Method and system for determining shale rock maturity using microwaves
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsJose Oliverio Alvarez, David Joseph Jacobi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for determining shale rock maturity includes a dual mode microwave cavity configured to receive a shale sample, a heating system configured to heat the shale sample to a range of different temperatures using microwave emissions of a first frequency, and a measuring system configured to measure a complex permittivity of the shale sample using a microwave signal of a second frequency.
Claims17
A system for determining shale rock maturity, the system comprising:
- a dual mode microwave cavity configured to receive a shale sample obtained from a geological formation;
- a heating system configured to heat the shale sample to a range of different temperatures using microwave emissions of a first frequency;
- a measuring system configured to measure a complex permittivity of the shale sample using a microwave signal of a second frequency;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- obtain an imaginary part of the complex permittivity;
- and
- determine the shale rock maturity based on a relaxation in the imaginary part,
- comprising:
- identifying a maximum S1 in a first temperature range and a maximum S2 in a second temperature range higher than the first temperature range;
- computing a ratio S1/(S1+S2) to obtain a productivity index;
- and
- evaluating the productivity index to obtain the shale rock maturity,
- wherein the shale rock maturity is used to determine a viability of the geological formation,
- informing operation of a drilling system for production of hydrocarbons from the geological formation.
A method for determining shale rock maturity, the method comprising:
- measuring a complex permittivity of a shale sample obtained from aa geological formation as a function of temperature;
- obtaining an imaginary part of the complex permittivity;
- and
- determining the shale rock maturity based on a relaxation in the imaginary part, comprising:
- identifying a maximum S1 in a first temperature range and a maximum S2 in a second temperature range higher than the first temperature range;
- computing a ratio S1/(S1+S2) to obtain a productivity index;
- and
- evaluating the productivity index to obtain the shale rock maturity,
- wherein the shale rock maturity is used to determine a viability of the geological formation,
- informing operation of a drilling system for production of hydrocarbons from the geological formation.
A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions executed by one or more processors, the plurality of machine-readable instructions causing the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
- determining a shale rock maturity of a shale sample obtained from a geological formation based on a relaxation in an imaginary part of a complex permittivity, comprising:
- identifying a maximum S1 of the imaginary part in a first temperature range and a maximum S2 of the imaginary part in a second temperature range higher than the first temperature range;
- computing a ratio S1/(S1+S2) to obtain a productivity index;
- and
- evaluating the productivity index to obtain the shale rock maturity,
- wherein the complex permittivity of the shale sample is a function of a temperature of the shale sample, and
- wherein the shale rock maturity is used to determine a viability of the geological formation, informing operation of a drilling system for production of hydrocarbons from the geological formation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.