Abstract
The sizes and size distributions of pores and throats and their arrangement relative to each other have been determined from mercury intrusion-extrusion capillary pressure curves of selected carbonate rock samples. Results obtained are compared with measurements made directly by observation of pore systems impregnated with fluorescent epoxy and viewed at high magnification with an optical microscope. Pore-size distributions obtained by porosimetry are partial distributions which exclude the larger pores in which mercury is trapped. Also, they indicate large volume fractions of smaller pores than are obtained by direct observation. The difference may be caused by partial withdrawal of mercury from the surface complexities of larger pores as capillary pressure is lowered. It is also caused by limitations of optical resolution for very small pores.
The degree of pore-throat size correlation can be estimated from the relative pressures of the end points on extrusion curves initiated at successively higher capillary pressures. Pore-throat size correlation is related to spatial order (clustering) of larger and smaller pores in discrete domains.
Scanning loops provide information about the shapes of pores and about the differences in advancing and receding contact angles which are required for calculation of throat and pore sizes.
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Abbreviations
- P:
-
pressure
- d:
-
diameter
- kPa:
-
kilopascals
- x:
-
width
- y:
-
depth
- γ:
-
surface tension
- θ:
-
contact angle
- a:
-
applied
- A:
-
advancing
- c:
-
capillary
- e:
-
effective
- Hg:
-
mercury
- p:
-
pore
- R:
-
receding
- t:
-
throat
- v:
-
vacuum
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Wardlaw, N.C., McKellar, M. & Yu, L. Pore and throat size distributions determined by mercury porosimetry and by direct observation. Carbonates Evaporites 3, 1–16 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174408
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174408