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Mesoscale Anisotropy in Porous Media Made of Clay Minerals. A Numerical Study Constrained by Experimental Data.

ABSTRACT: The anisotropic properties of clay-rich porous media have significant impact on the directional dependence of fluids migration in environmental and engineering sciences. This anisotropy, linked to the preferential orientation of flat anisometric clay minerals particles, is studied here on the basis of the simulation of three-dimensional packings of non-interacting disks, using a sequential deposition algorithm under a gravitational field. Simulations show that the obtained porosities fall onto a single master curve when plotted against the anisotropy value. This finding is consistent with results from sedimentation experiments using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) disks and subsequent extraction of particle anisotropy through X-ray microtomography. Further geometrical analyses of computed porous media highlight that both particle orientation and particle aggregation are responsible of the evolution of porosity as a function of anisotropy. Moreover, morphological analysis of the porous media using chord length measurements shows that the anisotropy of the pore and solid networks can be correlated with particle orientation. These results indicate that computed porous media, mimicking the organization of clay minerals, can be used to shed light on the anisotropic properties of fluid transfer in clay-based materials.

SUBMITTER: Dabat T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6212813 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mesoscale Anisotropy in Porous Media Made of Clay Minerals. A Numerical Study Constrained by Experimental Data.

Dabat Thomas T Mazurier Arnaud A Hubert Fabien F Tertre Emmanuel E Grégoire Brian B Dazas Baptiste B Ferrage Eric E

Materials (Basel, Switzerland) 20181013 10

The anisotropic properties of clay-rich porous media have significant impact on the directional dependence of fluids migration in environmental and engineering sciences. This anisotropy, linked to the preferential orientation of flat anisometric clay minerals particles, is studied here on the basis of the simulation of three-dimensional packings of non-interacting disks, using a sequential deposition algorithm under a gravitational field. Simulations show that the obtained porosities fall onto a ...[more]

PMID: 30322150

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Project description:Clays, hydrous aluminous phyllosilicates, have a significant impact on the interpretation of physical measurements and properties of porous media. In particular, the presence of paramagnetic and/or ferromagnetic ions like iron, nickel, and magnesium in clays can complicate the analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data for porous media characterization. This is due to the internal magnetic field gradient induced by the clay minerals. In this study, we aim to investigate the impact of clay content on spin-spin relaxation time (T 2), which is strongly influenced by the pore surface chemistry. Seven rock core plugs, characterized with variable clay content, were used for this purpose. The clay mineralogy and volume were determined by means of quantitative evaluation of minerals by scanning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN). The T 2 relaxation time was measured using a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence with variable echo spacing (T E). The maximum percentage difference in dominant T 2 values (MRDT 2) between shortest and longest echo spacing was subsequently correlated with clay content obtained from QEMSCAN. Our results show that the reduction in T 2 distribution with increasing echo time T E is more significant in samples characterized by higher clay contents. The MRDT 2 was found to be strongly correlated with clay content. An analytical equation is presented expressing MRDT 2 as a function of clay content providing a quick and non-destructive approach for clay content estimation. Moreover, the MRDT 2-clay content relationship showed a nonlinear behavior: MRDT 2 increases drastically as the clay content increases up to 15%, beyond which the rate of MRDT 2 change with clay content diminishes. This behavior could be attributed to the clay distribution. At higher clay contents (above 15%), it is more likely for clay to form clusters (structural clays), which will not significantly increase the clay surface in contact with the pore fluid. Further, experimental data suggests that ignoring the impact of clay on internal magnetic gradients and T 2 signal may result in considerable underestimation of the actual pore size distribution.

Dataset Information

Mesoscale Anisotropy in Porous Media Made of Clay Minerals. A Numerical Study Constrained by Experimental Data.

Publications

Mesoscale Anisotropy in Porous Media Made of Clay Minerals. A Numerical Study Constrained by Experimental Data.

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