Transport Simulations on Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope Images of Nanoporous Shale

Laura Frouté, Yuhang Wang, Jesse McKinzie, Saman A. Aryana and Anthony R. Kovscek
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Laura Frouté: Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Yuhang Wang: Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Jesse McKinzie: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Saman A. Aryana: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Anthony R. Kovscek: Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Digital rock physics is an often-mentioned approach to better understand and model transport processes occurring in tight nanoporous media including the organic and inorganic matrix of shale. Workflows integrating nanometer-scale image data and pore-scale simulations are relatively undeveloped, however. In this paper, a workflow is demonstrated progressing from sample acquisition and preparation, to image acquisition by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) tomography, to volumetric reconstruction to pore-space discretization to numerical simulation of pore-scale transport. Key aspects of the workflow include (i) STEM tomography in high angle annular dark field (HAADF) mode to image three-dimensional pore networks in µm-sized samples with nanometer resolution and (ii) lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations to describe gas flow in slip, transitional, and Knudsen diffusion regimes. It is shown that STEM tomography with nanoscale resolution yields excellent representation of the size and connectivity of organic nanopore networks. In turn, pore-scale simulation on such networks contributes to understanding of transport and storage properties of nanoporous shale. Interestingly, flow occurs primarily along pore networks with pore dimensions on the order of tens of nanometers. Smaller pores do not form percolating pathways in the sample volume imaged. Apparent gas permeability in the range of 10 ?19 to 10 ?16 m 2 is computed.

Keywords: electron microscopy; lattice Boltzmann method; shale; nanoporosity (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 references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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