Article: Prediction of flow and transport properties in porous media Journal: International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT) 2018 Vol.17 No.3 pp.284 - 303 Abstract: The understanding of fluid flow dynamics at the pore-scale is essential for a realistic description of the structure of rock samples and for prediction of flow and transport properties in a porous medium. In this work, we use 3-D X-ray images of the rock microstructure of the Agbada sandstone reservoir in the Niger delta of Nigeria as the basis for prediction of fluid flow properties in the reservoir. Porosity, absolute permeability and relative permeability were obtained by simulating single-phase fluid flow using ImageJ software and the Lattice Boltzmann method respectively. The results were compared with laboratory measured values on the same plug samples; good agreement was observed between the two sets of values. Laboratory measured porosity was 28.7%, while average pore network value was 33.9%. On the other hand, the permeability studies showed average of 1,718 and 1,736 mD for experiment and pore network, respectively, across the samples. [Received: December 29, 2015; Accepted: November 11, 2016] Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Prediction of flow and transport properties in porous media

Authors: Fidelis O. Wopara; Sunny E. Iyuke

Addresses: School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, P/Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa; Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Nigeria ' School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, P/Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa

Abstract: The understanding of fluid flow dynamics at the pore-scale is essential for a realistic description of the structure of rock samples and for prediction of flow and transport properties in a porous medium. In this work, we use 3-D X-ray images of the rock microstructure of the Agbada sandstone reservoir in the Niger delta of Nigeria as the basis for prediction of fluid flow properties in the reservoir. Porosity, absolute permeability and relative permeability were obtained by simulating single-phase fluid flow using ImageJ software and the Lattice Boltzmann method respectively. The results were compared with laboratory measured values on the same plug samples; good agreement was observed between the two sets of values. Laboratory measured porosity was 28.7%, while average pore network value was 33.9%. On the other hand, the permeability studies showed average of 1,718 and 1,736 mD for experiment and pore network, respectively, across the samples. [Received: December 29, 2015; Accepted: November 11, 2016]

Keywords: petroleum reservoir; Agbada sandstone; Niger delta; 3D imaging; X-ray micro-tomography; computer modelling; rock properties; fluid transport; pore-network; Lattice Boltzmann.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2018.090144

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2018 Vol.17 No.3, pp.284 - 303

Received: 29 Dec 2015
Accepted: 28 Nov 2016
Published online: 01 Mar 2018 *

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Title: Prediction of flow and transport properties in porous media

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