Applications of CAT scanning for oil and gas production

A general explanation of the instrumentation and theory of CAT (computer axial tomography) scanning is provided. Specific examples of CAT scanning applications to several reservoir core material systems are presented. It is concluded that CAT scanning technology is invaluable in providing information about the internal structure and saturation distributions within core materials. CAT scanning is versatile and can be utilized to address problems in the area of core analysis and petrophysics as well as fluid displacement processes in reservoir core material. CAT scans provide qualitative (visual) assessment of core damage or the presence of drilling muds or other fluids. With the proper use of attenuation standards and dopant materials quantitative information such as bulk density, porosity, and fluid saturations can be calculated from CAT-scan image data