A method includes screening heterogeneity of a rock sample using nuclear magnetic resonance testing to determine a composition of the rock sample, drilling at least one smaller rock sample representative of the determined composition, and testing the at least one smaller rock sample with mercury injection capillary pressure to obtain a capillary pressure distribution of the at least one smaller rock sample. The method further includes decomposing a T.sub.2 distribution from the nuclear magnetic resonance testing and the capillary pressure distribution using Gaussian fitting to identify multiple pore systems, where the small ends of the Gaussian fitted T.sub.2 distribution and the Gaussian fitted capillary pressure distribution are overlapped for at least one of the identified pore systems.

Techniques for determining grain density of a rock sample include identifying an untreated rock sample that includes a solid matrix and a fluid entrained within the solid matrix; measuring, using a gas porosimeter, a grain density of the untreated rock sample; measuring, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a volume of the fluid entrained within the solid matrix; and determining, based on the measured grain density of the untreated rock sample and the measured volume of the fluid, a grain density of the solid matrix of the untreated rock sample.

Disclosed is a system for sorting copper-bearing ore to select portions having a desired target copper content. The system includes a first magnetic resonance analyzer for measuring the copper content of ore input into the system and a controller that controls a diverter to divert portions of the input ore to a collection path when the copper content meets or exceeds a predetermined cut-off value. The system also includes a second magnetic resonance analyzer to measure the copper content of the ore in the collection path. The measurements are then fed back to the controller where the controller can adjust the predetermined cut-off value above, up or down, to optimize the yield of ore with the targeted copper content.

A process for converting a first hydrocarbon feed stream to one or more liquid transportation fuels in a petroleum refinery where the feed stream is analyzed by at least one analytical method to produce data that is transformed to wavelet coefficients data. A pattern recognition algorithm is trained to recognize subtle features in the wavelet coefficients data that are associated with an attribute of the feed stream. The trained pattern recognition algorithm then rapidly classifies potential hydrocarbon feed streams as a member of either a first group or a second group where the second group comprises hydrocarbon feed streams where the attribute or chemical characteristic at or above a predetermined threshold value. This classification allows rapid decisions to be made regarding utilization of the feedstock in the refinery that may include altering at least one variable in the operation of the refinery.

A downhole tool comprising, a coring module for obtaining at least one rotary core sample from a formation, a core storage module for storing the at least one rotary core sample and connected to the coring module, and a motor module for moving the at least one rotary core sample from the coring module to the core storage module and wherein the motor module is connected to the coring module. Additionally, the downhole tool may comprise a first, second, and third sensing modules configured to take measurements of the core sample.

An apparatus (and method) for automated NMR relaxation measurements on borehole materials (e.g., drill cuttings, sidewall cores and whole cores) includes a sample cassette and a sample transfer system operating synchronized with the NMR experiment. The apparatus implements an automatic calibration, adaptive data stacking and automated measurements of the sample volume for irregular shaped samples. The measurements throughput may be increased by creating more than one excitation/detection volume during a measurement cycle. The NMR surface data may be interpreted together with other bulk sensitive measurement data (e.g. natural gamma ray spectroscopy) or/and downhole data to evaluate earth formations while drilling an oil well.

Techniques for determining grain density of a rock sample include identifying an untreated rock sample that includes a solid matrix and a fluid entrained within the solid matrix; measuring, using a gas porosimeter, a grain density of the untreated rock sample; measuring, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a volume of the fluid entrained within the solid matrix; and determining, based on the measured grain density of the untreated rock sample and the measured volume of the fluid, a grain density of the solid matrix of the untreated rock sample.

Downhole properties of a geological formation may be determined using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements obtained by a moving tool. To do so, an interpretation of the NMR data obtained by the moving data may take into account a moving model, characterization, or calibration of the downhole NMR tool. Additionally or alternatively, a partial interpretation mask may exclude interpretation of certain areas of data (e.g., T1-T2 data points or diffusion-T2 data points) that are expected to be less likely to describe downhole materials of interest.

A method includes deriving spatial permeability along a core axis by saturating the rock with an aqueous solution, performing T.sub.2 NMR on the saturated rock to detect spatial NMR data along the core axis, desaturating the rock, performing T.sub.2 NMR on the desaturated rock to detect spatial NMR data along the core axis, determining the spatial cutoff data for the saturated and desaturated rock along the core axis, and analyzing the spatial NMR data. The method further includes deriving spatial permeability along a second core axis by additionally performing T.sub.2 NMR on the saturated rock to detect spatial NMR data along a second core axis, performing T.sub.2 NMR on the desaturated rock to detect spatial NMR data along a second core axis, and determining the spatial cutoff data for the saturated and desaturated rock along the second core axis.

A method may include obtaining first nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data for a saturated core sample regarding a geological region of interest. The method may further include determining, using the first NMR data, spatial porosity data based on the saturated core sample. The spatial porosity data may describe various porosity values as a function of a sampling position of the saturated core sample. The method may further include obtaining second NMR data for a desaturated core sample regarding the geological region of interest. The method may further include determining, using the second NMR data, spatial permeability data based on the desaturated core sample. The method may further include determining a geological model for the geological region of interest using the spatial porosity data, the spatial permeability data, and a fitting process.