Kinetic modeling of diagenesis of Eogene lacustrine sandstone reservoirs in the Jianghan Basin, southeastern China

Abstract

In the Tuoshi oilfield, located in the Cenozoic Jianghan Basin of southeastern China, there have been found hydrocarbon reservoirs hosted in lacustrine sandstones of the Eogene Xingouzui Formation. The main diagenetic features identified in these sandstones include the dissolution of detrital K-feldspar and albite grains, the precipitation of quartz as overgrowths and/or cements, and the precipitation and/or transformation of clay minerals. These diagenetic features were interpreted to have occurred in early, intermediate and late stages, based on the burial depth.

The kinetics of fluid-mineral reactions and the concentrations of aqueous species at each stage of diagenesis were simulated numerically for these lacustrine sandstones, using a quasi-stationary state approximation that incorporates simultaneous chemical reactions in a time-space continuum. During the early diagenetic stage, pore fluid was weakly acidic, which resulted in dissolution of K-feldspar and albite and, therefore, led to the release of K⁺, Na⁺, Al³⁺ and SiO_2(aq) into the diagenetic fluid. The increased K⁺, Na⁺, Al³⁺ and SiO_2(aq) concentrations in the diagenetic fluid caused the precipitation of quartz, kaolinite and illite. At the beginning of the intermediate diagenetic stage the concentration of H⁺ was built up due to the decomposition of organic matter, which was responsible for further dissolution of K-feldspar and albite and precipitation of quartz, kaolinite, and illite. During the late diagenetic stage, the pore fluid was weakly alkaline, K-feldspar became stable and was precipitated with quartz and clay minerals. When the burial depth was greater than 3000 m, the pore fluids became supersaturated with respect to albite, but undersaturated with respect to quartz, resulting in the precipitation of albite and the dissolution of quartz.

The diagenetic reactions forecasted in the numerical modeling closely matched the diagenetic features identified by petrographic examination, and therefore, can help us to gain a better understanding of the diagenetic processes and associated porosity evolution in sandstone reservoirs.