Contribution of Various Shale Components to Pore System: Insights from Attributes Analysis

Abstract

Shale pore systems are the result of the geological evolution of different matrix assemblages, and the composition of gas shale is considered to affect the pore systems in shale reservoirs. This study aimed to investigate the impact of both organic and inorganic constituents on the shale pore system, including specific surface area (SSA) and pore volume in Wufeng–Longmaxi Shale. Multiple linear regression (MLR) was employed to examine the contributions of different components to shale pore structure. The pore structure parameters, including pore SSA and pore volume, were obtained by gas adsorption experiments in 32 Wufeng–Longmaxi Shale (Late Ordovician–Early Silurian) samples. Both pore SSA and pore volume were calculated by the density functional theory (DFT) model on shale samples, and the pore types were determined by high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The results of the X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis indicate that the Wufeng–Longmaxi Shale is dominated by quartz, clays, carbonates, feldspar, pyrite, and organic matter. Four models were made using SPSS software, all of which showed significant correlation between shale pore size and organic matter (OM) and clays. The content of organic matter played the biggest role in determining the size and structure of the pores. Although the content of quartz is the highest and serves as a rigid skeleton in shale reservoirs, it has complicated effects on the pore structure. In this study, most of the quartz is biogenetic and part of it is transformed from clays in deep shale. Therefore, these two parts of quartz are, respectively, related to organic matter and clays. In essence, the pores related to these two parts of quartz should be attributed to organic matter and clays, which also support the conclusion of the MLR models.