Segmented Digital Volume Adjustment for Porous Media Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital rock physics techniques struggle to accurately capture sub-resolution and under-resolved features in rock samples, leading to unreliable property values such as permeability, capillary pressure, and electrical resistivity, due to limitations in scanning resolution and data representation.
Innovation Solution
A method is developed to adjust segmented digital volumes by introducing cracks and revising structural features, using inverse distance maps and watershed processing, to improve the representation of rock structure and derive more accurate property values, such as absolute permeability, by satisfying criterion relations defined independently of the segmented volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional scanning operations are used to acquire digital images of rock samples, then the scanning resolution and field-of-view can be managed, but sub-resolution structural features (such as very thin conduits connecting pores) cannot be accurately captured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary processing steps to the grey-scale digital volume before segmentation, including identifying potential locations for sub-resolution features and preparing the data structure to accommodate these features. This allows the segmented volume to be adjusted later to include sub-resolution structural features that were not directly visible in the original scan.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary representation layer between the original scanned image and the final segmented volume. This intermediary layer includes metadata about potential sub-resolution features and their locations, allowing information about features smaller than the scanning resolution to be preserved and incorporated into the segmented model.
2Productivity
If the segmented volume is created directly from the scanned image without adjustment, then the processing is simpler and faster, but the derived property values (permeability, capillary pressure, electrical resistivity) are unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the segmented volume is iteratively adjusted and re-evaluated. Property values are derived from the segmented volume, compared against expected ranges or criterion curves, and the segmented volume is modified accordingly. This loop continues until the derived values satisfy the criterion relations, ensuring reliability while maintaining processing efficiency through targeted iterations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of completely reprocessing the entire segmented volume, the patent applies partial adjustments only to specific regions where sub-resolution features are likely to exist. This selective approach maintains processing speed while improving the accuracy of property values by focusing computational effort where it is most needed.
3Area of stationary object
If the field-of-view is increased to capture more representative sample structure, then the data set size becomes unmanageable for computations and simulations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the large field-of-view data set into smaller, computationally manageable sub-volumes or regions of interest. By dividing the overall data set, the patent maintains the benefits of a large field-of-view for capturing representative structure while enabling efficient computations and simulations on smaller subsets of the data.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for increasing the accuracy of a target property value derived from a rock sample is described in which the sample is scanned to obtain a three-dimensional tomographic digital image which can be processed to pore space and solid material phases through a segmentation process. A process is used which revises the segmented volume, e.g., by increasing pore space connectivity, in a manner affecting the target property value that would be derived. Another described method increases the accuracy with which a segmented volume represents a material sample having structure not adequately resolved in an original three-dimensional tomographic digital image. Further, a system for performing the processes, and a segmented digital volume which more accurately represents a sample of a porous media, are described.