Calculation and application of elastic modulus of mineral components in tight sandstone based on an adaptive method

Abstract For the petrophysics model of tight sandstones, the elastic modulus of their sandstone and mudstone components are often substituted with those of quartz and clay, which affects model accuracy. To solve this problem, we innovate an adaptive approach for model the rock physics characteristics of tight sandstone. First, based on the relationship between P- and S-wave velocities from well logs and the elastic modulus of the rocks, the equivalent elastic modulus of tight sandstone under saturated conditions is calculated. Next, The Lee model and the Gassmann equation were jointly used to determine the equivalent elasticity modulus of tight sandstone matrix. The upper and lower limits of the equivalent elasticity modulus for mudstone and sandstone are established using the mudstone content curve, the least-squares method and the Voigt–Reuss–Hill (VRH) model. We used the random-walk algorithm to accurately calculate the equivalent elastic modulus of the sandstone and mudstone components. Finally, using the accurately obtained elastic modulus of sandstone and mudstone, the equivalent elastic modulus of the matrix is calculated. The Kuster–Toksöz model is subsequently applied to compute the dry-frame bulk modulus and shear modulus of the rock. Following this, the Brie model is used to calculate the elastic modulus of the mixed fluid, thereby completing the construction of the rock physics model for the study area. The results demonstrate that our improved petrophysics model can predict the S-wave velocity curve with ≤15% errors relative to the true curve. When sweet spot prediction was performed using reservoir-sensitive parameter (Vp/Vs) derived from the petrophysics template, the agreement between the predictions and well-log data was 80%. Thus, our petrophysics model method can be used to predict tight gas reservoirs effectively and will aid efforts to improve petroleum exploration works in the study area.