~~

025817 Determination of Two-Dimensional Fluid Distribution and

Porosity by Digital Radiography
Philip Engler, 3940 Beechmont Trail; M.W. Santana, BP
Research; K.R. Narayanan, BP Research

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 SPE25817
UNSOLICITED SEP 1 5 1992

~eter.mination of Two-Dimensional Fluid Distribution and Porosity

by Digital Radiography

Philip Engler, Mark W. Santana and K. Ram Narayanan

BP Research

4440 Warrensville Center Road

Cleveland, OH 44128

ABSTRACT

Digital radiography (DR) can provide measurements of two-dimensional

distributions of fluid saturation and porosity in reservoir cores with

accuracy and precision comparable to computed tomography (CT). However, DR

data can be acquired at least an order of magnitude faster. The accuracy of

two~dimensional, porosity and fluid saturation profiles is examined through

simulation and experimentally by using both a fused silica core model having

drilled holes of known size and distribution and a Berea sandstone core.

INTRODUCTION

As reviewed by Kantzas 1 , computed tomography (CT) is the technique of choice

throughout the oil industry for studying multiphase fluid flow in reservoir

cores. The ability of CT to provide quantitative information that is

spatially resolved in three dimensions is the technique's primary attribute.

 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 2

Frequently, however, this three-dimensional capability has not bee,n required.

Often, the data in individual slices have been ~veraged to obtain one-

dimensional saturation profiles along the length of the core. For example,

Chatzis et al. 2 and Peters and Hardham3 ,4 showed that the type of displacement

mechanism can be classified by observing changes with time of the shape of a

l-D saturation profile. Sprunt et al. 5 used CT to obtain l-D distributions of

water saturation to demonstrate that the lack of uniformly distributed fluids

in a core can result in inaccurate determination of the parameters required

for electric-log interPretation. Kantzas 6 used l-D plots to show how sulfur

content affects the accuracy of porosity measurements in cores obt.ained from

sour gas reservoirs.

An alternative to CT in these cases where only l-D fluid distribut:ions are

required is digital radiography (DR), which can acquire data for I-D

distributions at least an order of magnitude faster than CT. HowElver, there

have been only a few core flow studies that have used DR to quantify l-D,

fluid-saturation distributions. Sedgwick and Miles-Dixon? translated an X-ray

tube and a single detector along the length of a core in order to investigate

bitumen recovery from oil sands. This single detector system covered 50% of

the cross-sectional area of the core. They found that the results from this

apparatus correlated well with data obtained by averaging the pixel data in

cross-sections obtained by CT. Nicholls and Heaviside 8 used multiple isotope

sources along the length of a core rather than translating an X-ray tube.

Each source was coupled to a single detector that viewed 95% of the cross-

sectional area. This system was used to elucidate end-effects in relative

permeability experiments and displacement mechanisms in cores having

intermediate wettability.9
Engler et ale page 3
SPE25817

Recently, Engler et al. IO investigated the ability of DR to provide accurate

measurements of l-D, porosity and two- and three-phase fluid saturation

distributions. Measurements o~ porosity and fluid saturation were made on a

50.8 rom diameter, acrylic core model in which holes of known size and

distribution were filled with either water, iodated oil or air. Measured

fractional porosity, two-phase fluid saturation and three-phase fluid

saturation were within 0.008, 0.026 and 0.020, respectively, of the correct

values. Also, porosity and oil saturation after a gas displacement of oil in

a sandstone core were determined by both DR and CT. Both methods produced

similar results, but the DR data was acquired in 1/35 of the time required for

the CT measurements

The study in the preceding paragraph was carried out using the DR mode of an

industrial CT scanner, which translates the sample past an X-ray tube and a

linear array of detectors perpendicular to the core axis. This set-up allows

sampling of numerous, discrete ray paths across the width of the core. Thus,

unlike the previous systems using wide, single detectors, this instrument is

able to also measure distributions of porosity and fluid saturation in 2-D.

Although, 2-D fluid-saturation distributions have been imaged previously using

DR techniques,S,? there have been no previous attempts to obtain quantitative,

2-D distributions of either porosity or fluid saturation with DR.

This paper examines the accuracy with which DR can determine 2-D distributions

of porosity, two-phase fluid saturation and three-phase fluid saturation. DR

determinations of 2-D distributions of oil saturation after gas displacement

of oil from a Berea sandstone core are compared with similar measurements by
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 4

CT. Also, as with our previous study,lO measurements were made on a core

model -- this time, made of fused silica -- having drilled holes a,f known size

and distribution in order that analyses could be verified. Finally, computer

simulation is used to investigate the influence of instrument resolution on

accuracy.

DEFINITION

The following relationships between measured X-ray attenuation and porosity,

two-phase saturations and three-phase saturation were derived previouslylO for

the case where spatial resolution is better than the scale length for changes

in porosity:

porosity:

· . . . • . . . . . • • • • • • . • • • • • . • (l)

two-phase saturation:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (2)

1 - Sfl • ••••••••••••••••••••••• (3)

 SPE2~81(
Engler et al. page 5

three-phase saturation:

• ••• (4)

Sw = • ••• (5)

Det • ••• (6)

•••••••••••••••••••••••• (7)

These equations are analogous to the equations that are used with CT

data. 2 ,11,12 Note that analyses of three-phase saturation require measurements

at two different energies.

EXPERIMENTAL

Analysis of Sandstone Core

A 63.5 rom Berea sandstone core was scanned dry, after saturation with a 90/10

solution of decane/1-iodododecane, and after displacement of the decane

solution with decane-saturated air. The core was 10 rom long and had a

fractional porosity of 0.20 ± 0.01 (as determined gravimetrically and by CT

and DR analysis) .10 The cylindrical surface was sealed with epoxy to insure

one-dimensional flow from one flat surface (inlet face) to the other during

the displacement experiment. The displacement was carried out, ex situ to the

CT scanner. The flat surfaces of the core were horizontal during both the
 SPE258 17
Engler et ale page 6

displacement experiment and during scanning. Thus, CT scan slices were

parallel and DR radiograms were perpendicular, respectively, to the flat

surfaces. All scans were made with the sample in an acrylic dessicator

containing a beaker of decane. The purpose of the dessicator was to provide a

decane-saturated environment in order to minimize evaporation from the core

during the scans.

Digital radiography and computed tomography measurements of the sandstone core

were made using an SMS 101B+ Industrial CT scanner equipped with a Philips 225

kVp X-ray tube. The sandstone was scanned using the 150 kVp/9.0 rnA setting.

A 3.175 rom thick brass sheet served as a source filter to preharden the beam.

The attenuation power of this filter simulated the attenuation power of an

aluminum core holder having a wall thickness of 15 rom. Instrument resolution

was set by using the 2.0 rom source spot, setting detector apertures at 0.4 x

0.4 rom and placing the center of the object at 65% of the distance from the

source to the detector. This produced a calculated effective resolution of

0.77 rom (6.5 lp/'cm) at 50% modulation.

The 125 detectors on the 101B+ scanner are spaced 2.513 x 10- 3 radians apart

and cover an 18· fan in a horizontal plane at the same height as t.he

horizontally collimated plane of X-rays. This is equivalent to a detector

spacing of 1.73 rom and a fan width of 218 rom for an object placed with its

center 65% of the distance from the source to the detector. Digit.al

radiograms are obtained by translating the object vertically past the plane of

the X-rays and simultaneously recording the counts per second for each

detector at discrete vertical intervals. Because the effective detector width

in the horizontal direction was less than the spacing between the detectors,
 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 7

multiple passes were required with a horizontal translation between each pass.

The vertical and horizontal intervals determined the pixel size of the

resulting DR images.

DR data for the core was collected with vertical and horizontal sampling

intervals both equal to 0.346 rom. Thus, five vertical passes were required.

The sampling time was 0.4 s per vertical interval. This resulted in a scan

time of approximately 1.0 min per 7.5 rom length of core.

A DR image of oil saturation after gas displacement was obtained by applying

Equation 2 to corresponding pixels of the radiograms of the dry, oil-saturated

and gas-displaced core. Prior to application of Equation 2, the DR images

were translated to bring the images acquired after saturation with oil and

after the gas displacement into registry with the image of the dry core.

Eight CT images spaced 0.9 rom apart along the length of the core were obtained

using a translate-rotate (2nd generation) scan mode with an in-plane sampling

interval and effective slice thickness of 0.34 rom. Sampling time was 0.03 s

per data point, which resulted in a scan time of 5.6 min per slice. CT images

were reconstructed with 0.268 rom pixels. The images were translated and

rotated to bring them into registry with the images obtained of the dry core.

Images of the distributions of porosity and oil saturation after gas

displacement were calculated from the CT images: First, the attenuation

images were smoothed with three passes of a 3 x 3 mean smoothing filter. This

is equivalent to one pass of a 7 x 7 filter, which in this case calculated the

average of data over a 1.88 x 1.88 rom area. This was done to minimize the
 SPE2581?
Engler et al. page 8

propagation of noise that would result from manipulating data from individual

pixels. Then, the images were subtracted and divided according to Equation 8

and 9 to reveal porosity and oil saturation, respectively, as a function of

position within the slices:

•••••••••••••••••••••••• (8)

•••••••••••••••••••••••• (9)

In Equation 8, the terms in the denominator are the CT numbers of the fluids

used to saturate the core. The CT number of the decane/iodododecane solution

(CTdecane) was obtained by scanning the silica core model twice -- once with

all of the holes empty and once with all of the holes filled with the fluid.

Because the core model had a known porosity of 0.226, the value of CTdecane

could then be calculated by rearranging Equation 8 and solving for CTfluid 2

(assuming CT fluid 1 = CT air = 0).

Analysis of Core Model

The objective of this part of the study was to determine the accuracy and

precision of DR under static conditions. This type of investigation requires

a specimen in which the distribution of fluids can be verified by independent

measurements. In the previous study,lO an acrylic core model containing

drilled holes of known size was used to meet this requirement. In order to

have a core model whose linear X-ray attenuation coefficient was more

representative of reservoir rock, the current study used a core model made of
Engler et al. page 9
SPE25817

fused silica. The silica core model was a 50.8 rnm diameter, 25.4 rnm long

cylindrical rod in which thirty-seven, 3.97 ~ diameter, 12.7 rnm deep holes

had been drilled. This resulted in a fractional porosity of 0.226.

As shown in Fig. la, the holes were drilled in rows and columns on 6.35 rnm

centers. For scanning, the core was rotated 24.4° counter-clockwise with

respect to the source-to-detector axis (Fig. 1b). In Fig. 1c, the x-y axes

are the coordinate axes for the core model and the r-s axes are the coordinate

axes for the scanner. The core was rotated in order to present a porosity.

profile with a range that was more representative of porous rock. When

rotated 24.4", the fractional porosity across the diameter of the core model

varies between 0.17 and 0.33 within ±19 rnm of the central projection through

the cylinder. This compares with a range of 0 to 0.55 when the core is not

rotated and 0 to 0.40 when the core is rotated 45° (i.e., all of the holes are

aligned) .

Different fluid saturation distributions were produced by filling the holes

with either water, Soltrol™ 130 (a mixture of C10 -C 13 oils) containing 27%

1-iodododecane or air (i.e., left empty). Four different fill patterns were

used, as shown in Fig. 2.

DR measurements of the core model were made with the SMS scanner using the

same scan parameters as for the sandstone core with the following changes:

The 0.6 rnm source spot was used with two kVp/ma settings: 200/3.35 and

120/5.6. A scan of a line-pair phantom revealed that this resulted in a

resolution of 0.4 rnm (12.5 lp/cm) at 50% modulation. DR data for the core

model was collected with vertical and horizontal sampling intervals both equal
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 10

to 0.173 rom. Thus, ten passes were required. The sampling time was one

second per vertical interval. This resulted in a scan time of approximately

35 minutes per 30 rom length of core.

The DR data was processed by first obtaining a line profile of attenuation

across each of the images: the four fill patterns and with all holes either

empty, filled with water, or filled with oil. Each line profile was an

average of 35 adjacent rows of pixels. Thus, each data point represented the

mean attenuation of an area 0.173 rom wide and 6.06 rom along the length of the

core. Each profile· consisted of 293 data points across the width of the

image.

Two-dimensional determinations (spatially resolved along the diameter of a

core for every slice along the core length) of porosity and fluid saturation

were obtained by applying the appropriate equations to each position in the

profiles. Porosity was calculated using Equation 1 with measurements made at

both 120 kVp and 200 kVp using both water and oil. Three-phase saturations

were calculated by measuring attenuations at 120 kVp and 200 kVp and using

Equations 4-7. All porosities and fluid saturations are reported as fractions

of unity.

For DR measurements, the linear attenuation coefficients ~ of the fluids

(which were needed to calculate porosity using Equation 1) were obtained by

scanning partially filled, 50.8 rom (nominal) diameter, 118 ml polyethylene

bottles. Line profiles were obtained through the image of the liquid and

through the empty space above the liquid. The second profile was subtracted

from the first in order to subtract the attenuation due to the bottle wall.
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 11

The linear attenuation was calculated by fitting

A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10)

to the resultant profiles, where A is the measured attenuation of a projection

along a chord in a circle of radius R and x is the distance of the chord from

the center of the circle. Equation 10 was also used to obtain the linear

attenuation coefficients of the core model and the Berea sandstone. Table 1

gives the linear attenuation coefficients (with 95% confidence level ranges)

of water, iodated Soltrol 130 and. the silica core.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

DR and CT Analysis of Berea Sandstone

Fig. 3a displays an image of oil saturation after gas displacement calculated

from CT images that were 4.63 rom from the inlet face. An approximately 8 rom

wide band of relatively high oil saturation crosses the lower quadrant from

the 7 o'clock position to the 3 o'clock position. Within this slice, So of

the band was 0.575, So of the remainder was 0.436. The qualitative

distribution in this slice was typical of the distributions in the other seven

slices: The band extended vertically through the length of the core.

Analysis of the porosity images revealed that the average fractional porosity

of the band was 0.194 versus 0.208 for the balance of the core.
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 12

Fig. 3b shows the DR-derived oil saturation after gas displacement image.

The plane of the DR image is perpendicular to the plane of the CT image and

oriented as if the CT image was viewed from bottom to top. The inlet face is

at the top of the DR image. (The apparent width of the core in the DR image

is less than the diameter in the CT image due to differences in reconstruction

size.) The band of high saturation, is depicted in the DR image by a jump in

saturation at a distance 20-25% from the left edge of the core.

In order to demonstrate the capability of the DR mode to provide accurate

measurements of 2-D saturation profiles, the core was divided into upper and

lower halves. The DR data was processed as follows: Attenuation profiles

were obtained from each row of the 19 rows of pixels through the images of the

core in the dry, oil-saturated and gas-displaced states. Then, averages were

obtained of both the top nine rows and the bottom nine rows. Thus, each data

point in these profiles represented the mean attenuation of an area 0.346 rom

wide by 3.114 rom long along the length of the core. The top half profile was

centered 2.413 rom from the inlet face and the bottom half profile was centered

5.871 rom from the inlet face. Equation 2 was then used to calculate oil

saturation for the top and bottom profiles.

In order to provide a benchmark for the DR data, 2-D determinations of oil

saturation were also calculated from the CT images: First, averages of both

the top four CT images and the bottom four CT images of the core in each of

the three states were calculated. Next, the averages of CT numbers in each

column of pixels in the merged images were obtained. This produced profiles

of CT numbers versus radial position that were independent of depth (i.e., the

direction of X-rays, s in Fig. lc). This data was then processed using
 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 13

Equation 9 to produce two profiles of oil saturation. One profile was

centered 2.38 rom from the inlet face; the other was centered 5.98 rom from the

inlet face.

Fig. 4 compares the profiles of oil saturation after gas displacement

calculated for the two X-ray modes. Fig. 4a shows the data for the top half

of the core and Fig. 4b shows the data for the bottom half of the core. The

DR- and CT-derived profiles track each other quite well. Both sets of data

show a rise in So from the left edge of the core to approximately -5 rom and

then a much less gradual rise from -5 rom to the right edge. Also, the figures

show that So decreases with distance from the inlet face. The average So for

the top half is 0.44 by DR and 0.47 by CT; whereas the average fractional So

for the bottom half is 0.41 by DR and 0.44 by CT.

Although there is a consistent bias between the DR- and CT-derived

saturations, there is no a priori reason to suggest that either method is more

accurate than the other. In order to compare the data points without this

bias, the average difference between the CT and DR data for each half was

added to the respective DR profiles. With this correction, the average

absolute difference between fractional So calculated by CT and CT for

corresponding volume elements was 0.038.

It can be concluded that both methods gave equivalent results. However, the

DR technique gave information in significantly less time and with complete

coverage of the core. DR provided data acquisition at 19 locations along the

length of the core in only one minute. Obtaining the same coverage by CT

would have required 106 minutes. The previous study of I-D distributions for
 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 14

this core indicated that the CT data had been obtained with higher

precision. 10 This is scpported in the present study by the larger

fluctuations for the DR data in Fig. 4. Compensating for this difference in

precision by slowing down the ~R scans (the previous study suggested a factor

of three) would have still yielded a significant advantage to the DR

technique.

The major disadvantage of DR as compared to CT is that CT can be used to

characterize structure in three dimensions, whereas DR is limited to two

dimensions. Nevertheless, a properly designed experiment can take advantage

of the core structure so that the loss of information due to a 2-D scan is not

critical. For example, Withjack et al. 13 have shown that the major

permeability variations are between and not within bedding planes. If the

core in the present study had been oriented so that the high saturation band

was aligned parallel to the direction of X-rays, DR would have resolved the

sturctural difference between the planes in the Berea core.

DR Analysis of Fused Silica Core Model

Fractional porosity was calculated from measurements made at both 120 kVp and

200 kVp using both water and iodated Soltrol. Fig. 5 plots the average of the

four measured profiles across the diameter of the core model. The accuracy of

the measured profile was verified by comparing it to the true profile (which

was calculated knowing the geometry of the core model -- see Appendix). It

can be seen that measured porosity tracks the true porosity quite well with

the mean error equal to 0.011 and the largest error equal.to 0.065. Fig. 6 to

9 compare the calculated distributions of oil and water saturations with the
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 15

true saturation distributions for the four three-phase fill patterns.

Measured saturations have been set to 0 for projections having a true porosity

less than 0.05. This is because projections having low porosity are prone to

large errors when measuring fluid saturation. This problem occurs because

changes in fluids in regions of low porosity produces only a small change in

attenuation. In this situation, statistical noise results in large

fluctuations in Equations 4 to 6.

Table 2 summarizes the mean differences (signed), estimated standard deviation

of the mean differences, mean absolute differences (unsigned) and largest

absolute differences between individual calculated and true saturations for

the four fill patterns. Figs. 5 to 8 and Table 2 lead to the following

observations: First, the measured saturations track the true saturations very

well in most positions but not as well in others. The mean absolute

differences are less than 0.063 for So' 0.094 for Sw' and 0.049 for Sa'

Second, the mean differences differ significantly from zero indicating the

existence of a bias. This bias would not exist if the major source of error

were random noise. Third, the largest errors are correlated, i.e., they occur

in the same adjacent projections in each of the experiments. Projections with

the largest errors occur consistently in the vicinity of ±5 mm, ±11 mm and ±15

Mm.

The fact that the largest variations between the measured and true three-phase

fluid saturation profiles are correlated indicates that the problem is not due

to insufficient photon flux, which would have resulted in a statistically

random distribution of errors. Instead, to a large extent, these errors can

be attributed to insufficient instrument resolution. A scan of a line-pair

 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 16

phantom revealed that the scan set-up used in these experiments resulted in a

resolution at 50% modulation of 0.4 rom (12.5 lp/cm). The scan of the line--

pair phantom also showed a departure from 100% modulation at -0.75 rom (-6.5

lp/cm) and a cut-off at -0.25 rom (-20 lp/cm). In other words, at the selected

scan conditions, the scanner was unable to completely separate structures less

than 0.75 rom apart and totally unable to resolve structures less than 0.25 rom

apart. It was demonstrated in the previous studylO that the instrument is

unable to completely separate 3.97 rom holes whose centers are 4.49 rom apart

when using the scan parameters described here.

Insufficient resolution contributes to the discrepancies between the true and

measured profiles in two ways: First, the calculated true profiles assume

100% resolution at the sampling interval of 0.173 rom. A proper comparison of

the true and measured saturation profiles would require a true profile that

had been convolved with the instrument broadening function. Second, and more

importantly, the inability of an X-ray transmission instrument to resolve

adjacent regions leads to inaccurate measurements of X-ray attenuation when

the attenuation vary by a large amount across the detector aperture. It is

this same phenomenon that causes edge artifacts in CT images. In the current

experiment, the resolution is low enough that a single detector sees a ray

path of X-rays broad enough to have simultaneously intersected two holes

filled with different fluids and/or silica.

The following simulation will illustrate how a large change of attenuation

across the width of a ray path can be incorrectly interpreted by a detector

and that detectors must be sufficiently small so that the resolution of the

instrument is better than the scale size of expected heterogeneities. The

 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 17

inaccuracy that results from insufficient resolution is demonstrated with the

use of Fig. 10, which shows a 20 x 20 element matrix in which water, oil and

air have been segregated into one-, two- and three-element wide columns. Fig.

10 depicts the relative fluid content and porosity of each column. The

elements have dimensions 1 x 1. The number of detectors, n, were varied, with

the resolution of the detectors being a fraction, n/20, of the full width of

the matrix, e.g., the resolution when four detectors are used is 0.2. Assume

the X-rays travel from top to bottom. The number of photons detected by each

detector (assuming 100% efficiency) will be

I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (11) ,

where n is the number of matrix columns seen by the detector, m is the number

of pixels in the ith column, and I' is the number of photons detected in the

absence of an object. This leads to

A -In(I/I') . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (12)

Equation 12 was used to show the adverse effect of insufficient resolution on

the accuracy of porosity and fluid saturation measurements. First, the

simulated measured X-ray attenuations were calculated by using Equation 12 and

assuming that the attenuation values for the components were ~.,1 = 0.18, ~w,2

= 0.16, ~o,l = 0.38, ~o,2 = 0.23, ~m,l = 0.39, and ~m,2 = 0.33. Then, the

simulated measured porosity and oil saturation were calculated using Equations

1, 4 and 6. Subscripts 1 and 2 refer to a low and high energy measurement,

respectively.
 .SPE25817
Engler et al. page 18

Figs. 11 and 12 compare spatially resolved porosity and oil saturation that

would have been measured with different width detectors. Porosity

measurements for each detector were simulated using both fluids and both

energies; the simulated measured porosities for each detector shown in Figure

11 are an average of these values. Included in the two figures as a function

of detector width are the average measured porosity and oil saturation for the

entire matrix. The average measured porosity is a mean of the measured

porosities of all the detectors; the average measured oil saturation is a mean

of the measured oil saturations of all the detectors after first weighting the

measured oil saturation of each detector by the true porosity of the column

viewed by that detector.

These figures reveal that correct values for both individual detectors and for

the entire matri~ were obtained only when a detector did not span a boundary

between two columns having different porosities and fluid contents.

Consequently, the porosity and fluid saturation of a material with pores

smaller than the detector can be measured correctly only as long as there is

not a large change in porosity across the width of a detector.

This analysis demonstrates that attempting to increase precision by reducing

noise through the use of large detectors can, depending on the relative size

of heterogeneities present in the rock, actually decrease accuracy.

Heterogeneities on the 1-10 mm scale are common in reservoir rock,14-17 and the

variations in porosity and permeability between these structures could be

sufficiently high to cause inaccuracies when detectors with inadequate

resolution are used. It is far better to measure the transmission with high
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 19

resolution and then calculate an average for the absorption coeffient. These

implications extend to CT analyses using medical scanners, whose resolution is

at best 0.8 rom (6.5 lp/cm) at 50% modulation, and to expe~imental set-ups

using single detectors to span the width of the core.

CONCLUSIONS

Digital radiography provides a rapid, accurate means for determining two-

dimensional distributions of both porosity and fluid saturations in reservoir

cores. A comparison of DR and CT measurements on a Berea core, which had been

saturated with decane and then displaced with air, demonstrated that DR could

provide similar results as CT but in less than one tenth the time.

The accuracy of DR was demonstrated through analysis of a fused silica core

model having known distributions of fluids in an array of holes of known size

and location. Two-dimensional profiles (spatially resolved along the diameter

of a core for every slice along the core length) of fractional porosity and

fractional three-phase saturation were measured and compared to the true

profiles. Position-by-position comparisons of the measured and true values

showed errors that were structurally correlated. Analysis of a simulated

matrix with different size detectors suggests that insufficient resolution

accounted for a significant portion of the errors. Instrument resolution must

be on the same scale as (or finer than) expected heterogeneities. Otherwise,

inaccuracies will result from the inability of the detection system to

correctly interpret structure.

 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 20

NOMENCLATURE

measured attenuation of core fully saturated with

air (fully dry)

measured attenuation of core fully saturated with

air at energies 1 or 2, respectively

measured attenuation of core fully saturated with

fluid f

measured attenuations of core fully saturated with

fluids 1 or 2,-respectively

measured attenuation of core fully saturated with

oil at energies 1 or 2, respectively

~,1' ~,2 measured attenuation of core fully saturated with

water at energies 1 or 2, respectively

measured attenuation of core at the experimental

condition

measured attenuation of core at the experimental

condition at energies 1 or 2, respectively

measured CT number (e.g., Hounsfield number) of

core fully saturated with fluids 1 or 2,

respectively.

CT fluid 1 CT number of fluid 1

CT fluid 2 CT number of fluid 2

CT x measured CT number of core core at experimental

condition
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 21

I Number of photons incident upon a detector after

passing through an object

I' Number of photons incident upon a detector in the

absence of an object

L path (chord) length of radiation through the

circular cross-section of the core

fractional air saturation (per pore volume)

fractional fluid saturation (per pore volume) of

fluids 1 and 2, respectively

fractional oil air saturation (per pore volume)

fractional water saturation (per pore volume)

linear attenuation coefficient of air (=0)

linear attenuation coefficient of fluid f

Pm, l' IJ.m, 2 linear attenuation coefficient of rock matrix at

energies 1 or 2, respectively

linear attenuation coefficient of oil at energies 1

or 2, respectively

IJ.w,l' IJ.w,2 linear attenuation coefficient of water at energies

1 or 2, respectively

average porosity along a chord

 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 22

REFERENCES

1. Kantzas, A.: "Investigation of Physical Properties of Porous Rocks and

Fluid Flow Phenomena in Porous Media Using Computer Assisted Tomography,"

In Situ (1990) 14, 77-132.

2. Chatzis, I., Kantzas, A. and Dullien, F.A.L.: "On the Investigation of

Gravity-Assisted Intert Gas Injection using Micromodels, Long Berea

Sandstone Cores, and Computed-Assited Tomography," SPE 18284, presented at

the 63rd Annual Technical Conference of the Society of Petroleum

Engineers, Houston, Oct. 2-5, 1988.

3. Peters,E.J. and Hardham,W.D.: "A Comparison of Unstable Miscible and

Immiscible Displacements," SPE 19640, presented at the 64th Annual

Technical Conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, San Antonio,

Oct 8-11, 1989.

4. peters,E.J. and Hardham,W.D.: "Visualization of Fluid Displacments in

Porous Media Using Computed Tomography Imaging," J. Pet. Sci. Eng. (1990)

4, 155-168.

5. Sprunt, E.S, Desai, K.P, Coles, M.E., Davis, R.M., and Muegge, E.L.: "CT-

Scan-Monitored Electrical-Resistivity Measurements Show Problems Achieving

Homogeneous Saturation," SPEFE (June 1991) 134-142.

6. Kantzas, A.: "Determination of Sulphur Saturation in Dolomitic Sour Gas

Reservoir Using Computer Assisted Tomography," In Situ (1991) 15, 215-246.

 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 23

7. Sedgwick, G.E. and Miles-Dixon, E: "Application of X-ray Imaging

Techniques to Oil Sands Exper~ents," J. Canadian Pet. Tech. (1988) 27,

104-110.

8. Nicholls, C.I. and Heaviside, J.: "Gamma Ray Absorption Techniques

Improve Analysis of Core Displacement Techniques," SPE 14421, presented

at the 60th Annual Technical Conference of the Society of Petroleum

Engineers, Las Vegas, Sept. 22-25, 1985.

9. Heaviside, J., Brown, C.E., and Gamble, LJ.A.: "Relative Permeability

for Intermediate Wettability Reservoirs," SPE 16968, presented at the

62nd Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the Society of

Petroleum Engineers, Dallas, Sept. 27-30, 1987.

10. Engler, P., Santana, M.W., and Narayanan, R.: "Characterization of the

Distribution of Fluid Content and Porosity in Reservoir Cores by using

Digital Radiography," Materials Evaluation, (1992), 50, 516-524.

11. Vinegar, H.J. and Wellington, S.L.: "Tomographic Imaging of Three-Phase

Flow Experiments," Rev. Sci. Instrum., (1987) 58, 96-107.

12. Wang, S. Y., Ayral, S., Castellana, F. S., and Gryte, C.C: "Reconstruction

of Oil Saturation Distribution Histories During Immiscible Liquid-Liquid

Displacement by Computer-Assisted Tomography," AIChE Journal, (1984) 30,

642-646.
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 24

13. Withjack, E.M., Graham, S.K. and Yang, C-T.: "Determination of

Heterogeneities and Miscible Displacement Characteristics in Corefloods by

CT Scanning," SPE 20490, presented at the 65th Annual Technical

Conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, New Orleans, Sept. 23-

26, 1990.

14. Narayanan K. and Deans, H.A.: "A Flow Model Based on the Structure of

Heterogeneous Porous Media," paper SPE 18328, presented at the 63rd Annual

Technical Conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Houston, Oct.

2-5, 1988.

15. Auzerais, F.M., Ellis, D.V., Luthi, S.M., Dussan, E.B. and Pinoteau, B.J.:

"Laboratory Characterization of Anisotropic Rocks," paper SPE 20602,

presented at the 65th Annual Technical Conference of the Society of

Petroleum Engineers, New Orleans, Sept. 23-26, 1990.

16. Hicks, P.J., Narayanan, R. and Deans, H.A.: "An Experimental Study of

Miscible Displacements in Heterogeneous Carbonate Cores Using X-ray CT,"

paper SPE 20492, presented at the 65th Annual Technical Conference of the

Society of Petroleum Engineers, New Orleans, Sept. 23-26, 1990.

17. Tomutsa, L., Mahmood, S.M., Brinkmeyer, A. and Honarpour, M.: "Application

of Integrated Pore-to-Core Image Analysis to Study Fluid Distribution in

Reservoir Rocks", paper SPE 20478, presented at the 65th Annual Technical

Conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, New Orleans, Sept. 23-

26, 1990.
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 25

APPENDIX

In order to calculate the true porosity and fluid saturation profiles for the

core model, it is first necessa.ry to determine the center of each hole in

instrument coordinates. As shown in Fig. 1, the x-y axes represent the

coordinate system for the core model and the r-s axes represent the instrument

coordinate system. The r axis denotes the distance of an X-ray projection

from the central projection through the object; the s axis is parallel to the

direction of the X-rays and denotes the path length of a given projection

through the object. Then, the coordinates of the center of each hole

referenced to the instrument coordinate axes are given by

r x*cosfJ - y*sinfJ · (A-I)

s = y*cosfJ + x*sin(} • ••••••••••••••••••••••• (A-2)

where x and yare the coordinates of the center of a hole referenced to the

object and (} is the angle of rotation of the core model.

Also, the length, L, of a chord of a circle of radius R is given by

L · (A-3)

where x is the distance of the chord from the center of the circle. If the

center of the circle is coincident with the origin of the instrument reference

frame, then Equation A-3 becomes

 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 26

L . (A-4)

where r' is the distance of the chord from the center of the circle along the

r axis (Fig. Ala). Equation A-4 gives the path length of any projection

through a solid cylinder of radius R, i.e., the thickness of the core for any

single projection, in instrument coordinates. In a similar manner,

••. ; . • . . . • . • • • . • . . • (A-5)

gives the length of a projection through a hole of radius ~ where ci is the

distance of the center of the hole and r' is the distance of the projection,

respectively, from the center of a cylinder of radius R along the r axis (Fig.

Alb) .

The total path length of radiation, Lp ' through all of the holes intersected

by a projection a distance r' from the center of the cylinder is given by

• . . . • • . . . • • . • • • . • • • (A- 6)

summed over all of the holes. Therefore, the porosity for any projection at a

distance r' from the center of the cylinder is given by the total path length

of radiation through all the holes intersected by that projection, Lp ' divided

by the path length of that projection through the cylinder in the absence of
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 27

the holes, L, or

• • • • • • • • • . • . . . • • . • • (A-7)

A plot of ~ versus r' gives the true porosity profile of the core model.

True fluid saturation profiles were calculated as follows: Let f i = 1 if a

hole is filled with a given fluid, f, and f i = 0 if the hole is empty or

filled with a different fluid. The fluid saturation, Sf' for a projection

through the core model is the total path length of holes intersected by that

projection ·that contain the fluid divided by the total path length of all

holes intersected by that projection:

••••••••••••••.•••• (A-B)

A plot of Sf versus r' gives the true saturation profile of fluid f in the

core model.
 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 28

Table 1

LINEAR ATTENUATION COEFFICIENTS, p (em-I)

120 kVp 150 kVp 200 kVp

water 0.178±0.002 0.168±0.001 0.160±0.002

deeane/10% iodododeeane 0.185±0.002
Soltrol/27% iodododeeane 0.375±0.007 0.294±0.001 0.234±0.004

fused silica 0.392±0.001 0.360±0.001 0.330±0.001

Berea sandstone 0.382±0.001 0.350±O.OOl 0.320±0.OOl
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 29

Table 2

FLUID SATURATION MEASTTREMENTS

FUSED SILICA CORE

Three-Phase Saturations

Fill Fill Fill Fill

Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3 Pattern 4

So
Mean difJEerence -.023 .001 -.005 -.021
St. dev. of mean difference .004 .004 .004 .004
Mean absolute difference .047 .048 .048 .063
Largest absolute difference .340 .201 .177 .239

Sw
Mean difference -.032 -.012 -.012 .023
St. dev. of mean difference .007 .007 .007 .008
Mean absolute difference .074 .080 .081 .094
Largest absolute difference .513 .330 .345 .381

Sa
Mean difference -.009 .011 .017 -.002
St. dev. of mean difference .003 .004 .004 .004
Mean absolute difference .036 .044 .049 .044
Largest absolute difference .301 .297 .341 .196
 SPE25817
Engler et al. page 30

Fig. 1. Hole pattern in 50.8 rom diameter core model with 0.226 fractional

porosity. Hole diameter - 3.97 rom; holes drilled on 6.35 rom

centers. a = as-drilled, b = rotated 24.4° for scanning. The x-y

axes are the coordinate axes for the core model and the r-s axes

are the coordinate axes for the scanner.

Fig. 2. Fill patterns for fluid saturation measurements.

Fig. 3. a)CT- and b)DR derived images of oil saturation after gas-

displacement in a 6.35 cm diameter Berea sandstone. The plane of

the DR image is perpendicular to the plane of the CT image and

oriented as if the CT image was viewed from bottom to top. The

inlet face is at the top. The apparent width of the core in the DR

image is less than the diameter in the CT image due to differences

in reconstruction size.

Fig. 4. DR- and CT- derived 2-D profiles of oil saturation profiles after

gas-displacement as a function of radial position: a)top half of

core, b)bottom half of core.

Fig. 5. True and measured porosity profiles for silica model rotated 24.4°.

Fig. 6. True and measured oil profiles for silica model rotated 24.4° -

Fill Pattern 1: a = So' b = S~. The measured saturations were

calculated with three phase saturation equations.

 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 31

Fig. 7. True and measured oil profiles for silica model rotated 24.4° -

Fill Pattern 2: a = So' b = Sw' The measured saturations were

calculated with three phase saturation equations.

Fig. 8. True and measured oil profiles for silica model rotated 24.4" -

Fill Pattern 3: a = So' b = Sw. The measured saturations were

calculated with three phase saturation equations.

Fig. 9. True and measured oil profiles for silica model rotated 24.4° -

J~ill Pattern 4: a = So' b = Sw. The measured saturations were

calculated with three phase saturation equations.

Fig. 10. Simulation model of oil, water and gas segregation in a 20 x

element matrix with six different detector resolutions.

Fig. 11. l~easured porosity versus true porosity for simulation model of Fig.

10 as a function of detector resolution. Detector width is given

as a fraction of the full width of the model.

Fig. 12. Measured oil saturation versus true oil saturation for simulation

model of Fig. 10 as a function of detector resolution. Detector

~¥idth is given as a fraction of the full width of the model.

Fig. AI. a) Calculation of path length L of a projection through a cylinder

of radius R where r' is the distance of the projection from the

center of a cylinder along the r axis. b) Calculation of path

 SPE25817
Engler et ale page 32

length Lp,i of a projection through a hole of radius ~ where c i is

the distance of the center of the hole and r' is the distance of

the projection, respectively, from the center of a cylinder of

radius R along the r axis.