2D imaging in a 3D world: Observing sub-grain scale variations and secondary mineral precipitates in reacted pore networks

Advancements in 3D imaging techniques and analysis methods, and easier access to benchtop 3D X-ray microscopes, have led to a proliferation of 3D imaging studies of chemical alterations within porous media. However, 2D imaging methods continue to offer complementary insights into processes controlling sub-grain scale variations in mineralogy and intragranular porosity that are often difficult to observe with 3D methods. For example, 2D imaging studies of mineral precipitation-induced changes in the pore network structure including detailed observations of distributions of secondary mineral precipitates can be coupled with 3D image analysis of a pore network to determine the pore properties required to infer permeability. In this work, the combined advantages of 2D and 3D imaging methods are highlighted through 3D X-ray Computed Microtomography (X-ray CT) and 2D Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging of a reacted column experiment in the context of the Hanford, WA site and a sedimentary rock sample from the Alberta basin. Both samples were imaged using 3D X-ray CT imaging at a voxel resolution of 4 μm and analyzed using 3DMA Rock to determine pore and throat size distributions as well as pore coordination numbers. Polished sections were then created from each sample and imaged using 2D SEM imaging with resolutions of 0.4 μm for the reacted column and an order of magnitude larger for the sedimentary rock. 2D images were analyzed using an erosion dilation method to determine pore and throat size distributions that were then corrected using sample-specific bias correction factors. The permeability of each sample was predicted from pore network models informed with the 2D or 3D pore and throat size distributions and the coordination numbers determined from the 3D analysis. Differences in 2D and 3D image resolutions resulted in over- or under- estimating small pore throats and led to predicted permeabilities that differed by orders of magnitude. For both samples, higher resolution images resulted in over-estimating small pore throats and under-estimating expected permeability. While higher resolution images are generally favored, they may not improve predictions of permeability as they require additional processing to distinguish small flow-conducting pore throats from surface roughness features. While 3D imaging is required to determine the network coordination, 2D imaging is necessary to understand where secondary minerals precipitate within the pore network and to quantify sub-grain scale variations. These advantages are demonstrated through SEM imaging of polished sections from the reacted column experiment. 2D images revealed that secondary mineral precipitates occurred as a relatively uniform coating on grain surfaces, unrelated to mineralogy, pore size, or other factors. SEM images also revealed new observations of sub-grain scale variations that showed that Hanford sand grains have a high amount of intragranular porosity and mineral precipitates formed in intragranular regions. These observations, which are important to understanding the reactive system, could not have been made if 3D imaging was used exclusively.