Nuclear Lab

Location

Green Center B50

Purposes

  • Ultrasonic capabilities
  • Pressure experiments
  • Temperature experiments
  • Fluid analysis
  • Rock property analysis
  • Image processing for digital rock physics

 

 

 

 

 

Equipment Details

Anisotropic Acoustic–Electrical Joint Measurement System

Magritek® Low-Field 2-MHz NMR

This Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) system operates a frequency of 2MHz and a magnetic field strength of 0.05T. For saturated porous media such as rocks and soils, the NMR response of this system is dependent on the size of the pore space as well as the hydrogen index of the saturating fluid. This non-destructive measurement leaves the core completely intact, while detecting hydrogen nuclei contained in the pore space through alternating magnetic fields. This allows for pore space properties to be determined without alteration of the core or pore space environment. Additional information about interstitial fluids and core mineralogy can be determined with some NMR methods. The following is a partial list of important parameters which can be determined from NMR experiments:

  1. Pore size distribution
  2. Porosity
  3. Permeability
  4. Fluid Viscosity
  5. Oil and gas compositions

These results are commonly used in conjunction with nitrogen adsorption and resistivity studies for a complete analysis of pore-space in both laboratory and downhole logging applications. 

XRadia MicroXCT-400

The micro X-ray computed tomography (CT) machine provides high resolution 3D images of samples with up to 2″ in diameter. The weight of the sample must be less than 15 kg. Image resolution of up to 1 µm can be achieved. Four different lenses allow us to cover a varying field of view size and a variable resolution. It is a non-destructive method to explore the internal structure of samples which might be unobservable with conventional 2D techniques.

The instrument chamber can house a pressure cell for studying in-situ change in internal microstructure with application of pore and confining pressures up to 2500 psi as well as a temperature controls between -5°C to 50°C. The following is a list of parameters that can be measured using the instrument:

  1. Rock microstructure for oil and gas exploration
  2. In situ measurement during imaging (e.g., ultrasonic velocities)
  3. Semiconductor packaging development and failure analysis.
  4. Life-science research
  5. Advanced material characterization

The lab also includes a supercomputer and full waveform inversion acoustic set up.