Effect of 2D Image Resolution on 3D Stochastic Reconstruction and Developing Petrophysical Trend

Multi-resolution digital rock physics (DRP) makes it possible to up-scale petrophysical properties from micron size to core sample size using two-dimensional (2D) thin section images. Resolution of 3D images and sample size are challenging problems in DRP where high-resolution images are acquired from small samples using inefficient and expensive micro-CT facilities. Three-dimensional stochastic reconstruction is an alternative approach to overcome these challenges. In this paper, we use multi-resolution images and investigate effect of 2D image resolution on 3D stochastic reconstruction and development of petrophysical trends for our two sandstone and carbonate original representative volume elements (RVEs). The proposed method includes three steps. In the first step, the spatial resolution of our original RVEs is decreased synthetically. In the second step, stochastic RVEs are realized for each resolution using two perpendicular images, correlation functions, and phase recovery algorithm. In the reconstruction method, a full set of two-point correlation functions (TPCFs) is extracted from two perpendicular 2D images. Then TPCF vectors are decomposed and averaged to realize 3D stochastic RVEs. In the third step, petrophysical properties like relative and absolute permeability as well as porosity and formation factor are computed. The output is used to develop trends for petrophysical properties in different resolutions. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed method can be used to predict petrophysical properties and reconstruct 3D RVEs for resolutions unavailable in the acquired 2D or 3D data.