Effect of mica content on pore-size distribution and porosity of sandy sediment using proton nuclear magnetic resonance measurement

Abstract:

As a part of a Japanese National hydrate research program (MH21, funded by METI), we performed a study on effect of mica content on pore size distribution and porosity of sandy sediment. This study used proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to measure the pore-size distribution and porosity of specimen to investigate mica content effect in sandy sediment. A mixture of silica sand No. 7 and mica (mica of 0 wt. %, 5 wt. % and 20 wt. %) was used in this study. The median D₅₀ by laser diffraction method was obtained as 215.7 µm of silica sand No. 7 and 278.9 µm of mica. Pore-size distributions of specimens by the distribution of transverse magnetic relaxation time (T₂) measurement by NMR were performed for the water-saturated sample under effective confining pressure of 1.0 MPa. The peaks of pore-size distribution curves decreased and showed finer shifts with increasing of mica content. The porosity of silica sand No. 7 specimen was 46.3%, and that of mica 5% and 20 % were 45.9% and 42.2%m, respectively. A change in pore-size distribution and porosity were observed with an increasing ratio of mica.