Fractal and Multifractal Analysis of Pore Size Distribution in Low Permeability Reservoirs Based on Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry

Penghui Su, Zhaohui Xia, Ping Wang, Wei Ding, Yunpeng Hu, Wenqi Zhang and Yujie Peng
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Penghui Su: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China
Zhaohui Xia: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China
Ping Wang: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China
Wei Ding: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China
Yunpeng Hu: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China
Wenqi Zhang: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Beijing 100083, China
Yujie Peng: Guizhou Polytechnic of Construction, Guizhou 551400, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: To quantitatively evaluate the complexities and heterogeneities of pore structures in sandstone reservoirs, we apply single fractal theory and multifractal theory to explore the fractal characteristics of pore size distributions based on mercury intrusion porosimetry. The fractal parameters were calculated and the relationships between the petrophysical parameters (permeability and entry pressure) and the fractal parameters were investigated. The results show that the single fractal curves exhibit two-stage characteristics and the corresponding fractal dimensions D 1 and D 2 can characterize the complexity of pore structure in different sizes. Favorable linear relationships between log( ε ) and log( μ ,( ε )) indicate that the samples satisfy multifractal characteristics and ε is the sub-intervals with size ε = J × 2 − k . The multifractal singularity curves used in this study exhibit a right shape, indicating that the heterogeneity of the reservoir is mainly affected by pore size distributions in sparse regions. Multifractal parameters, D (0), D (1), and Δ f , are positively correlated with permeability and entry pressure, while D (0), D (1), and Δ f are negatively correlated with permeability and entry pressure. The ratio of larger pores volumes to total pore volumes acts as a control on the fractal dimension over a specific pore size range, while the range of the pore size distribution has a definite impact on the multifractal parameters. Results indicate that fractal analysis and multifractal analysis are feasible methods for characterizing the heterogeneity of pore structures in a reservoir. However, the single fractal models ignore the influence of microfractures, which could result in abnormal values for calculated fractal dimension. Compared to single fractal analysis, multifractal theory can better quantitatively characterize the heterogeneity of pore structure and establish favorable relationships with reservoir physical property parameters.

Keywords: multifractal theory; fractal theory; pore structure; mercury intrusion porosimetry; pore size distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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