Construction of Synthetic Shale Based on Physical Simulation Method

In this paper, a construction method of synthetic shale sample is proposed. Fine particles (3000–5000 mesh), brittle mineral, clay, carbonate, organic carbon and cement powder are mixed together in different amounts and then cold-pressed the mixture to obtain solid synthetic samples. And basic measurements of the finished samples are conducted in the laboratory to verify whether they are able to meet the requirements of relevant studies by simulating natural shale. The final sample similar to real shale cores in aspects of mineral composition, pore structure, seismic characteristics, etc. is constructed. The biggest characteristic of synthetic shale samples can be simply summarized as controllability, i.e., their mineral composition, diagenetic pressure, cementation degree, porosity, permeability, etc. can all be set according to experiment requirements, and an arbitrary combination of different factors is possible to meet multiple research needs.