Patent ID: 9746410
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. A method for characterizing properties of a porous sample, comprising: a) providing a test apparatus including a sample cell and associated first pressure sensor, wherein the sample cell has a configuration where the sample cell is filled with test fluid under pressure and isolated from other parts of the test apparatus, and wherein the first pressure sensor has a configuration that measures pressure of the sample cell when the sample cell is isolated from other parts of the test apparatus; b) dividing the porous sample into a number of pieces having controlled shapes with sizes corresponding to thickness of the controlled shapes and selected surfaces of the pieces are sealed with an impermeable material for characterization of directional permeability and increasing signal-to-noise ratio by decreasing dead volume; c) loading pieces of the porous sample resulting from b) into the sample cell of the test apparatus; d) subsequent to c), configuring the test apparatus to perform a sequence of test operations whereby the loaded sample cell is filled with test fluid under pressure and isolated from other parts of the test apparatus and the first pressure sensor is used to measure and store pressure data that represents pressures measured by the pressure sensor over time; e) using a data processing system to process the pressure data generated and stored in d) in conjunction with a computational model that includes a set of pressure curves with a number of curve-related variables and associated values in order to identify a matching pressure curve; and f) using the data processing system to process the values of the curve-related variables for the matching pressure curve identified in e) in order to derive bulk properties of the porous sample.