Porosity and Permeability Imaging
Automated 3D sectioning using DualBeam™ provides key insights into the physical and engineering properties of a reservoir rock
Permeability and porosity are key geological and engineering properties that control the flow characteristics of oil and gas in reservoir rocks. The amount and type of porosity and permeability is commonly determined by petrographic investigations or experimental methods, like gas and fluid injection of reservoir rocks, during the exploration, development and production phases.
FEI’s DualBeam™ solution provides the ability to undertake both direct 2D and 3D imaging on core and cuttings samples at the micro- and nano- scale. The DualBeam system comprises a FEGSEM (Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope) column and a FIB (Focused Ion Beam) column mounted on a single chamber. Slice and View automation software controls the combined use of both beams to facilitate serial sectioning by ion milling (FIB) and high resolution imaging (FEGSEM) of the milled surface. The resulting images are realigned to produce a volumetric reconstruction of the analyzed area. Theses reconstructions are used to examine and quantify porosity and permeability.
DualBeam technology has recently found application in the characterization of oil and gas shales, where all the features of interest, such as clay mineral grains and porosity, are typically sub-10 microns.
FEI’s QEMSCAN Automated Mineralogy Solutions are being used by the industry to provide relative porosity estimates from cuttings which is particularly valuable for sequences where no core is available.