Abstract
Traditionally, the values of reservoir rock properties have been acquired from log data or direct measurement in a physical laboratory. Recent advances in imaging and image processing, together with improved availability of high performance computing, gave rise to digital techniques for investigating the properties of rock samples. These techniques are based on high-resolution imaging of the rock's pore space, segmentation of the images into pores and various minerals and simulation of the physical processes controlled by the desired rock properties. These techniques form the novel discipline of digital rock physics (DRP). The goal of the current work is to validate the results of DRP measurements of geophysical parameters by comparing them with the results obtained in traditional physical laboratories. This study includes eight core plugs from a Cretaceous formation, representing four reservoir rock types. Multiple sub-samples of each core plug were taken and analyzed using the digital rock physics technique. Our DRP computations are compared with the results of physical measurements of the geophysical properties on samples from Cretaceous formations. The latter measurements were conducted on regular core plugs, several cm in size, much larger than the digital rock samples used in this study. Although some of the physical data represent samples from wells different from where the digital samples used here were extracted, these physical samples cover the rock types included in the study. The geophysical property values obtained in the digital rock physics laboratory closely match the results of physical measurements.
Published Version
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