Resolution effect in X-ray microcomputed tomography imaging and small pore’s contribution to permeability for a Berea sandstone

Resolution selection when using X-ray microcomputed tomography should be made based on the compromise between accuracy and representativeness. The question is then how accurate is accurate enough, that is, how small a pore is small enough to be ignored without generating misleading results on pore representation and subsequent flow properties such as permeability. In this study, synchrotron X-ray microcomputed tomographic scans of a Berea sandstone sample were acquired for two resolutions (with 1.85 and 5.92 μm pixel width). Higher resolution images resolve more small pores, and have similar large pores as the lower resolution images. Pore characterization and permeability estimation were conducted based on these two sets of images. The pore parameters and permeability were also measured for another larger sample from the same rock fragment through laboratory experiments. The comparison between the different resolution image analyses and the laboratory measurement indicates that small pores contribute to larger porosity, smaller tortuosity, and larger surface area, but do not influence permeability significantly. Therefore, relatively low resolution (pixel width up to 5.92 μm) can be used for Berea sandstone when permeability is the focus. However, use of even lower resolution needs to be careful since lower resolution not only excludes more small pores, but also has the potential to overestimate the pore size and thereby the permeability. Kozeny–Carman equation was used to estimate the permeability with geometric and diffusional tortuosity. The results indicate that the latter tortuosity can serve better for the permeability estimation than the former.