Computer simulation of NMR logging

Abstract

One of the main purposes of scientific computing is to reproduce real laboratory or "in-situ" experiments, using numerical and computational models. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been used to characterize rock’s porous formations in oil reservoirs, in laboratory tests and field. Recently, these experiments can be reproduced in the computer, using a precise model of the porous media given by micro-tomographic images of the rock sample. The NMR simulated experiments have some advantages over the real experiment, due to their efficiency and lower costs; but they can also provide a better understanding of the physical phenomenon associated to an NMR realization. In this paper, a case of this process is described: Real laboratory experiments are compared with simulated ones, and this comparison is used to improve computer simulation parameters in order to provide a better match to laboratory results. This can lead to better estimates of petrophysical deliverables and to the improvement of the computer model precision.