A new pixel-free algorithm of pore-network extraction for fluid flow in porous media: Flashlight search medial axis

Jie Liu, Tao Zhang, Shuyu Sun

Abstract view|249|times       PDF download|171|times

Abstract


Pore-network models have become a critical tool in the study of fluid flow in geo-energy researches over the last few decades, and the accuracy of pore-network modeling results highly depends on the extraction of pore networks. Traditional methods of pore-network extraction are based on pixels and require images with high quality. Here, a pixel-free method called the flashlight search medial axis algorithm is proposed for pore-network extraction in a continuous space. The search domain in a two-dimensional space is a line, whereas a surface domain is searched in a three-dimensional scenario. Thus, the algorithm follows the dimensionality reduction idea; the medial axis can be identified using only a few points instead of calculating every point in the void space. In this way, computational complexity of this method is greatly reduced compared to that of traditional pixel-based extraction methods, thus enabling large-scale pore-network extraction. Based on cases featuring two- and three-dimensional porous media, the algorithm performs well regardless of the topological structure of the pore network or the positions of the pore and throat centers. This algorithm can also be used to examine both closed-boundary and open-boundary cases. Finally, this algorithm can identify the medial axis accurately, which is of great significance in the study of geo-energy.

Document Type: Original article

Cite as: Liu, J., Zhang, T., Sun, S. A new pixel-free algorithm of pore-network extraction for fluid flow in porous media: Flashlight search medial axis. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2024, 13(1): 32-41. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2024.07.05


Keywords


Pore-network model, pore-network extraction, pixel-free, continuum extraction approach

Full Text:

PDF

References


Balhoff, M. T., Wheeler, M. F. A predictive pore-scale model for non-darcy flow in porous media. SPE Journal, 2009, 14(4): 579-587.

Blunt, M. J. Flow in porous media-pore-network models and multiphase flow. Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science, 2001, 6(3): 197-207.

Blunt, M. J., Jackson, M. D., Piri, M., et al. Detailed physics, predictive capabilities and macroscopic consequences for pore-network models of multiphase flow. Advances in Water Resources, 2002, 25(8-12): 1069-1089.

Bryant, S., Blunt, M. Prediction of relative permeability in simple porous media. Physical Review A, 1992, 46(4): 2004.

Bultreys, T., Singh, K., Raeini, A. Q., et al. Verifying pore net-work models of imbibition in rocks using time-resolved synchrotron imaging. Water Resources Research, 2020, 56(6): e2019WR026587.

Cao, Y., Tang, M., Zhang, Q., et al. Dynamic capillary pressure analysis of tight sandstone based on digital rock model. Capillarity, 2020, 3(2): 28-35.

Cui, R., Hassanizadeh, S. M., Sun, S. Pore-network modeling of flow in shale nanopores: Network structure, flow principles, and computational algorithms. Earth-Science Reviews, 2022, 234: 104203.

Dong, H., Blunt, M. J. Pore-network extraction from micro-computerized-tomography images. Physical Review E, 2009, 80(3): 036307.

Dullien, F. Single phase flow through porous media and pore structure. The Chemical Engineering Journal, 1975, 10(1): 1-34.

Fatt, I. The network model of porous media. Transactions of the AIME, 1956, 207(1): 144-181.

Feng, X., Qiao, Z., Sun, S., et al. An energy-stable smoothed particle hydrodynamics discretization of the navier-stokes-cahn-hilliard model for incompressible two-phase flows. Journal of Computational Physics, 2023, 479: 111997.

Golparvar, A., Zhou, Y., Wu, K., et al. A comprehensive review of pore scale modeling methodologies for multiphase flow in porous media. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2018, 2(4): 418-440.

Heinemann, N., Alcalde, J., Miocic, J. M., et al. Enabling large-scale hydrogen storage in porous media-the scientific challenges. Energy & Environmental Science, 2021, 14(2): 853-864.

Javandel, I., Witherspoon, P. Application of the finite element method to transient flow in porous media. Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 1968, 8(3): 241-252.

Lindquist, W., Venkatarangan, A. Investigating 3D geometry of porous media from high resolution images. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Part A: Solid Earth and Geodesy, 1999, 24(7): 593-599.

Liu, C., Frank, F., Thiele, C., et al. An efficient numerical algorithm for solving viscosity contrast cahn-hilliard-navier-stokes system in porous media. Journal of Computational Physics, 2020, 400: 108948.

Liu, J., Xie, X., Meng, Q., et al. Effects of membrane structure on oil-water separation by smoothed particle hydrodynamics. Membranes, 2022a, 12(4): 387.

Liu, J., Zhang, T., Sun, S. Stability analysis of the water bridge in organic shale nanopores: A molecular dynamic study. Capillarity, 2022b, 5(4): 75-82.

Liu, J., Zhang, T., Sun, S. Molecular mechanisms of hydrogen leakage through caprock in moisture and residual gas conditions: A molecular dynamics-monte carlo study. Physics of Fluids, 2024, 36(2): 268169092.

Lopez, X., Valvatne, P. H., Blunt, M. J. Predictive network modeling of single-phase non-newtonian flow in porous media. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2003, 264(1): 256-265.

Makal, T. A., Li, J. R., Lu, W., et al. Methane storage in advanced porous materials. Chemical Society Reviews, 2012, 41(23): 7761-7779.

Mostaghimi, P., Blunt, M. J., Bijeljic, B. Computations of absolute permeability on micro-ct images. Mathematical Geosciences, 2013, 45: 103-125.

Øren, P. E., Bakke, S. Reconstruction of berea sandstone and pore-scale modelling of wettability effects. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2003, 39(3-4): 177-199.

Raeini, A. Q., Blunt, M. J., Bijeljic, B. Modelling two-phase flow in porous media at the pore scale using the volume-of-fluid method. Journal of Computational Physics, 2012, 231(17): 5653-5668.

Raoof, A., Hassanizadeh, S. M. A new method for generating pore-network models of porous media. Transport in Porous Media, 2010, 81: 391-407.

Ryazanov, A. V., Van Dijke, M. I. J., Sorbie, K. S. Two-phase pore-network modelling: Existence of oil layers during water invasion. Transport in Porous Media, 2009, 80: 79-99.

Shan, B., Ju, L., Guo, Z., et al. Investigation of shale gas flows under confinement using a self-consistent multiscale approach. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2022a, 6(6): 537-538.

Shan, L., Bai, X., Liu, C., et al. Super-resolution reconstruction of digital rock ct images based on residual attention mechanism. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2022b, 6(2): 157-168.

Song, R., Sun, S., Liu, J., et al. Pore scale modeling on dissociation and transportation of methane hydrate in porous sediments. Energy, 2021, 237: 121630.

Song, W., Yao, B., Sun, H., et al. Nanoscale three-phase transport in a shale pore network with phase change and solid-fluid interaction. Energy & Fuels, 2023, 37(18): 13851-13865.

Sun, S., Zhang, T. Reservoir Simulations: Machine Learning and Modeling. Texas, USA, Gulf Professional Publishing, 2020.

Xiong, Q., Baychev, T. G., Jivkov, A. P. Review of pore network modelling of porous media: Experimental characterisations, network constructions and applications to reactive transport. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 2016, 192: 101-117.

Yang, H., Sun, S., Li, Y., et al. A fully implicit constraint-preserving simulator for the black oil model of petroleum reservoirs. Journal of Computational Physics, 2019, 396: 347-363.

Yang, Y., Liu, J., Yao, J., et al. Adsorption behaviors of shale oil in kerogen slit by molecular simulation. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2020, 387: 124054.

Yiotis, A. G., Tsimpanogiannis, I. N., Stubos, A. K., et al. Pore-network study of the characteristic periods in the drying of porous materials. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2006, 297(2): 738-748.

Yuan, Q., Ling, B., Aryana, S. A. New phase diagram of miscible viscous fingering instabilities in porous media with dead-end pores. Physics of Fluids, 2022, 34(9): 092109.

Zhang, T., Sun, S. A coupled lattice boltzmann approach to simulate gas flow and transport in shale reservoirs with dynamic sorption. Fuel, 2019, 246: 196-203.

Zhao, J., Liu, Y., Qin, F., et al. Pore-scale fluid flow simulation coupling lattice boltzmann method and pore network model. Capillarity, 2023, 7(3): 41-46.

Zhu, G., Kou, J., Yao, J., et al. A phase-field moving contact line model with soluble surfactants. Journal of Computational Physics, 2020, 405: 109170.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2024.07.05

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright ©2018. All Rights Reserved