each grain category in a very general manner and to rigorously handle their spatial dependency relationships in the case of two or more grain categories. The obtained results show that the stochastically simulated porous media using the plurigaussian method adequately reproduces the proportions, basic statistics and sizes of the pore structures present in the studied reference images.     

Statistical fusion of two-scale images of porous media

The reconstruction of the architecture of void space in porous media is a challenging task, since porous media contain pore structures at multiple scales. Whereas past methods have been limited to producing samples with matching statistical behavior, the patterns of grey-level values in a measured sample actually say something about the unresolved details, thus we propose a statistical fusion framework for reconstructing high-resolution porous media images from low-resolution measurements. The proposed framework is based on a posterior sampling approach in which information obtained by low-resolution (MRI or X-ray) measurements is combined with prior models inferred from high-resolution microscopic data, typically 2D. In this paper, we focus on two-scale reconstruction tasks in which the measurements resolve only the large scale structures, leaving the small-scale to be inferred. The evaluation of the results generated by the proposed method shows the strong ability of the proposed method in reconstructing fine-scale structures positively correlated with the underlying ground truth. Comparing our method with the recent method of Okabe and Blunt [12], in which the measurements are also used in the reconstruction, we conclude that our method is more robust to the resolution of the measurement, and more closely matches the underlying fine-scale field.     

饱和土体瞬态响应有限元分析

给出基于Biot多孔介质理论分析饱和土体在动载荷作用下瞬态响应的有限元公式,数值计算部分采用本文有限元法分别计算一维饱和土柱在两种不同类型动载荷作用下的瞬态响应,并将数值计算结果与文献中的解析解进行比较,二者结果十分吻合,从而验证本文方法的可行性。