Quantitative discrimination between oil and water in drilled bore cores via fast-neutron resonance transmission radiography

TL;DR

This paper introduces a fast-neutron resonance transmission radiography technique for non-destructive, quantitative analysis of oil and water content in geological core samples, leveraging elemental neutron cross-section differences.

Contribution

It presents a novel, rapid, and non-destructive method for distinguishing and quantifying oil and water in thick geological cores using neutron resonance transmission.

Findings

Monte-Carlo simulations support the method's effectiveness.

Initial experimental results show promising accuracy.

Technique is suitable for thick, complex cores like tight shales.

Abstract

A novel method based on Fast Neutron Resonance Transmission Radiography is proposed for non-destructive, quantitative determination of the weight percentages of oil and water in cores taken from subterranean or underwater geological formations. The ability of the method to distinguish water from oil stems from the unambiguously-specific energy dependence of the neutron cross-sections for the principal elemental constituents. Monte-Carlo simulations and initial results of experimental investigations indicate that the technique may provide a rapid, accurate and non-destructive method for quantitative evaluation of core fluids in thick intact cores, including those of tight shales for which the use of conventional core analytical approaches appears to be questionable.