Drill cuttings
Analysis of drill cuttings by Automated Mineralogy offers micron-level detail and unbiased data collection from samples that span the entire well section. This, coupled with their low acquisition cost, makes cuttings the future of mineralogical analysis. Vidence's comprehensive cuttings workflow unlocks the value in this data-rich medium.
As textural information is included in the automated mineralogy analysis, a great deal of information can be extracted from drill cuttings including not only accurate modal mineralogy but also attributes such as mineral size, porosity, organic distribution, grain density, and lithology can all be directly measured and / or calculated.
All of these routine outputs can be used to understand the lithological, mechanical, and petrophysical variations throughout the well.
Textural (lithotype) data also forms the basis for completions risk assessments, facies assignments, well to well correlations, and to inform sedimentological models.
Core Plugs
Core plug offcuts are a more traditional medium for mineralogical analysis. Any sized core plug can be analyzed by Automated Mineralogy. Geologists can specify where on the plug they would like to have the sample imaged, and in what orientation.
Plugs can be prepared as epoxy resin mounts or as polished thin sections. Uncovered, thin sections that are already mounted may also be suitable for the automated mineralogical analysis.
Combining automated mineralogical images with petrographic observations can significantly reduce the time required for petrographic evaluations. In addition, the mineral maps provide mineral-chemical information such as solid solution in plagioclase, carbonates, and garnet without the need for staining and/or time consuming investigations such as extinction tests.
Raw samples or thin sections can be submitted to Vidence for a full mineralogical, diagenetic, and pore evolution interpretation.
As with drill cuttings, core pieces can be digitally split so that compositions of individual laminations can be derived individually. Similarly, the entire length of a core flood sample can be analyzed and data reported every millimeter along its length if required. This allows for the identification of precipitating phases, or evidence of compositional changes resulting from dissolution or other core-fluid interactions.
Scales and Unknown Deposits
Automated mineralogy is an extremely versatile technique that provides accurate mineralogy or phase composition data from almost any inorganic (and some organic) samples. Some project examples include:
Suspended solids such as entrained sediment / produced solids, precipitates / scale entrained in the fluid streams, or metal fragments due to mechanical wear can all be collected on membrane filters (such as in the image on the left) and analyzed for abundance, shape, size, and composition to determine their origin, and potential impact on production.
Scale development in and around steam injection and production tubing, and associated boilers is directly linked to the water chemistry, reservoir mineralogy, and the even the water softening additives used. Analyzing the scales developed in and around liner tubes, failed boiler tubing, and in pigged solids can help develop strategies for mitigating scaling and prevent premature failure of intrastructure.
Business Intelligence for Rock Analysis
Computer vision and the use of data processing models is an ever-increasing part of the resources sector. Automated Mineralogy's foundational traits of being highly accurate, fully quantitative, and image based make it the perfect pairing for modern business intelligence toolkits.
This combination allows for wide scale cuttings based evaluations that were not previously possible. The addition of quantitative rock measurements into routine well assessments (beyond just wireline logs or seismic based evaluations) facilitates a new perspective. This is essential as targets increasingly require an sophisticated understanding of "what makes them work".
Vidence's approach to Automated Mineralogy of drill cuttings and composites provides not only a bulk analysis (the average of the whole sample), but also the mineralogical breakdown of each lithotype contained. Hundreds of variables are measured and reported for each sample including not only mineralogy but also porosity, grain density and size for each lithotype.
Vidence provides an interactive platform to view and interpret results. Results can be broken down to understand not only what is the most abundant lithotype or the most porous, but what is the most significant (incorporating abundance as well as porosity).
Other data such as wireline logs, surveys, and MWD data can be integrated into the dataset to allow for the visual comparison with mineralogy at any point along the wellbore, or a high-level view of log responses to certain lithotypes or minerals across the producing field.