Simultaneous Measurement of Rock Permeability and Effective Porosity using LaserPolarized.pdfVIP

For submission to Physical Review E December 18, 2003 Simultaneous Measurement of Rock Permeability and Effective Porosity using Laser-Polarized Noble Gas NMR *,+ *,+ * + * R. Wang , R. W. Mair , M. S. Rosen , D. G. Cory , and R. L. Walsworth * Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. + Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA. Corresponding Author: Ross Mair Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, MS 59, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA Phone: 1-617-495 7218 Fax: 1-617-496 7690 Email: rmair@cfa.harvard.edu ABSTRACT We report simultaneous measurements of the permeability and effective porosity of oil-reservoir rock cores using one-dimensional NMR imaging of the penetrating flow of laser-polarized xenon gas. The permeability result agrees well with industry standard techniques, whereas effective porosity is not easily determined by other methods. This novel NMR technique may have applications to the characterization of fluid flow in a wide variety of porous and granular media. PACS numbers: 32.80.Bx Optical Pumping 47.45.-n Rarefied gas dynamics, 47.55.Mh Flows through porous media, 76.60.Pc NMR imaging, 81.05.Rm Porous materials; granular materials; 2 I. INTRODUCTION Porous media are ubiquitous in nature. Examples include granular materials, foams, ceramics, animal lungs and sinuses, and oil- or water-bearing “reservoir” rocks. Diagnosing the structure of these