Spin Echo Single Point Imaging Research Articles

High-resolution characterization of nanoparticle transport in heterogeneous porous media via low-field nuclear magnetic resonance

Understanding the transport of nanoparticles (NPs), including nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) particles, through water-saturated porous media has important implications for many natural and engineered systems. For the first time, we use spin-echo single point imaging (SE-SPI) of low-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LF-NMR) to monitor nanoparticle transport through a heterogeneous porous medium. The ability of this method to provide information of nano- to micro-scale pore structure and to monitor transient processes is verified by a transport experiment using modified nZVI particles. Early breakthrough of the NP front and large amount of residual NPs (27% of the iron was retained in the core) were observed in the experiment. These observations were due to the presence of preferential flow paths and dead-end pores as demonstrated by micro X-ray Computed Tomography (μCT) imaging. Spatial and temporal data provided by this method enabled numerical simulations to quantify the impacts of spatial heterogeneity in pore structure on NP transport in terms of transport parameters. The simulation that captures the spatial heterogeneity by explicitly considering four regions of distinct porosities outperforms the model assuming a homogeneous pore structure. The maximum of residual sum of squares reduced from 0.328 to 0.138 when considering the impact of pore structure. The transport parameters vary significantly among different regions. For example, in the lowest porosity region of this sandstone, colloid dispersion (D) is 0.10 cm2/min instead of 0.20 cm2/min in the most connected region, while the attachment (kac) increased from 0.007 to 0.025 min−1. Overall, SE-SPI imaging is shown to be an important tool in refining transport processes of NPs in heterogeneous porous media with application to constrain complex natural systems.

Mapping of fatty acid composition with free-breathing MR spectroscopic imaging and compressed sensing.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing health problem, and a major challenge in NAFLD management is identifying which patients are at risk of progression to more serious disease. Simple measurements of liver fat content are not strong predictors of clinical outcome, but biomarkers related to fatty acid composition (ie, saturated vs. unsaturated fat) may be more effective. MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) methods allow spatially resolved, whole‐liver measurements of chemical composition but are traditionally limited by slow acquisition times. In this work we present an accelerated MRSI acquisition based on spin echo single point imaging (SE‐SPI), which, using appropriate sampling and compressed sensing reconstruction, allows free‐breathing acquisition in a mouse model of fatty liver disease. After validating the technique's performance in oil/water phantoms, we imaged mice that had received a normal diet or a methionine and choline deficient (MCD) diet, some of which also received supplemental injections of iron to mimic hepatic iron overload. SE‐SPI was more resistant to the line‐broadening effects of iron than single‐voxel spectroscopy measurements, and was consistently able to measure the amplitudes of low‐intensity spectral peaks that are important to characterizing fatty acid composition. In particular, in the mice receiving the MCD diet, SE‐SPI showed a significant decrease in a metric associated with unsaturated fat, which is consistent with the literature. This or other related metrics may therefore offer more a specific biomarker of liver health than fat content alone. This preclinical study is an important precursor to clinical testing of the proposed method.MR‐based quantification of fatty acid composition may allow for improved characterization of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease. A spectroscopic imaging method with appropriate sampling strategy allows whole‐liver mapping of fat composition metrics in a free‐breathing mouse model. Changes in metrics like the surrogate unsaturation index (UIs) are visible in mice receiving a diet which induces fat accumulation in the liver, as compared to a normal diet; such metrics may prove useful in future clinical studies of liver disease.

BLIPPED (BLIpped Pure Phase EncoDing) high resolution MRI with low amplitude gradients

MRI image resolution is proportional to the maximum k-space value, i.e. the temporal integral of the magnetic field gradient. High resolution imaging usually requires high gradient amplitudes and/or long spatial encoding times. Special gradient hardware is often required for high amplitudes and fast switching. We propose a high resolution imaging sequence that employs low amplitude gradients.This method was inspired by the previously proposed PEPI (π Echo Planar Imaging) sequence, which replaced EPI gradient reversals with multiple RF refocusing pulses. It has been shown that when the refocusing RF pulse is of high quality, i.e. sufficiently close to 180°, the magnetization phase introduced by the spatial encoding magnetic field gradient can be preserved and transferred to the following echo signal without phase rewinding. This phase encoding scheme requires blipped gradients that are identical for each echo, with low and constant amplitude, providing opportunities for high resolution imaging. We now extend the sequence to 3D pure phase encoding with low amplitude gradients.The method is compared with the Hybrid-SESPI (Spin Echo Single Point Imaging) technique to demonstrate the advantages in terms of low gradient duty cycle, compensation of concomitant magnetic field effects and minimal echo spacing, which lead to superior image quality and high resolution. The 3D imaging method was then applied with a parallel plate resonator RF probe, achieving a nominal spatial resolution of 17 μm in one dimension in the 3D image, requiring a maximum gradient amplitude of only 5.8 Gauss/cm.

A Magnetic Resonance Study of Low Salinity Waterflooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Low salinity waterflooding (LSF) has been proposed to improve oil recovery, with major projects in progress worldwide. There is however no consensus on the mechanisms of LSF for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Wettability change is the most widely accepted mechanism. In this work, magnetic resonance (MR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were employed to monitor oil displacement processes during model laboratory scale LSF experiments. The MR and MRI measurements permit evaluation of putative LSF mechanisms. Two clay-coated sand packs, one with nonswelling kaolinite, the other with swelling montmorillonite, were prepared as model porous media for LSF. The interactions between pore fluids (oil and water) and the clay-coated pore surfaces were evaluated with relaxation time measurements. A MRI methodology, spin echo single point imaging (SE-SPI), was employed to spatially resolve the T2 distribution along the sand pack. The oil saturation profiles were determined from SE-SPI measurements. A new differential relaxation time distribution method is proposed in this work for oil saturation estimation. The pore fluid self-diffusion coefficients were measured. The mechanism of wettability change for LSF is suggested on the basis of the oil diffusion coefficient variation with LSF. The similarities and differences between the kaolinite and montmorillonite behaviors are discussed. This work demonstrates that MR and MRI are robust tools to monitor oil displacement processes, with the potential to reveal the mechanisms of LSF and other procedures for enhanced oil recovery.

Magnetic-Resonance Imaging of Fines Migration in Berea Sandstone

Summary Fines migration is a phenomenon of practical importance in the petroleum-production and drilling industry. The movement of clay particles, induced by incompatible aqueous-phase chemistry or high flow rate, obstructs pore throats downstream of the fluid flow, leading to permeability reductions that can be as large as two orders of magnitude. Magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) methods derived from the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) method (Meiboom and Gill 1958) can map T2 distributions in porous rocks, hence showing the spatial variation of the pseudo-pore-size distribution. In this work, the traditional water-shock experiment was used to mobilize clay particles in the aqueous phase flowing in Berea core plugs. Spin-echo single-point imaging (SE-SPI), a phase-encoding MRI method derived from the CPMG method, was used to determine spatially resolved T2 spectra of the samples, and therefore the pseudo-pore-size distributions. The shift in the T2 spectra of the core inlet and outlet showed opposite trends. The pore-size distribution of the inlet and outlet, inferred from T2 distributions, were shifted to larger and smaller values, respectively. Therefore, the average pore size was increased at the inlet of the core and reduced at the outlet of the core. This MRI method provides a new analytical approach to screen reservoirs for potential fines-migration problems.

A comparison of magnetic resonance methods for spatially resolved T2 distribution measurements in porous media

Naturally occurring porous media are usually characterized by a distribution of pore sizes. If the material is fluid saturated, the 1H magnetic resonance (MR) signal depends on the pore size, the surface relaxivity and the fluid itself. Measurement of the transverse relaxation time T2 is a well-established technique to characterize material samples by means of MR. T2 distribution measurements, including T2 distribution mapping, are widely employed in clinical applications and in petroleum engineering. T2 distribution measurements are the most basic measurement employed to determine the fluid-matrix properties in MR core analysis. Three methods for T2 distribution mapping, namely spin-echo single point imaging (SE-SPI), DANTE-Z Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) and adiabatic inversion CPMG are compared in terms of spatial resolution, minimum observable T2 and sensitivity. Bulk CPMG measurement is considered to be the gold standard for T2 determination. Bulk measurement of uniform samples is compared to the three spatially resolved measurements. SE-SPI is an imaging method, which measures spatially resolved T2s in samples of interest. A variant is introduced in this work that employs pre-equalized magnetic field gradient waveforms and is therefore able to measure shorter T2s than previously reported. DANTE-Z CPMG and adiabatic inversion CPMG are faster, non-imaging, local T2 distribution measurements. The DANTE-Z pulse train and adiabatic inversion pulse are compared in terms of T1 or T2 relaxation time effects during the RF pulse application, minimum pulse duration, requisite RF pulse power, and inversion profile quality. In addition to experimental comparisons, simulation results are presented.

Measuring miscible fluid displacement in porous media with magnetic resonance imaging

AbstractThe development of new quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies open new opportunities for measurements of mass transport in porous media. The current work examines a simple miscible displacement process of H2O and D2O in porous media samples. Laboratory measurements of dispersion in porous media traditionally monitor the effluent intensity of an injected tracer. We employ MRI to obtain quantitative water saturation profiles, and to measure dispersion in rock core plugs. The saturation profiles are modeled with PHREEQC, a fluid transport modeling program. We demonstrate how independent magnetic resonance measurements can be employed to estimate three important input parameters for PHREEQC, mobile porosity, immobile porosity, and dispersivity. Bulk Carr Purcell Meiboom Gill (CPMG) T2 distribution measurements were undertaken to estimate mobile and immobile porosity. Bulk alternating‐pulsed‐gradient‐stimulated‐echo (APGSTE) measurements were undertaken to measure dispersivity. The imaging method employed, T2 mapping Spin Echo Single Point Imaging (SE‐SPI), also provides information about the pore size distributions in the rock cores, and how the fluid occupancy of the pores changes during the displacement process.

An assessment of non-wetting phase relative permeability in water-wet sandstones based on quantitative MRI of capillary end effects

Abstract The capillary end effect quantified by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is exploited for assessment of non-wetting phase relative permeability. The steady state gradient of the wetting phase saturation developed in the primary drainage process can be quantitatively measured with low field spin-echo single point imaging technique. This phase-encode MRI method provides more reliable and accurate measurements as compared to conventional X-ray CT applications. The capillary end effect is enforced with a wetting phase reservoir inside the outlet end plug of the core holder. This design ensures that the wetting phase saturation at the outlet end of the core is maintained close to 100%. Using D2O based brine as a wetting phase allows one to completely separate oil and water in MRI measurements. A relative permeability function for the non-wetting phase can be reconstructed based on observation of the capillary end effect alone. This approach employs the Brooks–Corey capillary pressure model and a differential form of the Darcy equation. The robust experiment design and straightforward data processing are advantageous for routine core analysis applications. The method is illustrated through measurements and analysis of the capillary end saturation profiles in Berea and Bentheimer sandstone core plugs.

A comparison of magnetic resonance imaging methods for fluid content imaging in porous media

Quantitative measurements are important for imaging fluid content in porous media. Conventional MRI methods suffer from contrast because of relaxation times in porous media, resulting in measurements of apparent fluid content, not the true fluid content. We compare four magnetic resonance imaging methods for fluid content imaging in several water-saturated reservoir core plugs: frequency-encoded spin echo, single point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement, hybrid spin echo single point imaging (SE-SPI), and T2 mapping SE-SPI. 1-D profiles obtained with each method were compared in terms of image quality, image sensitivity, and quantification of water content. The image quality of short T2 lifetime samples suffered from blurring in hybrid SE-SPI images. Image sensitivity was the highest in the profiles obtained with frequency-encoded spin echo. The quantification of frequency-encoded spin echo, T2 mapping SE-SPI, and hybrid SE-SPI suffered in core plugs with a significant population of short T2 components because of T2 attenuation. Overall, single point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement was found to be the most general method for fluid content imaging.

Two-dimensional T2 distribution mapping in rock core plugs with optimal k-space sampling

Spin-echo single point imaging has been employed for 1D T2 distribution mapping, but a simple extension to 2D is challenging since the time increase is n fold, where n is the number of pixels in the second dimension. Nevertheless 2D T2 mapping in fluid saturated rock core plugs is highly desirable because the bedding plane structure in rocks often results in different pore properties within the sample. The acquisition time can be improved by undersampling k-space. The cylindrical shape of rock core plugs yields well defined intensity distributions in k-space that may be efficiently determined by new k-space sampling patterns that are developed in this work. These patterns acquire 22.2% and 11.7% of the k-space data points. Companion density images may be employed, in a keyhole imaging sense, to improve image quality. T2 weighted images are fit to extract T2 distributions, pixel by pixel, employing an inverse Laplace transform. Images reconstructed with compressed sensing, with similar acceleration factors, are also presented. The results show that restricted k-space sampling, in this application, provides high quality results.

MR imaging of ore for heap bioleaching studies using pure phase encode acquisition methods

Various MRI techniques were considered with respect to imaging of aqueous flow fields in low grade copper ore. Spin echo frequency encoded techniques were shown to produce unacceptable image distortions which led to pure phase encoded techniques being considered. Single point imaging multiple point acquisition (SPI–MPA) and spin echo single point imaging (SESPI) techniques were applied. By direct comparison with X-ray tomographic images, both techniques were found to be able to produce distortion-free images of the ore packings at 2T. The signal to noise ratios (SNRs) of the SESPI images were found to be superior to SPI–MPA for equal total acquisition times; this was explained based on NMR relaxation measurements. SESPI was also found to produce suitable images for a range of particles sizes, whereas SPI–MPA SNR deteriorated markedly as particles size was reduced. Comparisons on a 4.7T magnet showed significant signal loss from the SPI–MPA images, the effect of which was accentuated in the case of unsaturated flowing systems. Hence it was concluded that SESPI was the most robust imaging method for the study of copper ore heap leaching hydrology.

Spin echo SPI methods for quantitative analysis of fluids in porous media

Fluid density imaging is highly desirable in a wide variety of porous media measurements. The SPRITE class of MRI methods has proven to be robust and general in their ability to generate density images in porous media, however the short encoding times required, with correspondingly high magnetic field gradient strengths and filter widths, and low flip angle RF pulses, yield sub-optimal S/ N images, especially at low static field strength. This paper explores two implementations of pure phase encode spin echo 1D imaging, with application to a proposed new petroleum reservoir core analysis measurement. In the first implementation of the pulse sequence, we modify the spin echo single point imaging (SE-SPI) technique to acquire the k-space origin data point, with a near zero evolution time, from the free induction decay (FID) following a 90° excitation pulse. Subsequent k-space data points are acquired by separately phase encoding individual echoes in a multi-echo acquisition. T 2 attenuation of the echo train yields an image convolution which causes blurring. The T 2 blur effect is moderate for porous media with T 2 lifetime distributions longer than 5 ms. As a robust, high S/ N, and fast 1D imaging method, this method will be highly complementary to SPRITE techniques for the quantitative analysis of fluid content in porous media. In the second implementation of the SE-SPI pulse sequence, modification of the basic measurement permits fast determination of spatially resolved T 2 distributions in porous media through separately phase encoding each echo in a multi-echo CPMG pulse train. An individual T 2 weighted image may be acquired from each echo. The echo time (TE) of each T 2 weighted image may be reduced to 500 μs or less. These profiles can be fit to extract a T 2 distribution from each pixel employing a variety of standard inverse Laplace transform methods. Fluid content 1D images are produced as an essential by product of determining the spatially resolved T 2 distribution. These 1D images do not suffer from a T 2 related blurring. The above SE-SPI measurements are combined to generate 1D images of the local saturation and T 2 distribution as a function of saturation, upon centrifugation of petroleum reservoir core samples. The logarithm mean T 2 is observed to shift linearly with water saturation. This new reservoir core analysis measurement may provide a valuable calibration of the Coates equation for irreducible water saturation, which has been widely implemented in NMR well logging measurements.

Spatial and temporal mapping of water content across Nafion membranes under wetting and drying conditions

Water transport and water management are fundamental to polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell operation. Accurate measurements of water content within and across the Nafion layer are required to elucidate water transport behavior and validate existing numerical models. We report here a direct measurement of water content profiles across a Nafion layer under wetting and drying conditions, using a novel magnetic resonance imaging methodology developed for this purpose. This method, multi-echo double half k-space spin echo single point imaging, based on a pure phase encode spin echo, is designed for high resolution 1D depth imaging of thin film samples. The method generates high resolution (<8 μm) depth images with an SNR greater than 20, in an image acquisition time of less than 2 min. The high temporal resolution permits water content measurements in the transient states of wetting and drying, in addition to the steady state.

Magnetic resonance imaging of water content across the Nafion membrane in an operational PEM fuel cell

Water management is critical to optimize the operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. At present, numerical models are employed to guide water management in such fuel cells. Accurate measurements of water content variation in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells are required to validate these models and to optimize fuel cell behavior. We report a direct water content measurement across the Nafion membrane in an operational polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, employing double half k-space spin echo single point imaging techniques. The MRI measurements with T 2 mapping were undertaken with a parallel plate resonator to avoid the effects of RF screening. The parallel plate resonator employs the electrodes inherent to the fuel cell to create a resonant circuit at RF frequencies for MR excitation and detection, while still operating as a conventional fuel cell at DC. Three stages of fuel cell operation were investigated: activation, operation and dehydration. Each profile was acquired in 6 min, with 6 μm nominal resolution and a SNR of better than 15.

CO2 Dynamic Adsorption/Desorption on Zeolite 5A Studied by 13C Magnetic Resonance Imaging

We present the first 13C magnetic resonance imaging study of CO2 transient adsorption/desorption processes in a zeolite 5A column. CO2 transient concentration profiles were measured with a centric scan spin-echo single point imaging technique. The adsorption wave profiles were determined under flow conditions, with the results analyzed by the Bohart-Adams model. The model adequately accounts for the spatial and the temporal behavior of CO2 in the column. CO2 adsorption rate constants were calculated from the fit. Desorption profiles were acquired by blowing a helium stream through a zeolite 5A column saturated with CO2. An asymmetry between the adsorption and desorption profiles is readily apparent. A linear relationship between the CO2 condensed phase concentration and square root of time was observed.