Experiment of carbonate dissolution: Implication for high quality carbonate reservoir formation in deep and ultradeep basins

Abstract

As the most frontiers in petroleum geology, the study of dissolution-based rock formation in deep carbonate reservoirs provides insight into pore development mechanism of petroleum reservoir space, while predicting reservoir distribution in deep-ultradeep layers. In this study, we conducted dissolution-precipitation experiments simulating surface to deep burial environments (open and semiopen systems).The effects of temperature, pressure, and dissolved ions on carbonate dissolution-precipitation were investigated under high temperature and pressure (∼200°C; ∼70Mpa) with a series of petrographic and geochemical analytical methods. The results showed that the window-shape dissolution curve appeared in 75∼150°C in the open system and 120∼175°C in the semiopen system. Furthermore, the dissolution weight loss of carbonate rocks in the open system was higher than that of semiopen system, making it more favorable for gaining porosity.Thetype of fluid and rock largely determines the reservoir quality. In the open system, the dissolution weight loss of calcite was higher than that of dolomite with 0.3% CO2 as the reaction fluid. In the semiopen system, the weight loss from dolomitic limestone prevailed with 0.3% CO2 as the reaction fluid. Our study could provide theoretical basis for the prediction of high quality carbonate reservoirs in deep and ultradeep layers.