Pore Space Morphology Research Articles

Pore Space Characteristics and Morphology of Highly Porous Sc2O3 Ceramic Materials Synthesized

Pore Space Characteristics and Morphology of Highly Porous Sc2O3 Ceramic Materials Synthesized

EFFECTS OF ZEOLITE INCORPORATION AND INERT FILLERS ON THE CURING OF CEMENT MORTARS

One of the main approaches to reducing the environmental impacts of the construction industry is the use of mineral additives reducing the use of cement in mortars and concretes for construction. The objects of this research are different cement composites with high content of inert mineral fillers (marble and quartz sand), the influence of zeolite incorporation on the microstructure, and low water-cement ratio, obtained after the hydration of white portland cement.In this study, the evolution of the curing processes and the crystal formation during up to 120 days of water-curing are investigated. Moreover, the effects of replacing up to 10 wt. % of white cement with natural zeolite are studied. Attention was focused on the general microstructural development during curing with special attention on the evolution and morphology of pore space and the observed calcium silicate hydrates (C–S–H), portlandite, and carbonate-containing phases.The phase composition (newly formed phases as well as the formation of C-S-H gel) is defined by using powder X-Ray diffraction and SEM. The experimental data shows that the cement composites with the inert marble filler as an additive lead to the creation of carbo-aluminates. The incorporation of up to 10 percent of clinoptilolite in concrete mixtures by mass of the total cementitious components is more efficient when used in lower strength mixes. A significant reduction in the workability of the fresh mortars is not observed, but the high surface area of zeolite reduces bleeding and accelerates setting without any strong effects on the other physical and technological properties of fresh mortars.

Quantifying the Impact of 3D Pore Space Morphology on Soil Gas Diffusion in Loam and Sand

Effective diffusion is an important macroscopic property for assessing transport in porous media. Numerical computations on segmented 3D CT images yield precise estimates for diffusive properties. On the other hand, geometrical descriptors of pore space such as porosity, specific surface area and further transport-related descriptors can be easily computed from 3D CT images and are closely linked to diffusion processes. However, the investigation of quantitative relationships between these descriptors and diffusive properties for a diverse range of porous structures is still ongoing. In the present paper, we consider three different soil samples of each loam and sand for a total of six samples, whose 3D microstructure is quantitatively investigated using univariate as well as bivariate probability distributions of geometrical pore space descriptors. This information is used for investigating microstructure–property relationships by means of empirically derived regression formulas, where a particular focus is put on the differences between loam and sand samples. Due to the analytical nature of these formulas, it is possible to obtain a deeper understanding for the relationship between the 3D pore space morphology and the resulting diffusive properties. In particular, it is shown that formulas existing so far in the literature for predicting soil gas diffusion can be significantly improved by incorporating further geometrical descriptors such as geodesic tortuosity, chord lengths, or constrictivity of the pore space. The robustness of these formulas is investigated by fitting the regression parameters on different data sets as well as by applying the empirically derived regression formulas to data that is not used for model fitting. Among others, it turns out that a formula based on porosity as well as mean and standard deviation of geodesic tortuosity performs best with regard to the coefficient of determination and the mean absolute percentage error. Moreover, it is shown that regarding the prediction of diffusive properties the concept of geodesic tortuosity is superior to geometric tortuosity, where the latter is based on the creation of a skeleton of the pore space.

A two-dimensional transient study on the impact of pore space connectivity on the immiscible two-phase flow in a water-wet, water–oil system

A multi-relaxation time lattice-Boltzmann model is employed to investigate the dynamic evolution of two immiscible phases through an artificial, randomly generated, porous structure. The flow is driven by a constant pressure gradient, in the absence of gravitational effects. Constraining attention to two dimensions, the impact of the morphological properties of the porous structure, generated using constant radius circular solid grains, on a water-wet, oil–water two-phase flow is studied. Variations in the pore space connectivity and topology are quantified by the Euler characteristic. It is found that the wetting phase saturation and the degree of pore network homogeneity have a significant impact on the dynamic evolution of the non-wetting phase topology, which is governed by a series of coalescence and snap-off events. It is also observed that the phenomenal macro-scale steady-state based on the velocity field does not also imply a temporal topological invariance of the displaced phases. The impact of the pore space morphology on the transient dynamics of the two-phase flow is monitored and quantified through a series of hydrodynamic and topological parameters that signify the underlying flow transport processes.

Pore-scale morphology effects on colloid deposition by trajectory tracking simulations

The migration and deposition of colloids in natural porous media is a phenomenon of high importance in hydrocarbon recovery, wastewater treatment and contaminant hydrogeology. Commonly described by colloid filtration theory (CFT), and using a single representative collector element, the theoretical framework is not accounting for morphological effects and heterogeneity of realistic porous media, including the local variations of balance of forces or presence of hydraulically stagnant regions in the vicinity of grain-to-grain contacts. So far developed numerical models of colloidal transport in porous media accounting for all major interactions and pore structure were applied to 2D systems. Known 3D simulations are limited to particulate flow with a reduced set of interactions.We propose a coupled colloid transport model combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element model (DEM) approaches, where the former provides the velocity field at a given time step, while the second calculates the updated colloid positions accounting for a set of forces acting on each colloid. Relationships between colloid retention and morphological characteristics, such as the pore coordination number and surface to volume ratio of a random sphere pack are investigated by pore partitioning of a digitized representation. The role of stagnation zones is quantified by expressing the capture probability of colloids as a function of distance to the nearest grain-to-grain contact measured along the curved surface.The analysis of pore space morphology of the collector and the simulated filtration process reveals a strong relation between colloid retention and pore connectivity. The simulations successfully mimic the expected effects of ionic strength of the carrier fluid, such as the increasing role of grain-to-grain contacts in colloid retention at low ionic strength.

A novel 3D volumetric method for directly quantifying porosity and pore space morphology in flocculated suspended sediments

Flocculated suspended sediments (flocs) are found in a variety of environments globally, and their transport and behavior bear substantial importance to several industries including fisheries, aquaculture, and shipping. Additionally, the modelling of their behavior is important for estuarine and coastal flood prediction and defence, and the process of flocculation occurs in other unrelated industries such as paper and chemical production. Floc porosity is conventionally assessed using inferential indirect or proxy data approaches. These methods underestimate floc porosity % by c. 30% and cannot measure the micro-scale complexity of these pore spaces and networks, rendering inputs to models sub-optimal. This study introduces a novel 3D porosity and pore space quantification protocol, that produces directly quantified porosity % and pore space data.•3D floc data from micro-CT scanning is segmented volumetrically•This segmented volume is quantified to extract porosity and several pore space parameters from the floc structure

Prediction of surface excess adsorption and retention factors in reversed-phase liquid chromatography from molecular dynamics simulations

An alternative method to the classical fit of semi-empirical, statistical, or artificial intelligence-based models to retention data is proposed to predict surface excess adsorption and retention factors in liquid chromatography. The approach is based on a fundamental, microscopic description of the liquid-to-solid adsorption of analytes taking place at the interface between a bulk liquid phase and a solid surface. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed at T=300 K in a 100 Å wide slit-pore model (β-cristobalite-C18 surface in contact with an acetonitrile/water mobile phase) to quantify a priori the retention factors of small molecules expected in reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Uracil is chosen as the reference “non-retained” marker, whereas benzyl alcohol, acetophenone, benzene, and ethylbenzene are four selected retained, neutral compounds. The MD simulations allow to determine the pore-level density profiles of these five compounds, i.e., the variation of the analyte concentration as a function of distance from the silica surface. The retention factors of the retained analytes are expressed using their respective calculated surface excess adsorption relative to uracil. By definition, the retention factors are proportional to the surface excess adsorbed and the proportionality constant is directly scaled to the retention time of the “non-retained” marker. Experimentally, a 4.6 mm × 150 mm RPLC-C18 column packed with 5 μm 100 Å High Strength Silica (HSS)-C18 particles is used and the retention times of these five compounds are measured. The volume fraction of acetonitrile in water increases from 20 to 90% generating a wide range of retention factors from 0.15 to 183 at T=300 K. The results demonstrate very good agreement between the MD-predicted surface excess adsorption data and measured retention factors (R2> 0.985). A systematic error is observed as the proportionality constant is not exactly scaled to the retention time of uracil. This is most likely caused by the differences between the chemical and morphological features of the slit-pore model adopted in the MD simulations and those of the actual HSS-C18 particles: the average surface coverage with C18 chains, the geometry of the mesopores, and the pore size distribution. Specifically, the impact on RPLC retention of slight, local variations in surface chemistry (e.g., functional group density and uniformity) and how this aspect is affected by the pore space morphology (e.g., pore curvature and size) is worth investigating by future MD simulations.

Effect of Pore Structure and Capillary Number on Gas-Water Flow Patterns in Carbonate Rocks

Summary Rock pore structure and capillary number determine gas-water flow through limestone. Limestone is of key importance for natural gas production and gas storage; however, there is still limited direct evidence on the precise influence of the pore space morphology (vugs, fractures, and homogeneous pore matrix) and capillary number. Here, we thus studied gas-water flow patterns in various limestones via in-situ X-ray microtomography combined with numerical flow simulations. Pore structure heterogeneity significantly affected the fluid migration path. Gas flowed rapidly through large pores and vugs but flowed slowly through microfractures. In contrast, water flowed through microfractures and small pores but did not enter large pores at low capillary number conditions. Water flow simulations [performed for different capillary numbers directly on microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) images] demonstrated that snap-off and dead-end corners controlled the distribution of residual gas, consistent with the experiments. In addition, the simulations showed that less residual gas distributed around dead-end corners at a low capillary number, and a part of the residual gas can be displaced by increasing viscous forces. Moreover, a power-low relationship between gas cluster volume and surface area was observed, and the gas cluster size distribution could also be fitted with a power-law correlation. In all types of tested limestones, the power-law exponents (p ≈ 0.77, τ ≈ 0.86) were lower than that predicted by simple percolation theory (which predicts p ≈ 1, τ ≈ 2.189). There was evidence that a simple percolation model was unlikely to provide reliable predictions in homogeneous porous media, and we further extended the application scope of this conclusion to heterogeneous porous media. This work therefore provides fundamental data and improves fundamental understanding of gas-water flow through limestones and aids in the further advancements of improved hydrocarbon recovery and gas storage in limestone reservoirs.

Chemically Induced Evolution of Morphological and Connectivity Characteristics of Pore Space of Complex Carbonate Rock via Digital Core Analysis

AbstractWe study the impact of reactive flow on a complex carbonate rock whose pore space was resolved by X‐ray μ‐CT. A small core plug was imaged in the original and chemically altered states. The morphology of the resolved pore space was quantified using various approaches, such as sample‐spanning cluster analysis, capillary drainage transform (CDT), and Minkowski functionals. In particular, we carefully evaluated the changes in macropore connectivity by calculating the fraction of percolated cluster, the Euler characteristic of macroporous phase, and the critical pore diameter in pre‐ and post‐alteration states. We observed that the reactive flow mainly affected larger pores in the macropore region of the sample. More importantly, a huge increase in macropore connectivity, as indicated majorly by the CDT measurements and the Euler characteristic, was observed such that the poorly connected original macropore phase was converted to well‐connected ones after the reactive flow. In addition, the increases in the macropore surface area and integral mean curvature indicated that the oomoldic and interooidal pores of the rock were dominantly enlarged by the reactive fluid. Based on direct numerical simulations on the main flow paths (i.e., the macro‐connected pore phase), strong correlations were found between changes in transport properties and the evolution of connectivity and length scales of the macropore phase, such that simple power‐law models could be used to predict with acceptable accuracy. This suggests that the evolution of transport properties of the rock was mainly controlled by the changes in the macro‐connected porosity and the critical pore diameter.

Modelling stress-induced permeability alterations in sandstones using CT scan-based representations of the pore space morphology

This contribution presents an integrated and automated methodology for the computational analysis of permeability alterations in natural rocks under varying stress states, taking explicitly into account the complexity of the rock microstructure. The capacity of the methodology is highlighted on a subset of the microCT scans of a Vosges sandstone. After the generation of a high quality conformal mesh of the subset, isotropic compression at the scale of the microstructure is applied through FEM simulations. The adoption of non linear elastoplastic constitutive laws allows considering the local stress redistributions within the specimen. The mechanical loading of the subset highlights pore closures by local plastification. Permeability is evaluated at different confining pressures using the Lattice-Boltzmann method. Such a procedure allows analysing the impact of the pore space morphology (i.e. total porosity, pore size distribution, connectivity of the pore space, etc.) as well as the mechanical properties (i.e. stiffness and shear strength) on the evolution of the permeability under loading.

Three‐Phase Reconstruction Reveals How the Microscopic Structure of the Carbon‐Binder Domain Affects Ion Transport in Lithium‐Ion Batteries

AbstractThe morphology of the electrolyte‐filled pore space in lithium‐ion batteries is determined by the solid microstructure formed by μm‐sized active material particles and the smaller‐featured carbon binder domain (CBD). Tomographic reconstructions have largely neglected the CBD, resulting in inadequately defined pore space morphologies at odds with experimental ionic tortuosity values. We present a three‐phase reconstruction of a LiCoO2 composite cathode by focused ion‐beam scanning electron microscopy tomography. Morphological analysis proves that the reconstruction, which combines an unprecedented volume (20 μm minimum edge length) with the hitherto highest resolution (13.9×13.9×20 nm3 voxel size), represents the cathode's pore space morphology. Pore‐scale diffusion simulations show consideration of the resolved CBD as indispensable to reproduce ionic tortuosity values from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Our results reveal the CBD as a convoluted network that dominates the pore space morphology and limits Li+ transport through tortuous and constricted diffusion pathways.

Predicting Intrinsic Permeability of a Double Porosity Cellular Ceramic Using X-ray Micro-tomography

The microstructure of a porous cellular ceramic exhibiting two spatial characteristic lengths was characterized to determine parameters of its pore space morphology and connectivity. In order to assess the hierarchical microstructure, X-ray computed micro-tomography was employed as an imaging technique to supply three-dimensional images in two spatial scales. Two samples, at different sintering temperatures, were produced by emulsification of sunflower oil in aqueous aluminum oxide suspensions using gelatin bloom 90 as the gelling agent, dodecyl sodium sulfate as the surfactant and native cassava starch as the gelling and porogenic agent. Image processing and morphological characterization were performed on each spatial scale, individually allowing the calculation of the total porosity and pore size distribution of the ceramic sample. For the numerical simulation of the intrinsic permeability, representative images of the two spatial scales were superposed in a single super-image. This simulation was performed on the 3D pore network extracted from the super-image. The simulated permeability results were interpreted on the basis of the microstructure.

Relationship between bed heterogeneity, chord length distribution, and longitudinal dispersion in particulate beds

We analyse a relationship between the bulk microstructure of randomly packed beds, which we quantify through chord length distribution (CLD) analysis of the interparticle void space, and the associated flow heterogeneity, as expressed by the longitudinal dispersion coefficient at a Péclet number of Pe = 10. A random collection of physically reconstructed packings is complemented with a systematic set of computer-generated packings of monosized spheres, for which the packing-generation algorithm has been carefully adjusted to realize a monotonic variation of the bed porosity and microstructural heterogeneity. The most relevant difference in the morphology between these computer-generated and the physically reconstructed packings are structural defects present in the real packings, such as particle oligomers and larger voids as well as contaminations and particle debris. These defects influence the pore space morphology and introduce additional structural heterogeneity. Hydrodynamic dispersion coefficients for all packings are derived by implementing the lattice-Boltzmann method to simulate fluid flow and a random-walk particle tracking technique to record the transport of passive, point-like tracers in the flow fields. We propose a morphological descriptor, σ/μ, based on statistical parameters of a CLD (standard deviation σ and mean chord length μ) that can be used to predict the dispersion coefficient in packed beds, independent from the underlying particle size distribution, packing-generation protocol, bed porosity, and the occurrence of structural defects.

Efficient Prediction of Multidomain Flow and Transport in Hierarchically Structured Porous Media

AbstractStructural hierarchy is a fundamental characteristic of natural porous media. Yet it provokes one of the grand challenges for the modeling of fluid flow and transport since pore‐scale structures and continuum‐scale domains often coincide independent of the observation scale. Common approaches to represent structural hierarchy build, for example, on a multidomain continuum for transport or on the coupling of the Stokes equations with Darcy's law for fluid flow. These approaches, however, are computationally expensive or introduce empirical parameters that are difficult to derive with independent observations. We present an efficient model for fluid flow based on Darcy's law and the law of Hagen‐Poiseuille that is parameterized based on the explicit pore space morphology obtained, for example, by X‐ray μ‐CT and inherently permits the coupling of pore‐scale and continuum‐scale domain. We used the resulting flow field to predict the transport of solutes via particle tracking across the different domains. Compared to experimental breakthrough data from laboratory‐scale columns with hierarchically structured porosity built from solid glass beads and microporous glass pellets, an excellent agreement was achieved without any calibration. Furthermore, we present different test scenarios to compare the flow fields resulting from the Stokes‐Brinkman equations and our approach to comprehensively illustrate its advantages and limitations. In this way, we could show a striking efficiency and accuracy of our approach that qualifies as general alternative for the modeling of fluid flow and transport in hierarchical porous media, for example, fractured rock or karstic aquifers.

Defining a novel pore-body to pore-throat “Morphological Aspect Ratio” that scales with residual non-wetting phase capillary trapping in porous media

Abstract We introduce a new method for defining a pore-body to pore-throat aspect ratio from segmented 3D image data, based on a connectivity metric applicable to porous media with widely varying pore-space connectivity and pore-space morphology. The ‘Morphological Aspect Ratio’ (MAR) is identified from the pore-space connectivity, using the Euler number (χ) as a function of a pore-space size defined by a morphological opening (erosion and dilation) of the pore space. We show that residual non-wetting phase trapping in porous media resulting from secondary imbibition scales with the MAR. Trapping was investigated in a Bentheimer sandstone core and five columns of partially sintered glass-particle packs with different combinations of glass beads and crushed glass ranging in size from 0.3 to 1.2 mm, resulting in porosity levels of 22–36%. Residual non-wetting phase trapping scales with the MAR, in contrast to the aspect ratio calculated with the traditional Maximum Inscribed Sphere (MIS) algorithm applied after partitioning the pore space into pore bodies and pore throats with a watershed transform followed by a region merging algorithm. This novel aspect ratio is a robust method that is less affected by segmentation errors compared to other methods for calculating aspect ratio and is applicable to residual non-wetting phase trapping resulting from capillary-driven flow of a wetting fluid through water-wet porous media.

Dynamic permeability and tortuosity in weakly consolidated granular media

Micro-scale rock heterogeneity plays an important role in modifying the seismic response of porous media and must be considered in reservoir studies such as seismic monitoring of fluid flow or interpretation of Stoneley waves. This work focuses on the prediction of dynamic permeability and dynamic tortuosity of granular media at different frequencies from porosity and average grain size data, utilizing numerical simulations. The simulations are conducted through cubic consolidated and unconsolidated digital rock samples of three different rock types, by applying a macroscopic oscillatory pressure gradient to each porous medium and combining fluid flow with solid mechanics to solve the wave propagation problem. The JKD parameter called dynamically connected pore size (Λ) is then predicted for each rock type. We investigate how pore space geometry, cement content and morphology, and matrix heterogeneity can influence the dynamic and geometrical tortuosities.

Permeability variation and anisotropy of gas hydrate-bearing pressure-core sediments recovered from the Krishna–Godavari Basin, offshore India

Abstract Permeability measurements were conducted on gas hydrate-bearing pressure-core sediments recovered from the Krishna–Godavari Basin during India's National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02. Pressure cores collected in the deep seabed of the Indian Ocean were cut and stored under high pressure and low temperature on the D/V Chikyu using pressure core analyzing tools. A total of 25, 1.2-m storage chambers were transferred to Japan from India for pressure core studies using pressure-core analysis tools at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The sediment core's pressure and temperature were maintained within the hydrate stability conditions during the entire process of transfer and loading into a triaxial testing apparatus called TACTT to preserve the hydrate, which can simulate the in-situ effective stress state under triaxial conditions. The hydrate saturation of the samples was in the range of 50–90%. It was found that the initial effective water permeability was in range of 0.01 mD to tens of mD, depending on the hydrate saturation and the mean particle size of the host sediment. The hydrate pore space morphology is also a critical factor, and results suggest hydrates are forming in the pore centers of sand grains as pore filling, but also as a sediment grain coating. In a first for gas hydrate-bearing pressure cores, the permeability anisotropy was established via vertical and horizontal flow tests combined with a pore fluid flow simulation. The horizontal/vertical permeability ratio was found to be 4. Additionally, the effective stress dependency of permeability was investigated by performing flow tests at different effective stresses. Due to decreasing porosity and particle crushing, the permeability dropped by approximately 90% for an effective stress increase of 10 MPa.

Relaxation and relaxation exchange NMR to characterise asphaltene adsorption and wettability dynamics in siliceous systems

The fraction of asphaltenes in crude oils is among the major concerns in upstream and downstream petroleum engineering. At reservoir scale asphaltenes may cause compartmentalisation and at pore scale they may create barriers to flow, change wettability conditions and relative permeability; and as a result affect ultimate oil recovery. Rock core ageing in oil is a common step in laboratory core analysis. Where possible, crude oils relevant to the origin of cores are used, while the use of arbitrary oils, various hydrophobic chemicals and anti-wetting agents is not uncommon. Published ageing time and temperature vary broadly. This fact motivates us to evaluate the applicability of synthetic oils for studies requiring wettability alteration. We systematically study the precipitation kinetics of the heavy-end oil fraction and wettability alteration properties of mixtures comprised by various proportions of commercially available bitumen, aromatics and alkane components.Low-field NMR relaxation measurements have been applied to characterise wettability of rocks by introducing an NMR wettability index. The latter requires multiple reference measurements at end-point saturation states similar to a standard Amott-Harvey workflow. Furthermore, petrophysical interpretation of T2 relaxation data is prone to be affected by diffusional coupling effects. NMR correlation techniques have a higher prediction capacity, e.g. the T2-store-T2 (REXSY) experiment is naturally sensitive to the spatial variation of physical properties by detecting diffusion exchange between different relaxation environments. We applied a combination of relaxation and relaxation exchange techniques to study the effect of asphaltene deposition on pore-space morphology and wettability for two siliceous systems with different surface topology. The change of wettability over ageing time in different synthetic oils was tracked using T2 relaxation measurements, providing estimates of ageing dynamics useful in designing wettability-related experiments.Results show that the kinetics of asphaltene deposition and wettability alteration processes are strongly dependent on chemical composition of synthetic oils, asphaltene origin (light oil or bitumen) and solid phase morphology. Elements of the resulting deposition pattern and wetting state of the cores were inferred using the proposed approach, utilising low-field NMR T2 relaxation and T2-store-T2 relaxation exchange experiments combined with numerical simulation of relaxation responses. The knowledge of deposition pattern and dynamics obtained mainly by the mean of combination of NMR relaxation techniques contributes to the improved design of core wettability alteration steps and potentially to enhanced petrophysical application of low-field NMR technology.

Pore-network model of evaporation-induced salt precipitation in porous media: The effect of correlations and heterogeneity

Abstract Salt transport and precipitation in porous media constitute a set of complex and fascinating phenomena that are of considerable interest to several important problems, ranging from storage of CO2 in geological formations, to soil fertility, and protection of pavements and roads, as well as historical monuments. The phenomena occur at the pore scale and are greatly influenced by the heterogeneity of the pore space morphology. We present a pore-network (PN) model to study the phenomena. Vapor diffusion, capillary effect at the brine-vapor interface, flow of brine, and transport of salt and its precipitation in the pores that plug the pores partially or completely are all accounted for. The drying process is modeled by the invasion percolation, while transport of salt in brine is accounted for by the convective-diffusion equation. We demonstrate that the drying patterns, the clustering and connectivity of the pore throats in which salt precipitation occurs, the saturation distribution, and the drying rate are all strongly dependent upon the pore-size distribution, the correlations among the pore sizes, and the anisotropy of the pore space caused by stratification that most natural porous media contain. In particular, if the strata are more or less parallel to the direction of injection of the gas that dries out the pore space (air, for example) and/or causes salt precipitation (CO2, for example), the drying rate increases significantly. Moreover, salt tends to precipitate in clusters of neighboring pores that are parallel to the open surface of the porous medium.

Use of high-resolution X-ray computed tomography and 3D image analysis to quantify mineral dissemination and pore space in oxide copper ore particles

Mineral dissemination and pore space distribution in ore particles are important features that influence heap leaching performance. To quantify the mineral dissemination and pore space distribution of an ore particle, a cylindrical copper oxide ore sample (ϕ4.6 mm × 5.6 mm) was scanned using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT), a nondestructive imaging technology, at a spatial resolution of 4.85 μm. Combined with three-dimensional (3D) image analysis techniques, the main mineral phases and pore space were segmented and the volume fraction of each phase was calculated. In addition, the mass fraction of each mineral phase was estimated and the result was validated with that obtained using traditional techniques. Furthermore, the pore phase features, including the pore size distribution, pore surface area, pore fractal dimension, pore centerline, and the pore connectivity, were investigated quantitatively. The pore space analysis results indicate that the pore size distribution closely fits a log-normal distribution and that the pore space morphology is complicated, with a large surface area and low connectivity. This study demonstrates that the combination of HRXCT and 3D image analysis is an effective tool for acquiring 3D mineralogical and pore structural data.