QEMSCAN Assisted Interpretation of Imbibition Capillary Pressure for Multi-Porosity Carbonate Rocks

Abstract This paper demonstrates the effect of pore systems and mineralogy on imbibition capillary pressure (Pci) of carbonate rocks. A systematic workflow is developed and followed to ensure the data quality of Pci, minimize uncertainty in deriving the Pci from centrifuge tests, and analyze the data together with pore-size distribution from mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) and mineralogy from Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy (QEMSCAN). The workflow starts with assessing the centrifuge production data for gravity-capillary equilibrium at each speed. Then the quality-checked data is used to produce six different Pci curves using the analytical and numerical models. The analytical and numerical solutions assess the variability in solutions for various rock types, and ultimately, lead to the selection of the most-representative Pci curve. Finally, the representative Pci curves of varying rock types are analyzed together with the MICP and QEMSCAN data to examine the change in Pci curves as a result of changes in the number and character of pore systems, dominant pore throat radii, and mineralogy. Findings from this study present insights into the impact of mineralogy and pore systems on the behavior of the Pci curves. From the mineralogy perspective, the presence of dolomite, microporous calcite, or rutile and anatase (TiO2) within the rock composition has a strong influence on the Pci behavior of carbonate rock. The data reveals that the contrast between the micropore and macropore systems of bi-modal carbonates has the strongest influence on Pci. We find that Pci can be clustered based on mineral content for bi-modal carbonate rocks and the degree of communication between micropore and macropore systems. The novel approach presented in this study links the MICP and QEMSCAN data to the imbibition process making the way toward a better dynamic rock typing.