Shale nanopore reconstruction with compressive sensing

Abstract

With increasing global demand for energy resources, shale gas has been paid considerable attention in recent years. Nanopore geometry is the basis for all microscopic rock physics and petrophysical numerical experiments for shale. At present, nano digital cores can be acquired via thin section reconstruction, nanometer-scale x-ray computed tomography (nano-CT), and focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). FIB-SEM detects nanoscale pores in the xy-plane with a resolution of up to 0.8 nm voxel-1, and it is usually provides higher resolution than nano-CT. The main workload associated with FIB-SEM is the need to recut the sample many times and scan every section, with these then being overlaid to create a three-dimensional (3D) pore model. Each cutting distance can be ascertained, but this cannot be controlled precisely because of the fundamental limits of focused ion beams. Many interpolation methods can be used to fit the anisotropy resolution. However, these methods can also alter the geometry of the pores. Nanopores that are close to the limiting resolution are particularly susceptible to stretching. Linear interpolation is likely to lengthen the pores in the low-resolution direction. The subsequent calculation of sensitive physical attributes will be affected by geometric alterations. Through foundational work in the compressive sensing (CS) method, we present a reconstruction workflow for maintaining the pore shape using prior knowledge and reliable information. The images are reassembled with equal distance, so the nanoscale structures can have a resolution of unity in three dimensions.