{"title":"Modeling of Permeability and Formation Factor of Carbonate Digital Rocks: Dual-Pore-Network and Pore-Network-Continuum Models","authors":"Xingyuan Zhao, Bowen Shi, Xin Wang, Jianlin Zhao, Fei Jiang, Chao-Zhong Qin","doi":"10.1007/s11242-025-02177-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Many subsurface formations, such as soils, carbonate rocks, and mudstones, possess multiscale pore structures that impose significant challenges to the pore-scale modeling of flow and transport processes. Despite the development of several models, there is a lack of comparative studies and quantitative analysis to evaluate their performance. In this work, we present two image-based hybrid models for predicting absolute permeability and electrical formation factor: a dual-pore-network model (DPNM) and a pore-network-continuum model (PNCM). We use several publicly available digital rock samples of Estaillades carbonate, one of which includes experimentally characterized sub-resolution regions (i.e., microporosity) represented by 3D maps of porosity and entry pressure. We perform comprehensive comparisons between the DPNM and PNCM, focusing on the strengths and limitations of the DPNM. Our results show that, assuming homogeneous microporosity, both the DPNM and PNCM accurately predict absolute permeability and formation factors. However, for realistic heterogeneous microporosity, the DPNM significantly underestimates absolute permeability by more than an order of magnitude, compared to the PNCM. We also explore two methods to improve the performance of our DPNM. Our findings will provide a foundation for the application of DPNMs to a wide range of geological and engineering systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":804,"journal":{"name":"Transport in Porous Media","volume":"152 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Transport in Porous Media","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11242-025-02177-1","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Many subsurface formations, such as soils, carbonate rocks, and mudstones, possess multiscale pore structures that impose significant challenges to the pore-scale modeling of flow and transport processes. Despite the development of several models, there is a lack of comparative studies and quantitative analysis to evaluate their performance. In this work, we present two image-based hybrid models for predicting absolute permeability and electrical formation factor: a dual-pore-network model (DPNM) and a pore-network-continuum model (PNCM). We use several publicly available digital rock samples of Estaillades carbonate, one of which includes experimentally characterized sub-resolution regions (i.e., microporosity) represented by 3D maps of porosity and entry pressure. We perform comprehensive comparisons between the DPNM and PNCM, focusing on the strengths and limitations of the DPNM. Our results show that, assuming homogeneous microporosity, both the DPNM and PNCM accurately predict absolute permeability and formation factors. However, for realistic heterogeneous microporosity, the DPNM significantly underestimates absolute permeability by more than an order of magnitude, compared to the PNCM. We also explore two methods to improve the performance of our DPNM. Our findings will provide a foundation for the application of DPNMs to a wide range of geological and engineering systems.
期刊介绍:
-Publishes original research on physical, chemical, and biological aspects of transport in porous media-
Papers on porous media research may originate in various areas of physics, chemistry, biology, natural or materials science, and engineering (chemical, civil, agricultural, petroleum, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineering)-
Emphasizes theory, (numerical) modelling, laboratory work, and non-routine applications-
Publishes work of a fundamental nature, of interest to a wide readership, that provides novel insight into porous media processes-
Expanded in 2007 from 12 to 15 issues per year.
Transport in Porous Media publishes original research on physical and chemical aspects of transport phenomena in rigid and deformable porous media. These phenomena, occurring in single and multiphase flow in porous domains, can be governed by extensive quantities such as mass of a fluid phase, mass of component of a phase, momentum, or energy. Moreover, porous medium deformations can be induced by the transport phenomena, by chemical and electro-chemical activities such as swelling, or by external loading through forces and displacements. These porous media phenomena may be studied by researchers from various areas of physics, chemistry, biology, natural or materials science, and engineering (chemical, civil, agricultural, petroleum, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineering).