Developments in Synchrotron X-Ray Microtomography with Applications to Flow in Porous Media

Microimaging capabilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory's National Synchrotron Light Source have been enhanced to provide larger and higher resolution 3-D renderings of pore networks in reservoir rocks at a fraction of the time required in previous first generation scanning methods. Computer Microtomography, CMT, volumes containing 16 million voxels have been acquired at 3 micron resolution with the aid of expansion optics in a matter of hours. Such data are used to model single and multiphase flow properties in digital images of real porous media. Advances in 3ID visualization, which are being implemented in Brookhaven National Laboratory's 3-D theater, will allow even greater digestion and interpretation of phenomena dependent upon pore interconnectivity and multipore interactions. Pore networks are analyzed for tortuosity and connectivity measures, which have been elusive parameters in transport property models. We present examples of porosimetry simulation via network modeling to produce initial water saturation and residual oil distributions in a water-wet pore system. Furthermore, pore networks can provide the boundary condition framework for more rigorous simulations of displacement, such as in the lattice Boltzmann simulated water flood example provided.