Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A method for determining pore-dependent properties, such as electrical conductivity and absolute permeability, of a porous sample by use of capillary pressure measurements. Capillary pressure data are obtained by performing nonwetting fluid intrusion measurements on a sample. The lowest applied pressure at which the intruding fluid forms a connected path spanning the sample (the 'threshold capillary pressure') is determined. The sample's conductivity or absolute permeability, or both, may be determined in a preferred embodiment from the characteristic pore diameter corresponding to the threshold capillary pressure, an other parameters extracted from the measured capillary pressure data. The invention does not require use of any arbitrary, empirically adjustable parameter to predict conductivity or permeability. The method may be performed to characterize small samples of porous rock such as those obtained during borehold drilling operations. The invention may also be performed to characterize other types of porous samples, such as porous catalysts or electrode materials used in battery technology.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim