Clay Microporosity in Reservoir Sandstones: An Application of Quantitative Electron Microscopy in Petrophysical Evaluation¹ Available to Purchase

Clay mineral microporosity in sandstones is measured using computer-assisted image analysis of back-scattered electron micrographs of petrographic sections. Diagenetic kaolinite has a variety of textures with microporosity values ranging from 15 to 61%. Diagenetic chlorite has a generally uniform grain-coating texture and microporosity of about 50%. Fibrous illitic clays are difficult to characterize by the same method (an average value of 63% microporosity was recorded), but analysis of stereo-pair micrographs from scanning-electron microscopy analyses reveals that illite commonly has microporosity of approximately 90%. Clay microporosity data are used to calculate effective pore volumes and volumes of clay-bound water for clay minerals in sandstones. Converting from weight percent clay to volume percent clay is important. Microporosity data are valuable input to V_shale evaluation where water saturation is associated with clay mineral type, texture, and volume.