Quantitative Analysis of Amorphous Silica and Its Influence on Reservoir Properties: A Case Study on the Shale Strata of the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimsar Depression, Junggar Basin, China

Ke Sun, Qinghua Chen, Guohui Chen, Yin Liu and Changchao Chen
Additional contact information
Ke Sun: School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Qinghua Chen: School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Guohui Chen: School of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Yin Liu: School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Changchao Chen: Exploration and Development Research Institite, PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-22

Abstract: To establish a new quantitative analysis method for amorphous silica content and understand its effect on reservoir properties, the amorphous silica (SiO 2 ) in the shale strata of the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimsar Depression was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). Amorphous silica shows no specific morphology, sometimes exhibits the spherical or ellipsoid shapes, and usually disorderly mounds among other mineral grains. A new quantitative analysis method for observing amorphous SiO 2 was established by combining XRD and XRF. On this basis, while the higher content of amorphous SiO 2 lowers the porosity of the reservoir, the permeability shows no obvious changes. The higher the content of amorphous SiO 2 , the lower the compressive strength and Young’s modulus and the lower the oil saturation. Thus, amorphous SiO 2 can reduce the physical properties of reservoir rocks and increase the reservoir plasticity, which is not only conducive to the enrichment of shale oil but also increases the difficulty of fracturing in later reservoir development.

Keywords: amorphous SiO 2; X-ray diffraction; X-ray fluorescence spectrometry; scanning electron microscope; quantitative analysis; reservoir properties (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: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6168/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6168/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:23:p:6168-:d:450216

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().