Oil and water content measurement of sandstone cores using microwave measurement techniques

Abstract

A microwave measurement technique is proposed for determining the water and oil content of a berea sandstone core by measuring the attenuation and phase shift of an electromagnetic (EM) wave traveling through the sandstone core. The frequency oif the applied electric field is 10.5 GHz. The water content of the core is determined by the attenuation of the EM wave, while the phase shift of the EM wave is used to determine the oil content. It is found that the water content can be determined with an uncertainty of less than ±5 percent, while oil content can be found within ±8 percent of the actual values for most of the cores used for measurement purposes. The attenuation and the phase shift of the EM wave in traveling through the sandstone core are measured using a microwave bridge circuit.