title: Extraction of pore-morphology and capillary pressure curves of porous media from synchrotron-based tomography data.
abstract: The elevated level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has caused serious concern of the progression of global warming. Geological sequestration is considered as one of the most promising techniques for mitigating the damaging effect of global climate change. Investigations over wide range of length-scales are important for systematic evaluation of the underground formations from prospective CO2 reservoir. Understanding the relationship between the micro morphology and the observed macro phenomena is even more crucial. Here we show Synchrotron based X-ray micro tomographic study of the morphological buildup of Sandstones. We present a numerical method to extract the pore sizes distribution of the porous structure directly, without approximation or complex calculation. We have also demonstrated its capability in predicting the capillary pressure curve in a mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) measurement. The method presented in this work can be directly applied to the morphological studies of heterogeneous systems in various research fields, ranging from Carbon Capture and Storage, and Enhanced Oil Recovery to environmental remediation in the vadose zone.
authors.affiliation: National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science &Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-2205, USA.
authors.forename: Ferdinand F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Hingerl
authors.affiliation: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Xianghui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Yijin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1] National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science &Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China [2] Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Ziyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-2205, USA.
authors.forename: Sally M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.affiliation: Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Toney