Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Permeability mapping in porous media by magnetization prepared centric-scan SPRITE

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Experiments in Fluids Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The ability of porous media to transmit fluids is commonly referred to as permeability. The concept of permeability is central for hydrocarbon recovery from petroleum reservoirs and for studies of groundwater flow in aquifers. Spatially resolved measurements of permeability are of great significance for fluid dynamics studies. A convenient concept of local Darcy’s law is suggested for parallel flow systems. The product of porosity and mean velocity images in the plane across the average flow direction is directly proportional to permeability. Single Point Ramped Imaging with T 1 Enhancement (SPRITE) permits reliable quantification of local fluid content and flow in porous media. It is particularly advantageous for reservoir rocks characterized by fast magnetic relaxation of a saturating fluid. Velocity encoding using the Cotts pulsed field gradient scheme improves the accuracy of measured flow parameters. The method is illustrated through measurements of 2D permeability maps in a capillary bundle, glass bead packs and composite sandstone samples.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balcom BJ, MacGregor RP, Beyea SD, Green DP, Armstrong RL, Bremner TW (1996) Single point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement (SPRITE). J Magn Reson Ser A 123:131–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bear J (1988) Dynamics of fluids in porous media. Dover Publications, Berlin, pp 162–164

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bencsik M, Chandrasekhar R (2001) Method for measuring local hydraulic permeability using magnetic resonance imaging. Phys Rev E 63:065302-1–065302-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beyea SD (2000) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and relaxation time mapping of concrete. PhD Thesis, University of New Brunswick

  • Beyea SD, Balcom BJ, Prado PJ, Cross AR, Kennedy CB, Armstrong RL, Bremner TW (1998) Relaxation time mapping of short T2* nuclei with single-point imaging (SPI) methods. J Magn Reson 135:156–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaghan PT (1991) Principles of nuclear magnetic resonance microscopy. Clarendon, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang CTP, Watson AT (1999) NMR imaging of flow velocity in porous media. AIChE J 45(3):437–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Q, Gingras M, Balcom BJ (2003) A magnetic resonance study of pore filling processes during spontaneous imbibition in Berea sandstone. J Chem Phys 119:9609–9616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Q, Marble AE, Colpitts BG, Balcom BJ (2005) The internal magnetic field distribution, and single exponential magnetic resonance free induction decay, in rocks. J Magn Reson 175:300–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coates GR, Xiao L, Prammer MG (1999) NMR logging principles and applications. Halliburton Energy Services Publications (and references therein)

  • Cotts RM, Hoch MJR, Sun T, Marker JT (1989) Pulsed field gradient stimulated echo methods for improved NMR diffusion measurements in heterogeneous systems. J Magn Reson 83:252–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Dandekar AY (2006) Petroleum reservoir rock and fluid properties. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Dullien FAL (1979) Porous media: fluid transport and pore structure. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Elkins CJ, Alley MT (2007) Magnetic resonance velocimetry: applications of magnetic resonance imaging in the measurement of fluid motion. Exp Fluids 43:823–858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs SJ, Johnson CS Jr (1991) A PFGNMR experiment for accurate diffusion and flow studies in the presence of eddy current. J Magn Reson 93:395–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Gravina S, Cory DG (1994) Sensitivity and resolution of constant-time imaging. J Magn Reson B 104:53–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guilfoyle DN, Mansfield P (1992) Fluid flow measurement in porous media by echo-planar imaging. J Magn Reson 97:342–358

    Google Scholar 

  • Halse M, Goodyear DJ, MacMillan MB, Szomolanyi P, Matheson D, Balcom BJ (2003) Centric scan SPRITE magnetic resonance imaging. J Magn Reson 165:219–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halse M, Rioux J, Romanzetti S, Kaffanke J, MacMillan B, Mastikhin I, Shah NJ, Aubanel E, Balcom BJ (2004) Centric scan SPRITE magnetic resonance imaging: optimization of SNR, resolution, and relaxation time mapping. J Magn Reson 169:102–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heras JJ, Sederman AJ, Gladden LF (2005) Ultrafast velocity imaging of single and two phase flows in a ceramic monolith. Magn Reson Imag 23:387–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hürlimann MD (1998) Effective gradients in porous media due to susceptibility differences. J Magn Reson 131:232–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hürlimann MD, Helmer KG, Latour LL, Sotak CH (1994) Restricted diffusion in sedimentary rocks. Determination of surface-area-to-volume ratio and surface relaxivity. J Magn Reson A 111:169–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Issa B, Mansfield P (1994) Permeability estimation from T-1 mapping. Magn Reson Imaging 12:213–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Issa B, Al-Mugheiry MA, Mansfield P (1996) Transient flow through porous rocks studied by PEPI. Magn Reson Imaging 14(7/8):933–935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaffanke J, Dierkes T, Romanzetti S, Halse M, Rioux J, Leach MO, Balcom B, Shah NJ (2006) Application of the chirp z-transform to MRI data. J Magn Reson 178:121–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karger J, Heink W (1983) The propagator representation of molecular transport in microporous crystallites. J Magn Reson 51:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenyon WE (1997) Petrophysical principles of applications of NMR logging, The Log Analyst, pp 21–43

  • Kleinberg RL (1999) Nuclear magnetic resonance. In: Wong Po-zen (ed) Chapter 9 in methods in the physics of porous media. Academic Press, New York, pp 337–377

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Li L, Marica F, Chen Q, MacMillan B, Balcom BJ (2007) Quantitative discrimination of water and hydrocarbons in porous media by magnetization prepared centric-scan SPRITE. J Magn Reson 186:282–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li L, Chen Q, Marble AE, Romero-Zeryn L, Newling B, Balcom BJ (2009) Flow imaging of fluids in porous media by magnetization prepared centric-scan SPRITE. J Magn Reson 197:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield P, Bencsik M (1998) Fluid flow in porous systems. Magn Reson Imaging 16(5/6):451–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield P, Bencsik M (2001) Stochastic effects on single phase fluid flow in porous media. Magn Reson Imaging 19:333–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield P, Issa B (1996a) Fluid transport in porous rocks. I. EPI studies and a stochastic model of flow. J Magn Reson Ser A 122:137–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield P, Issa B (1996b) Fluid transport in porous rocks. II. Hydrodynamic model of flow and intervoxel coupling. J Magn Reson Ser A 122:149–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marica F, Chen Q, Hamilton A, Hall C, Al T, Balcom BJ (2006) Spatially resolved measurement of rock core porosity. J Magn Reson 178:136–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mastikhin IV, Mullally H, MacMillan B, Balcom BJ (1998) Water content profiles with a 1D centric SPRITE acquisition. Can J Chem 76:1753–1765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell J, Sederman AJ, Fordham EJ, Johns ML, Gladden LF (2008a) A rapid measurement of flow propagators in porous rocks. J Magn Reson 191:267–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell J, Graf von der Schulenburg DA, Holland DJ, Fordham EJ, Johns ML, Gladden LF (2008b) Determining NMR flow propagator moments in porous rocks without the influence of relaxation. J Magn Reson 193:218–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newling B (2008) Gas flow measurements by NMR. Prog Nucl Magn Reson Spectrosc 52:31–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prado PJ, Balcom BJ, Mastikhin IV, Cross AR, Armstrong RL, Logan A (1999) Magnetic resonance imaging of gases: a single-point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement (SPRITE) study. J Magn Reson 137:324–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rokitta M, Zimmermann U, Haase A (1999) Fast NMR flow measurements in plants using FLASH imaging. J Magn Reson 137:29–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romanenko KV, Cano-Barrita PF, Bruce BJ (2009) 35Cl profiling using centric scan SPRITE with variable flip angle excitation. J Magn Reson 198:24–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumpf H, Gupte AR (1971) Einfliisse der porosit/it und korngr6Benverteilung im widerstands- gesetz der porenstr6mung. Chem Ing Tech 43(6):367–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheven UM, Seland JG, Cory DG (2004) NMR-propagator measurements on flow through a random pack of porous glass beads and how they are affected by dispersion, relaxation and internal field inhomogeneities. Phys Rev E 69:021201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheven UM, Verganelakis D, Harris R, Johns ML, Gladden LF (2005) Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of preasymptotic dispersion in flow through porous media. Phys Fluids 17:117107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seymour JD, Callaghan PT (1997) Generalized approach to NMR analysis of flow and dispersion in porous media. AIChE J 43:2096–2097

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The UNB MRI Centre is supported by an NSERC Major Resources Support Award. BJB thanks NSERC for Discovery and CRD grants. Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada is thanked for financial support as is the Canada Chairs program for a Research Chair in MRI of Materials.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRI Centre, Department of Physics, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, E3B 5A3, Canada

    Konstantin V. Romanenko & Bruce J. Balcom

Authors
  1. Konstantin V. Romanenko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bruce J. Balcom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruce J. Balcom.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Romanenko, K.V., Balcom, B.J. Permeability mapping in porous media by magnetization prepared centric-scan SPRITE. Exp Fluids 50, 301–312 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-010-0923-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-010-0923-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation