Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks

T2 measurements are widely used to determine various petrophysical properties of rock cores. Internal magnetic field gradients, which occur in rock cores during NMR measurements due to magnetic susceptibility differences between the rock matrix and the pore fluid, can however distort these T2 measur...

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Main Authors: Connolly, P., Yan, W., Zhang, D., Mahmoud, M., Verrall, M., Lebedev, Maxim, Iglauer, Stefan, Metaxas, P., May, E., Johns, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2019
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73985
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author Connolly, P.
Yan, W.
Zhang, D.
Mahmoud, M.
Verrall, M.
Lebedev, Maxim
Iglauer, Stefan
Metaxas, P.
May, E.
Johns, M.
author_facet Connolly, P.
Yan, W.
Zhang, D.
Mahmoud, M.
Verrall, M.
Lebedev, Maxim
Iglauer, Stefan
Metaxas, P.
May, E.
Johns, M.
author_sort Connolly, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description T2 measurements are widely used to determine various petrophysical properties of rock cores. Internal magnetic field gradients, which occur in rock cores during NMR measurements due to magnetic susceptibility differences between the rock matrix and the pore fluid, can however distort these T2 measurements. Here we implement a FEM simulation of these internal magnetic field gradients on 3D digital µCT images for five different sandstone rocks, coupled with a random walk simulation of the T2 NMR signal relaxation process. The FEM simulations required the magnetic susceptibility of each sandstone, this was directly measured using a SQUID magnetometer over a range of magnetic field strengths. The resultant probability distributions of internal magnetic field gradients were then compared against equivalent experimental measurements; they were generally in reasonable agreement, however the simulations failed to capture the larger magnetic field gradients that were observed experimentally. By consideration of various potential reasons for this, we identify the assumption of a single mean magnetic susceptibility as being the primary source of the variation between simulated and measured results. Simulations of 2 MHz T2 relaxation process are shown however to be in good agreement with experimental measurements across the five sandstones studied.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2019
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-739852019-08-08T03:19:58Z Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks Connolly, P. Yan, W. Zhang, D. Mahmoud, M. Verrall, M. Lebedev, Maxim Iglauer, Stefan Metaxas, P. May, E. Johns, M. T2 measurements are widely used to determine various petrophysical properties of rock cores. Internal magnetic field gradients, which occur in rock cores during NMR measurements due to magnetic susceptibility differences between the rock matrix and the pore fluid, can however distort these T2 measurements. Here we implement a FEM simulation of these internal magnetic field gradients on 3D digital µCT images for five different sandstone rocks, coupled with a random walk simulation of the T2 NMR signal relaxation process. The FEM simulations required the magnetic susceptibility of each sandstone, this was directly measured using a SQUID magnetometer over a range of magnetic field strengths. The resultant probability distributions of internal magnetic field gradients were then compared against equivalent experimental measurements; they were generally in reasonable agreement, however the simulations failed to capture the larger magnetic field gradients that were observed experimentally. By consideration of various potential reasons for this, we identify the assumption of a single mean magnetic susceptibility as being the primary source of the variation between simulated and measured results. Simulations of 2 MHz T2 relaxation process are shown however to be in good agreement with experimental measurements across the five sandstones studied. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73985 10.1016/j.petrol.2019.01.036 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Connolly, P.
Yan, W.
Zhang, D.
Mahmoud, M.
Verrall, M.
Lebedev, Maxim
Iglauer, Stefan
Metaxas, P.
May, E.
Johns, M.
Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks
title Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks
title_full Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks
title_fullStr Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks
title_full_unstemmed Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks
title_short Simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) in sandstone rocks
title_sort simulation and experimental measurements of internal magnetic field gradients and nmr transverse relaxation times (t2) in sandstone rocks
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73985