Petrophysical Laboratory

The petrophysical laboratory is equipped with a particle size and shape analyser, porosimeter (He-pycnometer) and permeameter  (gas flow) as well as a Leica target preparation device.

Petrophysics is the branch of geology concerned with the physical properties and behavior of rocks. Main applications are the study of natural reservoirs for hydrocarbon, water resources and mining industry. As some of the key properties that are measured are porosity, permeability and density, volcanologists also use petrophysics to understand permeable gas escape from magma. When combined with 2D and 3D textural analysis, the dynamics of porous media flow can be thoroughly characterized.

Equipment

Leica EM TXP targeted preparation device, used for precise milling, sawing, grinding, and polishing samples before they are analysed using other techniques (e.g. SEM, EMPA, LA ICP-MS, SIMS).


Porosimeter and a gas flow permeameter designed to measure permeability, pore volume and grain volume of volcanic core samples.


Particle size & shape analyser