The NMR / CMR

Petrophysics Story
Medical X-Ray

NUMAR Corp., 1995

 Medical MRI

“Thin Slice” Only Fluids

Image are Visible

NUMAR Corp., 1995

Magnetic Resonance Imaging
 Why NMR Logging
Total Porosity
Effective Porosity
Rock
Swir(BVI) / Free Fluid Properties

Pore Size Distribution

Permeability

Fluid Hydrocarbon Detection/Type

Properties Hydrocarbon Volumes
 Nuclear Magnetisation

Nuclear
Precession Nuclear Magnetic
Moment
Angular momentum

Nucleus

Neutrons
Protons
NUMAR Corp., 1995
 Proton Manipulation

FORMATION

Bo

NUMAR Corp., 1995

 The Resonance Effect
z
Excite transitions between spin states
Bo by irradiating at Larmor frequency:

z   
M f   Bo
 2 
y

x z
at equilibrium

y
x
90x° pulse

y
B1
x

• rf pulse generates magnetic field B1

• precession in xy plane
• B1 oriented normal to Bo
• induces FID signal in coil
• B1 oscillates at Larmor frequency
NUMAR Corp., 1996
 T1 and T2
ML

B0 MT

T1 characterizes the rate at which longitudinal magnetization

builds up

T2 characterizes the rate at which transverse magnetization

decays
Akkurt 96
 NMR Experiment Timing &
Nomenclature
T1 Longitudinal Time Constant
Mo

Longitudinal M | |  1  exp time / T1 

magnetization
(Lattice interaction) T1 = 400 msec

TR
T2 Transverse Time Constant
Mo

Transverse Mexp time / T2 

magentisation
T2 = 250 msec
(Spin interaction)

0
Te Tc

time, seconds
NUMAR Corp., 1996
 T1=2 s

1
0.95
Polarization

1-exp(-Tw/T1)

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Wait time (s)

Akkurt 96
 T2=2 s

exp(-t/T2)
Amplitude

0.05
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
time (s)

Akkurt 96
 Rule of Thumb for T2 decay

3 T2 95 % Decay

Must use the correct Te (interecho time) for adequate sampling

Akkurt 96
 Tw = 8 s, Te =1.2 ms, MA = 4
20

t0 intercept

slope
10
Amplitude (pu)

slope

-5
0 100 200 300 400
Time (ms)
Akkurt 96
Bulk T1 of water
T1 of water
12

10

6
T1 (s)

2
from Simpson and Carr (1958)

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Temperature (F)

Akkurt 96
 Pore Size - T2 Relationship
100
Water Filled Pores

T2 -1S/V)
Small Pore Size = Rapid Decay
80
Rate
Incremental Porosity %

Large Pore Size = Slow Decay

60 Rate

40

20

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time (ms) NUMAR Corp., 1995
CLAY
BOUND

BVI FREE
FLUID
 NMR Tool Development

T2 ms
0.5 1.0 10 100 1,000

NML 1970: Free Fluid Only

MRIL 1990: Effective Porosity & Free Fluid

MRIL 1996: Total Porosity & Effective Porosity & Free Fluid
 Data Processing

Inversion
Spin-echo data Processing T2 Spectrum

2.00 16

14

Incremental Porosity [pu]

1.50 12

Cumulative Porosity [pu]

Porosity

10

1.00 8

0.50 4

0.00 0
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
time
T2 [msec]

TIME DOMAIN T2 DOMAIN

NUMAR Corp., 1995
T2 time

T2 time

T2 time

T2 time

T2 Akkurt 96
time
 Measured T2 from MRIL
Measured Fluid Pore Diffusion
T2 T2 Geom.

1 1 S D
   (  G Te ) 2
T2,MRIL T2,bulk V 12

T2,bulk = transverse relaxation time of bulk fluid

 = surface relaxivity of pore walls
S/V = pore surface-to-volume ratio
G = magnetic field gradient
 = gyromagnetic ratio
Te = inter-echo time spacing
D = pore fluid diffusion coefficient

NUMAR Corp., 1996

NUMAR Corp., 1995
 Idealized Spin Echo Train
Effective Porosity (MPHI)

Free Fluid (MFFI)

Amplitude

T2R

Bulk Volume
Irreducible (MPHI - MFFI)

TE
Time
NUMAR Corp., 1995
 Hydrogen in Matrix & Clay
Bound Water

Hydrogen in Clay
Bound Water
Amplitude

Hydrogen in Lithology
Time

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 Why NMR Logging
Total Porosity
Effective Porosity
Rock
Swir(BVI) / Free Fluid Properties

Pore Size Distribution

Permeability

Fluid Hydrocarbon Detection/Type

Properties Hydrocarbon Volumes
 Type of Measurements by MRI
: MRI Porosity
T2 Effective porosity

T2: Transverse Relaxation Time

Differentiates capillary bound water from free
fluids; important for permeability estimate.
T1 D
T1: Longitudinal Relaxation Time
Identifies hydrocarbon fluids in the non-wetting
phase.

D: Fluid Diffusivity
Differentiates between gas phase and liquid
phase.

NUMAR Corp., 1995

Proton Magnetic Resonance
y
RF

Longitudinal
Magnetization
T1
Transverse x
Magnetization
T2
z
NMR Relaxation Time Spectrum
Solids Fluids

Clay- Capillary-
Rock Dry Movable Hydro
Bound Bound
Matrix Clay Water Carbon
Water Water

Invisible Hydrogen
Polarization

3ms 10ms 30ms Time 100ms

 Data Acquisition

Tw
time

Tw=wait time
Te=interecho time time

MA=moving average Te

Akkurt 96
 SUMMARY of NMR / CMR LOGGING

. MRI technology discovered in 1946 and is a valuable tool in Medicine, Biology, Physics and Chemistry since the 60’s.

Principal
. NMR measurements respond to H+ nucleii (protons + neutrons) that occur naturally within the body. Same principal
can be used to analyse Pore Fluids of reservoir rock.
. NMR imparts an external electromagnetic field that excites /polarise /changes magnetic alignment of the H+ nucleii.
. NMR then measures the Relaxation Time ie the time for the H+ nucleii to realign to their original static or equilibrium
position which is directly  to the amount of fluids and thus the Porosity and Permeability.

Log Measurements
. Determine Lithologically Independent Porosity
. Determine Pore Size Distribution -> discriminate btn
a) Free Fluid Porosity (producible / mobile) - FFI &
b) Capillary / Clay Bound Fluid (trapped / immobile) - BVI
. Better estimation of Total Porosity - PHIT
. Measuress Bulk Volume Irreducible Saturation - Swirr
. Yields Permeability estimates using Timur-Coates and SDR eqn’s.
KTIM = (PHI /10) 2 x (FFI/BVI) 2
. Fluid Typing ie discriminate btn gas, light oil, heavy oil & water
. T2 cut-off partitions the porosity into Free & Bound Fluid Porosity
Generally accepted that a T2 cut-off of 33ms applies to Sandstones & 100 ms for Carbonates.
Hence why Important to Calibrate with Core when available
Other T2 cut-offs maybe important for local interpretations
. Porosity Distribution determined from 8 different T2 cut-off values that separate the porosity incrementally into
8 Porosity Bins
 SUMMARY of NMR / CMR LOGGING continued
.
Disadvantages

. NMR /CMR takes up to 10X longer to run than a traditional 1800 ft/fr SuperCombo Pass, since a
Full Spectrum Pass requires
i) a long cycle or Wait Time to Polarise the Formation
ii) a long acquisition time to measure the Relaxation times.

. Bound Fluid Volume Pass (BFV Pass) can be run with at Standard Logging Speed but will be less
accurate since a shorter wait times will abbreviate complete Polarisation.