Abstract:
X-ray micro-CT imaging is becoming more prevalent in characterizing rock samples at pore- and grain- scale. By analyzing micro-CT data, one can gain an understanding about the micro-scale features in the rock sample. Challenges exist, however, in analyzing these data and obtaining properties based on images. Data size, accuracy of the results, and user bias are some of the issues associated with analyzing micro-CT images of rock samples. The PerGeos Digital Rock Analysis software has been developed to tackle these issues, and generate accurate and consistent results on large data. An example of micro-CT data analysis of a Berea sandstone sample using PerGeos is demonstrated in this article.
A Berea mini plug with a 6 mm diameter is scanned at a resolution of 2.5 μm using the HeliScan micro- CT scanner. Figure 1 shows a volume rendering of the gray-scale image of the sample generated using PerGeos. The gray-scale intensities in X-ray CT images correlate with density. The low end of the histogram which represents the pore-space has been made transparent in Figure 1 to show the grain surfaces.
