Dataset Information

Equivalent Pore Channel Model for Fluid Flow in Rock Based on Microscale X-ray CT Imaging.

ABSTRACT: Pore-scale modeling with a reconstructed rock microstructure has become a dominant technique for fluid flow characterization in rock thanks to technological improvements in X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. A new method for the construction of a pore channel model from micro-CT image analysis is suggested to improve computational efficiency by simplifying a highly complex pore structure. Ternary segmentation was applied through matching a pore volume experimentally measured by mercury intrusion porosimetry with a CT image voxel volume to distinguish regions denoted as "apparent" and "indistinct" pores. The developed pore channel model, with distinct domains of different pore phases, captures the pore shape dependence of flow in two dimensions and a tortuous flow path in three dimensions. All factors determining these geometric characteristics were identified by CT image analysis. Computation of an interaction flow regime with apparent and indistinct pore domains was conducted using both the Stokes and Brinkman equations. The coupling was successfully simulated and evaluated against the experimental results of permeability derived from Darcy's law. Reasonable agreement was found between the permeability derived from the pore channel model and that estimated experimentally. However, the model is still incapable of accurate flow modeling in very low-permeability rock. Direct numerical simulation in a computational domain with a complex pore space was also performed to compare its accuracy and efficiency with the pore channel model. Both schemes achieved reasonable results, but the pore channel model was more computationally efficient.

SUBMITTER: Choi CS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7321608 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Equivalent Pore Channel Model for Fluid Flow in Rock Based on Microscale X-ray CT Imaging.

Choi Chae-Soon CS Lee Yong-Ki YK Song Jae-Joon JJ

Materials (Basel, Switzerland) 20200608 11

Pore-scale modeling with a reconstructed rock microstructure has become a dominant technique for fluid flow characterization in rock thanks to technological improvements in X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. A new method for the construction of a pore channel model from micro-CT image analysis is suggested to improve computational efficiency by simplifying a highly complex pore structure. Ternary segmentation was applied through matching a pore volume experimentally measured by mercury intr ...[more]

PMID: 32521752

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Project description:Differential phase contrast CT (DPC-CT) is emerging as a new technology to improve the contrast sensitivity of conventional attenuation-based CT. The noise equivalent quanta as a function over spatial frequency, i.e., the spectrum of noise equivalent quanta NEQ(k), is a decisive indicator of the signal and noise transfer properties of an imaging system. In this work, we derive the functional form of NEQ(k) in DPC-CT. Via system modeling, analysis, and computer simulation, we evaluate and verify the derived NEQ(k) and compare it with that of the conventional attenuation-based CT.The DPC-CT is implemented with x-ray tube and gratings. The x-ray propagation and data acquisition are modeled and simulated through Fresnel and Fourier analysis. A monochromatic x-ray source (30 keV) is assumed to exclude any system imperfection and interference caused by scatter and beam hardening, while a 360° full scan is carried out in data acquisition to avoid any weighting scheme that may disrupt noise randomness. Adequate upsampling is implemented to simulate the x-ray beam's propagation through the gratings G(1) and G(2) with periods 8 and 4 μm, respectively, while the intergrating distance is 193.6 mm (1∕16 of the Talbot distance). The dimensions of the detector cell for data acquisition are 32 × 32, 64 × 64, 96 × 96, and 128 × 128 μm(2), respectively, corresponding to a 40.96 × 40.96 mm(2) field of view in data acquisition. An air phantom is employed to obtain the noise power spectrum NPS(k), spectrum of noise equivalent quanta NEQ(k), and detective quantum efficiency DQE(k). A cylindrical water phantom at 5.1 mm diameter and complex refraction coefficient n = 1 - δ + iβ = 1 -2.5604 × 10(-7) + i1.2353 × 10(-10) is placed in air to measure the edge transfer function, line spread function and then modulation transfer function MTF(k), of both DPC-CT and the conventional attenuation-based CT. The x-ray flux is set at 5 × 10(6) photon∕cm(2) per projection and observes the Poisson distribution, which is consistent with that of a micro-CT for preclinical applications. Approximately 360 regions, each at 128 × 128 matrix, are used to calculate the NPS(k) via 2D Fourier transform, in which adequate zero padding is carried out to avoid aliasing in noise.The preliminary data show that the DPC-CT possesses a signal transfer property [MTF(k)] comparable to that of the conventional attenuation-based CT. Meanwhile, though there exists a radical difference in their noise power spectrum NPS(k) (trait 1∕|k| in DPC-CT but |k| in the conventional attenuation-based CT) the NEQ(k) and DQE(k) of DPC-CT and the conventional attenuation-based CT are in principle identical.Under the framework of ideal observer study, the joint signal and noise transfer property NEQ(k) and detective quantum efficiency DQE(k) of DPC-CT are essentially the same as those of the conventional attenuation-based CT. The findings reported in this paper may provide insightful guidelines on the research, development, and performance optimization of DPC-CT for extensive preclinical and clinical applications in the future.

Dataset Information

Equivalent Pore Channel Model for Fluid Flow in Rock Based on Microscale X-ray CT Imaging.

Publications

Equivalent Pore Channel Model for Fluid Flow in Rock Based on Microscale X-ray CT Imaging.

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