Seismic
Processing
Seismic Signatures of Patchy Saturation
Another major effort of the group is focused on the study of
the effects of patchy saturation on seismic signatures. The main
objective is to quantify the effect of random spatial
distribution of fluid patches. The approach is based on the
general theory of heterogeneous poroelasticity developed in
2003-2005. The aim of the current effort is to build a general
model for elastic properties of partially saturated rock with a
given statistical distribution of fractures and with arbitrary
contrast between the properties of the two fluids (e.g., gas and
liquid).
Future work will also involve analysis of the effect of
self-similar distribution of fluid patches. We are also
developing a series of fluid injection experiments with X-ray
and ultrasonic control to validate theoretical findings. This
research is partially funded by the ARC Discovery Project
Seismic response of partially saturated petroleum reservoir
zones: towards quantitative recovery monitoring.
Research Leader: Prof Boris Gurevich (B.Gurevich@curtin.edu.au).
Velocity-Stress Relationships (for
time-lapse seismic)
One of the major issues in planning and
quantitative interpretation of time-lapse seismic data is
quantification of the pressure and stress effects on seismic
velocities. To this end we are developing theoretical models of
rock deformation. In particular, we have developed a method to
assess the effect of rock heterogeneity on effective stress
coefficients and showed that the addition of a tiny amount of
very soft material may significantly affect effective stress
coefficients. This has been demonstrated for an idealised
concentric spherical geometry. Currently we are examining the
magnitude of this effect for more realistic geometries.
A related effort is to assess the effect of core damage of
velocity-stress relationships measured in the laboratory. To
study this effect we are developing a method to compare
laboratory measured velocities with sonic log measurements for
different types of rocks.
Research Leader: Prof Boris Gurevich (B.Gurevich@curtin.edu.au).