Determination of bound water in the cores at microwave frequencies

About the authors:

Valery A. Tabarin, Dr. Sci. (Phys.-Math.), Professor, Radio Physics Department, Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Tyumen State University
Anton Yu. Pototskiy, Post-Graduate Student, Radio Physics Department, Tyumen State University; ponab@yandex.ru

Abstract:

The paper considers one of the most promising and cost-effective ways to respond to the problem of determining bound water using equipment and methods of evaluation of its content by the dielectric properties of the geological formation using electromagnetic radiation of microwave (MW) range of wavelengths. Of particular interest is the use of microwave techniques for the assessment of water saturation of core material in the cases where conventional electrical methods are powerless or unreliable. Obviously, the most complete picture of the dielectric properties of matter can be obtained from the measurements of its complex permittivity ε_К . The paper presents the methodology and technology of determining the content of bound water in the cylindrical core samples with the diameter and height of 0.03 m. The developed technique for the collected samples of different composition with known values of porosity К_П and residual water К_ОВ was tested according to the results of measuring their dielectric characteristics at microwave frequencies. The values of К_П core samples ranged from 3 to 24%, the К_ОВ values ranged from 88.9 to 32.6%. Determination error of bound water does not exceed 10%.

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