Flow Properties of the Experimental and Computer Models of Laminated Rock

摘要

The existence of horizontal strata in sandstone has been identified by geologists. The thin layers are important in the way they affect some of the processes used to recover petroleum from the sandstone reservoir. In this research, we developed laboratory scale of laminated rock models as well as the computer models. The laboratory scale models were generated using sand with different grain size that was arranged into three layers. The computer models were generated using non-spherical grain model. The effects of variation of the laminae's grain size and thickness were analyzed to identify the most significant feature of the layer. Flow properties of the laboratory scale models were conducted experimentally using falling-head method, while for the computer models; the permeability was calculated using Lattice Boltzmann Method. The result shows that the hydraulic conductivity of the laboratory scale models decreases as the thickness ratio of the laminae increases. For the computer models, the permeability decreases as the thickness ratio of the laminae increases. The variation of laminae's grain size also influences the flow properties of the models, i.e. the hydraulic conductivity and the permeability are increasing as the grain size of the laminae increases.