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Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microscopic simulation based on random-walk: Theory and parameters analysis

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Abstract

The microscopic response characteristics of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are widely used for characterizing complex pore structures of rocks. Due to the prohibitive NMR experiment cost, numerical simulation was employed as an alternative approach to verify some theoretical aspects of NMR responses. Firstly, the basic principles of pore-scale NMR simulation based on random-walk method (RWM) were introduced. The RWM-simulated results were benchmarked with the analytical results for an ideal spherical pore model. Then, the effects of two numerical parameters, namely diffusion radius and walk numbers, were studied on the simulation accuracy. The simulation method is then applied to various pore models with different pore sizes and pore shapes filled with different fluids to study the microscopic NMR response characteristics. The numerical experiments are useful for understanding and interpreting NMR measurements and the simulation code provides a numerical tool to perform pixel-based digital rock analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Geo-detection of Ministry of Education (China University of Geosciences), Beijing, 100083, China

    Mao-jin Tan  (谭茂金)

  2. School of Geophysics and Information Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Mao-jin Tan  (谭茂金), Jing-jing Xu  (徐晶晶) & You-long Zou  (邹友龙)

  3. Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Chi-cheng Xu  (徐赤诚)

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  1. Mao-jin Tan  (谭茂金)
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  2. Jing-jing Xu  (徐晶晶)
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  3. You-long Zou  (邹友龙)
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  4. Chi-cheng Xu  (徐赤诚)
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Correspondence to Mao-jin Tan  (谭茂金).

Additional information

Foundation item: Project(265201248) supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China; Project(41172130) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2011ZX05014-001) supported by the Major State S&T Special Fund, China; Project(201205002) supported by the China Scholarship Council; Project(2011D-5006-0305) supported by the China National Petroleum Co. Innovation Foundation, China

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Tan, Mj., Xu, Jj., Zou, Yl. et al. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microscopic simulation based on random-walk: Theory and parameters analysis. J. Cent. South Univ. 21, 1091–1097 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-014-2041-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-014-2041-1

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