A Unified Approach to Mechanical Compaction, Pressure Solution, Mineral Reactions and the Temperature Distribution in Hydrocarbon Basins

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive viscoelastic model for sediment compaction, mineral reactions, and temperature distribution in hydrocarbon basins, validated by numerical simulations matching real data.

Contribution

It presents a novel unified model that combines mechanical compaction, mineral reactions, and temperature effects in sedimentary basins, improving upon previous simpler models.

Findings

Numerical simulations align well with real porosity and mineral reaction data.

The model captures complex compaction and mineral transformation behaviors.

Simulations demonstrate the importance of combined physical parameters.

Abstract

In modelling sediment compaction and mineral reactions, the rheological behaviour of sediments is typically considered as poroelastic or purely viscous. In fact, compaction due to pressure solution and mechanical processes in porous media is far more complicated. A generalised model of viscoelastic compaction and the smectite to illite mineral reaction in hydrocarbon basins is presented. A one-step dehydration model of the mineral reaction is assumed. The obtained nonlinear governing equations are solved numerically and different combinations of physical parameters are used to simulate realistic situations in typical sedimentary basins. Comparison of numerical simulations with real data has shown very good agreement with respect to both the porosity profile and the mineral reaction.