Two-phase flow in porous media: obtaining sharp digitized images of serial sections for subsequent quantitative analysis

Abstract

Microscopic studies of the distributions of oil and aqueous phases within the pore space of reservoir rocks, at various relative saturations, are of fundamental importance in understanding migration, distribution, mobilization and recovery of oil in the context of a particular (enhanced) oil recovery method. The most effective approach to use for these studies is three-dimensional computer reconstruction with the data for the three-phase system (rock, oil, aqueous A novel technique for creating accurate three-phase digitized images from the serial section data is described. By use of appropriate pore cast materials and lighting conditions, three different two-phase video images are created and digitized. In each image, a different one of the three phases in the pore cast is one of the two distinguishable phases. The two best two-phase digitized images are combined to give the three-phase digitized image.