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Decomposing J-function to Account for the Pore Structure Effect in Tight Gas Sandstones

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Abstract

The J-function predicts the capillary pressure of a formation by accounting for its transport properties such as permeability and porosity. The dependency of this dimensionless function on the pore structure is usually neglected because it is difficult to implement such dependency, and also because most clastic formations contain mainly one type of pore structure. In this paper, we decompose the J-function to account for the presence of two pore structures in tight gas sandstones that are interpreted from capillary pressure measurements. We determine the effective porosity, permeability, and wetting phase saturation of each pore structure for this purpose. The throats, and not the pores, are the most important parameter for this determination. We have tested our approach for three tight gas sandstones formations. Our study reveals that decomposing the J-function allows us to capture drainage data more accurately, so that there is a minimum scatter in the scaled results, unlike the traditional approach. This study can have major implications for understanding the transport properties of a formation in which different pore structures are interconnected.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the constructive comments of the anonymous reviewers that helped improve this work.

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  1. Petroleum and Geological Engineering, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    A. Sakhaee-Pour

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Sakhaee-Pour, A. Decomposing J-function to Account for the Pore Structure Effect in Tight Gas Sandstones. Transp Porous Med 116, 453–471 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-016-0783-y

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