| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/K81690/01 |
| Title: |
SCALING OF LABORATORY ACOUSTIC RELATIONSHIPS TO RESERVOIR SCALE SEISMIC FREQUENCIES (RES 56) |
| Principal Investigator: |
McCann, Professor C |
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| Department: |
Postgrad Research Inst for Sedimentology |
| Organisation: |
University of Reading |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 June 1996 |
Ends: |
31 May 1999 |
Value (£): |
175,176
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The project is concerned with the prediction of fluid flow perperties of hydrocarbon reservoirs with fracture based permeability. At present there is no geophysical technique by which these properties can be predicted from remote measurements. However, it has been demonstrated experimentally that the attenuation of ultrasonic waves in centimetre scale rock samples at low confining pressure is determined by the concentration of micro fractures in the sample; a theory describing the attentuation in terms of 'squirt-flow' into and out of the compliant cracks has realted the attentuation to the crack-cased permeability of the rock sample. The objective of this project is to scale up the dimensions to 100's of metres, the reservoir scale, and to scale the frequency from ultrasonic to the 50-1000Hz range normally used in exploration, and to explore the relationships between fracture distribution, siesmic attentuation and permeability. The research will involve trhe extension of the basic theory to include a distribution of crack and fracture sizes; field observation of fracture distribution in outcrop together with field seismic measurements at frequencies from 50Hz up; extraction of fluid flow properties of the rocks from the extensive hydrogeological database; combination of the fracture, seismic and hydrogeological data within the theory to test its predictive capabilities.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.rdg.ac.uk |