Digital imaging processing in analysis the non-Euclidean shaped occurrences of shale oils

The occurrence state of shale oil in matrix-related pores along with natural fractures contributed to the permeability pathways for oil flow in unconventional shale oils. In shale oil systems, pores and throats in nanometer to micrometer sizes form a network that allows flow of oil to fracture. However, current investigations based on geochemistry cannot fully understand the occurrences of shale oils because of the missing of spatial distribution for oils and pores. To achieve high resolution in spatial distribution of shale oils, confocal laser scanning microscopy has been applied but facing disadvantages in counting the pore radius because most shapes are non-Euclidean. In this paper, we have proposed that a digital imaging processing technique is to record pore radius directly from microscopic images. The pores were extracted from images and calibrated by the reshape operation. It was found that heavy components have higher fractal dimensions which prefer to be aggregated inside of pores. The light oil, by contrary, has better fluid ability. Additionally, volume ratio between light and heavy oil can be given by this method, which is directly related to the oil maturity. This method can be further applied in counting the nanostructured pores based on other imaging techniques, such as SEM, Coherent Tomography and X-ray microscopies.