Recent developments in neutron imaging with applications for porous media research

Kaestner, A.P.; Trtik, P.; Zarebandkouki, M.; Kazantsev, D.; Snehota, M.; Dobson, K.J.; Lehmann, E.H.

doi:10.5194/se-7-1281-2016

Recent developments in neutron imaging with applications for porous media research

Kaestner, A.P.; Trtik, P.; Zarebandkouki, M.; Kazantsev, D.; Snehota, M.; Dobson, K.J.; Lehmann, E.H.

Authors

A.P. Kaestner

P. Trtik

M. Zarebandkouki

D. Kazantsev

M. Snehota

K.J. Dobson

E.H. Lehmann

Abstract

Computed tomography has become a routine method for probing processes in porous media, and the use of neutron imaging is especially suited to the study of the dynamics of hydrogenous fluids, and of fluids in a high-density matrix. In this paper we give an overview of recent developments in both instrumentation and methodology at the neutron imaging facilities NEUTRA and ICON at the Paul Scherrer Institut. Increased acquisition rates coupled to new reconstruction techniques improve the information output for fewer projection data, which leads to higher volume acquisition rates. Together, these developments yield significantly higher spatial and temporal resolutions, making it possible to capture finer details in the spatial distribution of the fluid, and to increase the acquisition rate of 3-D CT volumes. The ability to add a second imaging modality, e.g., X-ray tomography, further enhances the feature and process information that can be collected, and these features are ideal for dynamic experiments of fluid distribution in porous media. We demonstrate the performance for a selection of experiments carried out at our neutron imaging instruments.

Citation

Kaestner, A., Trtik, P., Zarebandkouki, M., Kazantsev, D., Snehota, M., Dobson, K., & Lehmann, E. (2016). Recent developments in neutron imaging with applications for porous media research. Solid Earth, 7(5), 1281-1292. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1281-2016

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 11, 2016
Online Publication Date	Sep 6, 2016
Publication Date	Sep 6, 2016
Deposit Date	May 5, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Oct 13, 2016
Journal	Solid Earth and Discussions
Print ISSN	1869-9510
Electronic ISSN	1869-9529
Publisher	European Geosciences Union
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	7
Issue	5
Pages	1281-1292
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1281-2016