13 Jun RXCT Installation at The Oil and Gas Institute, National Research Institute (OGI-NRI)
In December 2018, the ‘The Oil and Gas Institute, National Research Institute (OGI-NRI)’ in Poland, received their brand new Geotek rotating x-ray system (RXCT); to add to their existing X-ray imaging facility. The RXCT will be used for the scanning of whole rock cores and core plugs for geological research into unconventional oil and gas in Polish and European reservoirs.
Geotek RXCT at OGI-NRI
The OGI-NRI chose the RXCT because of its ability to rotate the source and detector around delicate samples, and because it is cabinet based and therefore does not require a lead-lined room. The OGI-NRI is Poland’s premier research entity for the analysis of Oil and Gas reservoirs within Poland and across Europe. Often many of their customers require the X-ray scanning of their core samples in the field or at their repositories and therefore OGI-NRI will use the RXCT in a mobile capacity moving the system from their lab in Krakow to wherever required.
Figures 1 and 3 present cross sections of investigated coal core sample using the Geotek RXCT. Figures 2 and 4 show the same samples presented using a medical scanner.
The first use of the RXCT will be the assessment of coal deposits and comparing the data acquired from the RXCT against data previously acquired from a medical-style CT system. The RXCT has several advantages over a medical-style CT system; chief among these is a flexible source-object and source-detector distance coupled with a rotating source and gantry to provide an optimum CT geometry to be achieved for a given core diameter, producing the best possible 2D radiographs, and 3D CT datasets. In order to understand these coal deposits it is crucial to be able to reach a sub 50 µm resolution. Recent comparisons reveal an improved resolution and contrast compared to that of their previous medical CT scans on the same samples. An example of the images are presented in Figure 3. In contrast to a standard medical x-ray system; the RXCT images show higher contrast between the mineral matter (white parts) and the coal matrix. The RXCT allows you to distinguish different mineral phases, unlike in the medical CT where they are blurred (Figure 4).
This innovative core scanning method allowed for quick and efficient core loading for rapid scanning and high resolution output; perfect for large core logging projects, common at institutes like the OGI-NRI.
To learn more about the Geotek RXCT click here, or contact us here.