A patchy-saturated rock physics model for tight sandstone based on microscopic pore structures

The wave-induced local fluid flow mechanism is relevant to the complex heterogeneity of pore structures in rocks.The analysis of the local fluid flow mechanism is useful for accurately describing the wave propagation characteristics in reservoir rocks.In the exploration and production of hydrocarbon reservoirs,the real stratum may be partially saturated with a multi-phase fluid mixture in general.Therefore,it is of great significance to investigate the wave velocity dispersion and attenuation features in relation to pore structures and fluids.In this work,the characteristics of fabric microstructures are obtained on the basis of pressure dependency of dry rock moduli using the effective medium theory.A novel anelasticity theoretical model for the wave propagation in a partially-saturated medium is presented by combining the extended Gurevich squirt-flow model and White patchysaturation theory.Numerical simulations are used to analyze wave propagation characteristics that depend on water saturation,external patchy diameter,and viscosity.We consider a tight sandstone from the Qingyang area of the Ordos Basin in west China and perform ultrasonic measurements under partial saturation states and different confining pressures,where the basic properties of the rock are obtained at the full gas saturation.The comparison of experimental data and theoretical modeling results shows a fairly good agreement,indicating that the new theory is effective.

Viscoelastic representation of surface waves in patchy saturated poroelastic media

Wave-induced flow is observed as the domi- nated factor for P wave propagation at seismic frequencies. This mechanism has a mesoscopic scale nature. The inhomogeneous unsaturated patches are regarded larger than the pore size, but smaller than the wavelength. Surface wave, e.g., Rayleigh wave, which propagates along the free surface, generated by the interfering of body waves is also affected by the mesoscopic loss mechanisms. Recent studies have reported that the effect of the wave-induced flow in wave propagation shows a relaxation behavior. Viscoelastic equivalent relaxation function associated with the wave mode can describe the kinetic nature of the attenuation. In this paper, the equivalent viscoelastic relaxation functions are extended to take into account the free surface for the Rayleigh surface wave propagation inpatchy saturated poroelastic media. Numerical results for the frequency-dependent velocity and attenuation and the time-dependent dynamical responses for the equivalent Rayleigh surface wave propagation along an interface between vacuum and patchy saturated porous media are reported in the low-frequency range （0.1-1,000 Hz）. The results show that the dispersion and attenuation and kinetic characteristics of the mesoscopic loss effect for the surface wave can be effectively represented in the equivalent vis- coelastic media. The simulation of surface wave propaga- tion within mesoscopic patches requires solving Blot＇s differential equations in very small grid spaces, involving the conversion of the fast P wave energy diffusion into the Blot slow wave. This procedure requires a very large amount of computer consumption. An efficient equivalent approach for this patchy saturated poroelastic media shows a more convenient way to solve the single phase visco- elastic differential equations.