Abstract
Neutron Tomography – NT is a non-destructive technique, ideal for imaging hydrogen-rich substances even when wrapped up by thick rock layers. In the present study, the NT was employed for investigating the oil concentration and distribution in the mineral Dolomite, a natural oil reservoir. Two types of Dolomite samples, one of which dry, and the second one in oil-saturated were prepared. The applied oil was EMCAplus® 070 usually employed in permeability experiments to reproduce conditions of natural oil reservoirs. Three small fragments of the dry sample and three of the oil sample were inspected by NT and the comparison between the obtained results enabled, to distinguish several regions in which the oil is stored, to indicate that the oil is dispersed throughout the volume of the samples, and to quantify the storage concentration. The obtained data for oil concentration, for the three fragments, were compared to each other and to the one obtained by the conventional gravimetric technique, and they agreed within their uncertainties, demonstrating the viability of the NT technique to inspect, either in a qualitative as in a quantitative level, this oil reservoir mineral.
Highlights
Unlike X-rays tomography technique, the neutron-matter interaction processes attribute unique characteristics to the NT technique, from which it is possible to distinguish small amounts of hydrogen–rich substances like water, oil, adhesives and others, even wrapped up by thick material layers like, some metals and rocks
The obtained images demonstrated the viability of the NT technique and of the present facility to investigate this natural oil reservoir mineral
Attenuation coefficients vary from ~ 0 cm-1 for absence of materials to ~ 3.0 cm-1 for the highly attenuating materials [17]. These results, when compared to the image obtained by Scanning Electronic Microscope (S.E.M.), see Fig. 4, indicate that these ranges correspond to distinct porosities in the sample, which because of the spatial resolution limit of the present NT facility, are not discernible in the images
Summary
Unlike X-rays tomography technique, the neutron-matter interaction processes attribute unique characteristics to the NT technique, from which it is possible to distinguish small amounts of hydrogen–rich substances like water, oil, adhesives and others, even wrapped up by thick material layers like, some metals and rocks. The objective of the present paper was investigating the distribution and concentration of the oil EMCAplus® 070, usually employed in permeability experiments to reproduce conditions of natural oil reservoirs [11], in Dolomite, using the NT facility of the Brazilian Institute for Nuclear Technology IPEN-CNEN/SP. The obtained images demonstrated the viability of the NT technique and of the present facility to investigate this natural oil reservoir mineral
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