Digital Rock Physics - Calibration with Laboratory Measurements

Digital rock methodology combines modern microscopic imaging with advanced numerical simulations of the physical properties of rocks. Elastic-wave propagation modeling, directly from rock microstructure to estimate effective elastic properties, is integral to this technology. Additionally, we determine the permeability of the digitized rock samples. The goals of this paper are to describe and understand how laboratory experiments couple with digital rock physics results. For a Berea Sandstone sample, we measure pressure-dependent velocities and permeability. Different approaches, with different resolution, are used to characterize the pore geometry of the selected sample. These include X-Ray tomography, electron probe micro analysis, scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion. Knowing the pore size distribution, we suggest a strategy for calibrating digital rock physics results.