Figures for "A method to simulate the migration and accumulation of petroleum with analogue modeling”

The process of migration and accumulation of oil and gas under the ground is a research hotpot for a long time. This process has a very long geological period and is difficult to observe directly. Therefore, it is necessary to simulate the migration and accumulation of oil and gas by means of experiments. This paper developed an experimental method for modelling the petroleum migration in the formation and structure, combined the fluid migration, analogue modeling and industrial CT scanning. We have used the NaI solution and the white oil to simulate the underground water and the petroleum, the fine quartz sand, glass bead, silica powder and brown corundum to simulate the brittle crust formation. We have measured some parameters of the materials to verify their suitability. We conducted a sandbox model of saturated NaI solution and an along-strike basal velocity discontinuity, then a simple anticline was formed. Oil was released continuously at a slow rate from an orifice under one limb of the anticline. The experimental result showed that the oil first migrated vertically through the fault zone until it reached the top of the fault zone and then the oil migrated laterally along the core of the anticline, forming a reservoir in buoyancy and capillary force. The experimental results are similar to the accumulation law of the Anjihai anticline and Santai anticline. This gives the reliability of our experiment setup and materials, also, gives the hope for future study in more complex geological structures and syntectonic petroleum migration. The high-resolution figures for this paper has been presented here.