Insight into the Pore Structure of Tight Gas Sandstones: A Case Study in the Ordos Basin, NW China

A wide spectrum of pore size distributions (PSD) exists in tight gas sandstones, ranging from several nanometers to several hundred micrometers in radius, which controls both the physical rock-flow capacity and storage capacity. Thin-section, scanning electron microscope (SEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), high-pressure mercury intrusion (HPMI), constant-rate mercury intrusion (CRMI) and micro-CT scanning experiments are performed on tight sandstone samples from the eighth member of the Middle Permian Shihezi Formation (P2h8) in the Ordos Basin to better understand the pore-system characteristics of a tight gas sandstone. The results of this case study show that various types of pores exist in the P2h8 sandstones: residual intergranular pores, intraparticle dissolution pores, intercrystalline pores, and small micro-cracks are observed. We combine HPMI and CRMI to determine the PSD; the pore sizes range from 3.7 nm to 600 μm in radius. The multimodal PSD is characterized by two bro...