--> 3-D Printing Permeable Porosity to Probe Petrophysical Problems

AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition

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3-D Printing Permeable Porosity to Probe Petrophysical Problems

Abstract

With 3D printing we can now transform our digital porosity models into physical, tangible, testable objects. Models can be printed in plastic, gypsum, silica, metal and a variety of other materials. Models can then be tested in real world lab equipment just like natural reservoir rocks. There are three general ways to make the digital porosity models that can subsequently be printed. First, computed tomography data from natural reservoir rocks can be converted to a 3D printable format. This method uses computational resources very intensively because to accurately represent the pore network in a reservoir rock sample the size of a pencil eraser often requires 10's of gigabytes of data. Second, computer-aided design software can be used to build simple porous models from primitive objects. This method is much less computational intensive, but it can be time intensive for the porosity architect to build a model out of individual volume elements. Third, complex geometries can be generated by using geometrical and/or statistical algorithms (e.g. periodic minimal surfaces). This method can produce complex pore networks that mimic natural systems quickly through the manipulation of various mathematical variables, though it can be somewhat time and computationally intensive to generate the digital models. This presentation will discuss these three methods for making digital models as well as show results of printing models made with these different methods using different materials (e.g. plastic, metal, and mineral matter). In addition, a comparison of 3D printer resolution will be made among the printed materials. A discussion of these results will provide a framework for experimentalists to pick the right methods and materials for building porosity models to test petrophysical hypotheses.