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Insights on the REV of Source Shale from Nano- and Micromechanics

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New Frontiers in Oil and Gas Exploration

Abstract

Nano. In the past decade, chemical, physical, and mechanical characterization of source rock reservoirs has moved towards micro- and nano-scale analyses. This is primarily driven by the fact that the representative elementary volume (REV) for characterizing shales is at the nanometer scale. Nanoindentation is now used in many industrial and university laboratories to measure both stiffness and strength and other mechanical properties of materials, such as anisotropic Young’s moduli and plastic yielding parameters. However, standardized methods of testing and analysis are yet to be developed.

Micro. The shale matrix, composed of nano-granular clay and microscale non-clay minerals, also includes the hydrocarbon source material kerogen. This biopolymer is interbedded and intertwined with the clay and non-clay minerals at almost all scales. Kerogen not only has a Young’s modulus in compression but also has a substantial Young’s modulus value in tension and much higher tensile strength than rocks in general. This fact has now been observed at the micro- and nanoscale during nanoindentation while monitoring in situ via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Load and unload experiments with micro-Newton forces (μN) and nanometer (nm) displacements have clearly shown the elastic nature of kerogen in the shale gas matrix.

Macro. Given that the organic matter has an elastic Young’s moduli in tension, and viscoelastic characteristics, it is therefore capable of re-healing the hydraulic fracture. This is a major reason for our more or less unsuccessful gas shale stimulations. Keeping the fracture open even after proppant placement has proven to not be enough for gas and oil shale optimal well productivity. New macro-scale testing techniques are needed to evaluate the mechanical properties of shales that have not been possible to imagine outside of recent advances in nano- and micro-scale analyses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Aramco for allowing the publication of this work. The second author would like to specially acknowledge the GeoMechanics Gas Shale Consortium at the integrated Poromechanics Institute, University of Oklahoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aramco Services Company, Houston, TX, USA

    Katherine L. Hull

  2. PoroMechanics Institute, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Younane N. Abousleiman

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  1. Katherine L. Hull
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Correspondence to Younane N. Abousleiman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton Department of Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton, New York, USA

    Congrui Jin

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Gianluca Cusatis

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Hull, K.L., Abousleiman, Y.N. (2016). Insights on the REV of Source Shale from Nano- and Micromechanics. In: Jin, C., Cusatis, G. (eds) New Frontiers in Oil and Gas Exploration. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40124-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40124-9_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40124-9

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