A high-tech core logging tool purchased by the Polish Geological Survey

skaner 4 mnPolish Geological Survey purchased a high-tech drilling core image acquisition tool: the DMT CoreScan3 optical scanner for high resolution imaging and structural/petrographic analysis of rocks. The tool will help to investigate the mineral resources and geology of Poland.

 

 

Drilling cores extracted from deep wells are an invaluable source of scientific information. Their initial status must be first recorded before any core tests are made. To this end, Polish Geological Survey (the Upper Silesian Division of the Polish Geological Institute) purchased a high-tech optical core scanner DMT CoreScan3, manufactured by a renowned Germany-based DMT GmbH & Co. KG Company. The tool enables high resolution imaging and petrographic/structural tests of rocks before the core is subjected to other tests, including invasive ones.

 

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DMT CoreScan3 optical core scanner at the Upper Silesian Division of PGI-NRI. Photo by R. Sikora

 

The DMT CoreScan3 Scanner has been successfully applied in a number of research projects worldwide, including geotechnical tests and exploration projects in the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Peru, RSA, Zambia and the Antarctic. The newly acquired tool will soon be applied in the operations of Polish Geological Survey.

 

The tool is a valuable addition to the research capacity of Upper Silesian Department of Polish Geological Institute. Research methodology and scanner operation principles are being prepared by department's staff members: Rafał Sikora, MSc, Andrzej Piotrowski, MSc and Ryszard Habryn, MSc.

 

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Drilling core rotated 360o around its cylindrical axis. Photo by R. Sikora

 

The first task of the DMT CoreScan3 scanner will be to scan and archive a core collected from the Bibiela PIG-1 science well with a target depth of 1650 m. The well was spud-in the spring of 2015. Test results will help to investigate deep geology in the zone of contact between Upper Silesian and Malopolski Blocks.

 

The DMT CoreScan3 scanner allows for fast and highly automated archiving of core images (also of boxed cores) and for building a digital image library. Database inputs can be compared and tabulated. DMT CoreScan3 software makes it possible to append the entire scanned core profile to the well data sheet alongside the results of other tests, such as structural, petrographic, mineralogical and geophysical tests. Moreover, the following quantitative and statistical tests are available:

  • structural tests – including assessments of bedding, fracturing, faults and veins considering core orientation and borehole deviation, as well as geomechanical rock properties (RQD, FD, FS); and
  • petrographic tests – including separation of mineral phases, total and relative contents of minerals, porosity, permeability distribution and textural patterns (grain shape and size distribution).

 

 

 

The scanned core is rotated 360o around its cylindrical axis, which helps to determine the key structural and geomechanical parameters of penetrated rocks. The device is portable and ready for deployment in the field.

 

Text and photos: Rafał Sikora

Translation: Magda Dziadosz and Krzysztof Stasiak, KMM-Tłumaczenia