Relating variations in water saturation of a sandstone sample to pore geometry by neutron tomography and image analysis of thin sections

摘要

Neutron tomography experiments were undertaken on a quartz arenite sample in order to determine saturation variations in the sample after the initially water-saturated sample was subjected to air flushing. The experiments were carried out in order to study the applicability of the neutron tomography facility at the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland, for imaging fluid distribution in porous rocks. The variation in water saturation was related to the pore geometry of the sample as investigated by petrographic image analysis of thin sections. A variation in fluid saturation was successfully imaged. The spatial saturation distribution noted from the neutron tomography corresponds well with variations in pore geometry, indicating that the water was preferentially flushed from the coarse-grained laminae.