Predicting sediment and sedimentary rock properties

A system for determining properties of a sediment or a sedimentary rock, comprising:

• an input device to incorporate structured data based on sample data measured and collected via at least one of:
• sensors, measurement devices, imaging devices, and other devices configured to obtain and/or at least initially process data representing a physical object,
• the structured data defining an initial topology of solid objects in the sediment or the sedimentary rock, the structured data defining chemical and physical properties of the solid objects, and the structured data including temperature and stress boundary conditions at specified times;
• a processor of a computer analyzer including a library interfacing over a network with the input device to transform initial topology of solid objects and pores in the sediment or the sedimentary rock by analyzing bulk volume change and by analyzing effects of chemical reactions for each of the specified times;
• wherein the bulk volume change comprises at least one analysis selected from the group of:
• analyzing changes in volumes and shapes in each individual solid object induced by contact stress, wherein the changes in volume and shape account for contact compressional and shear stresses;
• and
• analyzing rearrangement of the solid objects based on contacts between and collisions among the solid objects under gravity in addition to at least one property selected from the group of:
• inertia, elasticity, friction, adhesion, intermolecular repulsion, capillarity associated with fluids in the sediment, magnetism, and Brownian motion;
• determining by the processor of the computer analyzer, a coating coverage associated with formation of multiple coating types by the following equation:
• Coating
• =
• c
• vol
• c
• nom
• +
• c
• area
• p
• area
• wherein cvol is a predefined volume for a coating type that forms within a simulation frame of reference, cnom is a predefined nominal thickness for the coating type, carea is a pore wall surface area that is already coated by the coating type, and parea is total pore wall area, and
• wherein the resulting value does not exceed one;
• an output device interfacing with the processor of the computer analyzer to generate a representation as a predicted microstructure of the sediment or sedimentary rock in two or three spatial dimensions and/or as a function of time via computer animation, and/or a report describing the predicted microstructure of the sediment or sedimentary rock in a format for physical printing or machining and/or for further processing and/or transformation.

A computer-implemented method of determining properties of a sediment or a sedimentary rock, comprising:

• incorporating structured data by an input device based on sample data from a sample device and/or data from a simulator, the input measured and collected via at least one input device selected from the group of:
• sensors, measurement devices, imaging devices, and other devices configured to obtain and/or at least initially process data representing a physical object,
• the input including an initial topology of solid objects in the sediment or the sedimentary rock;
• chemical and physical properties of the solid objects;
• temperature and stress boundary conditions at specified times;
• transforming by a processor of a computer analyzer including a library interfacing over a network with the input device, an initial geometry of solid objects and pores in the sediment or the sedimentary rock by analyzing bulk volume change and by analyzing effects of chemical reactions for each of the specified times;
• wherein the effects of chemical reactions comprises at least one effect selected from the group of:
• crystal overgrowth development on particles of a specified mineral, wherein geometry of new growth is based on orientation of crystallographic axes of the specified mineral with respect to a three-dimensional mesh representing particles with complex geometries, geometries and maximum growth thicknesses for each euhedral crystal face type, maximum growth thickness on non-euhedral surfaces at angles to each of the crystallographic axes, and rules for the development of euhedral faces when contact is made with other solid objects;
• dissolution of objects made at least in part of reactive materials, wherein a reaction front moves progressively inward from an outer surface of solid objects;
• geometry of newly formed non-overgrowth solid objects that precipitate in pores based on:
• one or more idealized geometric forms for each of solid object types, a distribution for a nominal size for each of the idealized geometric forms, a distribution for a final size of each of the idealized geometric forms, and rules for defining the geometry of the solid objects that account for contact with other solid objects as size changes from the nominal size to the final size;
• and
• spatial distributions of the non-overgrowth solid object types based on pore-space proximity to solid objects of various types;
• determining by the processor of the computer analyzer, a thickness of an alteration zone associated with movement of a reaction front by the following equation:
• τ
• rind
• =
• M
• ρ
• ⁢
• A
• o
• ⁢
• ⅇ
• -
• Ea
• RT
• ⁢
• Δ
• ⁢
• ⁢
• t
• ⁡
• [
• 1
• -
• Q
• K
• ]
• where M is molecular mass of reactant phase (g/mol), ρ is density of the reactant phase (g/cm3), Ao is a pre-exponential term (mol/cm2 s), Ea is activation energy for dissolution of the reactant phase (J/mol), R is ideal gas constant (J/mol K), Δt is elapsed time from a previous time step (s), T is representative temperature (K) over a time interval, Q is saturation state for a reactant phase, and K is an equilibrium constant for the reactant phase;
• and
• generating from the processor of the computer analyzer by an output device interfacing with the processor of the computer analyzer, a visual representation as a predicted microstructure of the sediment or sedimentary rock in two or three spatial dimensions and/or as a function of time via computer animation, and/or a report describing the predicted microstructure of the sediment or sedimentary rock in a format for physical printing or machining and/or for further processing and/or, transformation.

A computer-implemented method of determining properties of a sediment or a sedimentary rock, comprising:

• incorporating structured data by an input device based on sample data from a sample device and/or data from a simulator, the sample data measured and collected via at least one input device selected from the group of:
• sensors, measurement devices, imaging devices, and other devices configured to obtain and/or at least initially process data representing a physical object,
• the structured data defining an initial topology of solid objects in the sediment or the sedimentary rock;
• chemical and physical properties of the solid objects;
• temperature and stress boundary conditions at specified times;
• transforming by a processor of a computer analyzer including a library interfacing over a network with the input device, the initial geometry of solid objects and pores in the sediment or the sedimentary rock by analyzing bulk volume change and by analyzing effects of chemical reactions for each of the specified times;
• wherein the effects of chemical reactions are selected from the group of:
• crystal overgrowth development on particles of a specified mineral, wherein geometry of new growth is based on orientation of crystallographic axes of the specified mineral with respect to a three-dimensional mesh representing particles with complex geometries, geometries and maximum growth thicknesses for each euhedral crystal face type, maximum growth thickness on non-euhedral surfaces at angles to each of the crystallographic axes, and rules for the development of euhedral faces when contact is made with other solid objects;
• dissolution of objects made at least in part of reactive materials, wherein a reaction front moves progressively inward from an outer surface of solid objects;
• geometry of newly formed non-overgrowth solid objects that precipitate in pores based on:
• one or more idealized geometric forms for each of solid object types, a distribution for a nominal size for each of the idealized geometric forms, a distribution for a final size of each of the idealized geometric forms, and rules for defining the geometry of the solid objects that account for contact with other solid objects as size changes from the nominal size to the final size;
• and
• spatial distributions of the non-overgrowth solid object types based on pore-space proximity to solid objects of various types;
• and
• analyzing by the computer analyzer, a smectite illitization reaction comprising:
• simulating reactions among an ordered suite of discrete phases, wherein earlier entries in the ordered suite react to form later entries in the ordered suite;
• wherein the discrete phases include at least one of smectite, R0 mixed-layer illite/smectite, R1 mixed-layer illite/smectite type 1, R1 mixed-layer illite/smectite type 2, Illite 1M polytype, and illite 2M1 polytype;
• and
• determining by the processor of the computer analyzer, a reaction rate from an earlier discrete phase to a later discrete phase by a first-order reaction rate, k (mol/cm2 s):
• k=A0e−Ea/RT
• where A0 is a pre-exponential coefficient (mol/cm2 s), R is ideal gas constant (8.314 J/mol K), T is temperature (K), and Ea (J/mol) is an activation energy;
• and
• generating a visual representation by an output device interfacing with the processor of the computer analyzer, the visual representation being a predicted microstructure of the sediment or sedimentary rock in two or three spatial dimensions and/or as a function of time via computer animation, and/or a report describing the predicted microstructure of the sediment or sedimentary rock in a format for physical printing or machining and/or for further processing and/or transformation.