Physical Simulation Research of Synthetic Shale

Abstract

A physical simulation method for synthetic shale is proposed to repair the deficiencies of nature shale. Silicoide, clay, carbonate and kerogen are employed as primary sources by drawing upon statistical data of world’s major shale blocks. The samples can be constructed with single variation of any mixture ratio to avoid the interactive influence of multiparameter in nature shale. Appropriate interfusion and compaction methods ensure the homogeneity and controllable particle distribution to remedy the adverse effects due to nonhomogeneity. Evaluation is also performed to synthetic samples. Experiments results of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and velocity of different direction show synthetic samples are quite consistent with the nature ones in microstructure and anisotropy. Moreover, the test results of homogeneity and repeatability indicate that synthetic shale has steady construction process. To a certain degree, the synthetic shale can serve as a supplement for experiments and researches.