Digitalcore offers a broad range of services including standard petrophysical analysis (porosity/permeability) on cuttings and sidewall cores through to complex sensitivity studies of multiphase flooding experiments. Methodology and results are transparent to the client and client consultation and feedback is sought and encouraged throughout the core analysis study.

Digitalcore offers a range of 3D imaging data at multiple resolutions allowing clients to capture an accurate static digital image of the pore space structure and the mineralogy of the matrix phase.

Once captured, this image data can be archived for later use. For example, clients may wish to obtain porosity/permeability trends and later use the archival data to predict residuals and relative permeabilities. The data can be further used to undertake history matching exercises in future years - the effect of saturation history and wettability can be probed. All data is generated to be readily integrated into existing reservoir models.

 

Consultation Service

To assist in the use of Digitalcore services to develop optimal solutions for challenging reservoir engineering problems

 

Porosity-Permeability

Advanced segmentation tools coupled with Digitalcore’s patented registration process (VoxelPerfect™) produces accurate analysis of porosity from nanometer to plug scale, including identification of connected, producible, capillary bound, and total porosity.

Different porosity types identified in 3D. Click to enlarge

Features include:

• Rapid determination of reliable porosity-permeability transforms from limited core material.
• Rapid determination of horizontal and vertical permeabilities
• Upscaling and comparison with available conventional core data
• Analysis at in-situ conditions of temperature and pressure

 

Porosity: permeability trends from Digitalcore analysis.Click to enlarge

 

 

Streamlines derived from flow simulations in 3D image

 

Capillary Pressure

• Simulated MICP, air/brine and oil/brine estimates for a range of wettability conditions
• Calibration to restored-state reservoir wettability conditions

Calibration and match of capillary pressure data to 3D Digitalcore analysis. Click to enlarge

 

Relative Permeability and Residual Saturation

• Water-oil, gas-oil and water-gas relative permeabilities and end-point saturations computed directly from images, from equivalent network models and from direct dynamic visualisation of fluid distributions at restored-state reservoir wettability conditions
• Sensitivity of relative permeability and residual saturation to displacement rate
• Distribution of trapped residual phase; design and implementation of IOR and EOR processes

 

Imaging of residual oil within a carbonate and a clastic. Click to enlarge

 

Water relative permeabilities derived from a set of 3D images. Click to enlarge

 

 

Residual non-wetting phase visualized at the end of a waterflood in Fontainebleau sandstone.

 

Formation Resistivity Factor and Index

• Formation factor determination for complex carbonate and clastic rocks
• Calibration of image based formation factors with laboratory measurements for shaley sands and clays, and microporous/vuggy carbonates
• Resistivity index during drainage and waterflooding for a range of wettability conditions
• Improved estimation of reserves and remaining hydrocarbon saturation

Formation Factor measured on a digital image of a simple clastic. Click to enlarge

 

Mineralogy, Grain Size, Shape and Distribution

• Seamless integration of microscopy and thin-section data with 3D tomography data allows unique 3D insights into rock texture, type and mineralogical content derived from cuttings, cores or polished thin-sections
• Calibration of mineralogy to acoustic response and wettability properties

 

Calibration of mineralogy from QEMSCAN® to SEM to 3D image data. Click to enlarge
“Image courtesy of FEI Company”

 

 

 

Characterisation of Pore Space

• Topology and geometry of the rock pore space
• 3D data pore and throat size distributions, aspect ratio distributions and coordination number distributions which can be used to improve cross-property correlations and correlation of porosity-permeability and irreducible and residual fluid saturations

 

Topology of pore networks from 3D image data.Click to enlarge

 

 

Illustrating the registered 2D slice within the 3D volume and superimposing 2D & 3D information.