The characterisation of fluid transport in porous solids by means of pulsed magnetic field gradient NMR

The determination, by pulsed field gradient (PFG) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), of the probability distributions (propagators) of displacements for fluids undergoing transport by both flow and self- diffusion within porous solids is outlined. The nature of the observed propagator, P(Δ)(Z), for the transport of a single aqueous phase through an outcrop sandstone (Fontainebleau) is described. Recent measurements of the propagators for both aqueous and oil phase flow in the limiting saturation states of irreducible water (S(wi)) and residual oil (S(or)) in the same sample are illustrated through the use of difference propagators. These are shown to emphasise the regions of the propagators most affected by the presence of the second, stationary, phases in these limiting saturation conditions. Measurement of the propagators for both oil and aqueous phases undergoing simultaneous flow are also described for the same sandstone sample and the effect of increasing S(wi) on the nature of the oil flow is briefly discussed. Finally, a new two-dimensional (2-D) experiment is introduced which measures the propagator P(Δ) (X, Z). This is the joint probability for displacements X and Z in time Δ. Some preliminary observations of these two- dimensional propagators are shown for single-phase flow in the Fontainebleau sandstone sample, where Z and X are, respectively, displacements in the axial and radial direction for the cylindrical sample for which the pressure gradient is along Z and where bulk radial flow is constrained to be zero.