A Portable X-ray Computed Tomography System
Authors: Barry M. Freifeld, Timothy J. Kneafsey, Jacob Pruess,
and Liviu Tomutsa
Contact: Barry Freifeld, 510/486-4381, BMFreifeld@lbl.gov
Research Objectives
Drilling boreholes is an expensive activity, whether conducted for
environmental monitoring, resource extraction, or scientific purposes.
Retrieving geologic samples (core) from the ground adds significantly
to this expense, potentially doubling or tripling drilling costs.
Beyond a geologist’s visual inspection, much of the core often
goes untouched. Frequently, core is subsampled for use in subsequent
tests (such as oil/gas/water relative permeability). Some samples,
such as those containing gas hydrates, change rapidly upon retrieval.
In these cores, on-site core examination and evaluation is critical.
Our objective in developing a portable x-ray computed tomography
(CT) system is to (1) provide personnel in the field with a real-time
comprehensive picture of core structure and (2) provide a tool for
selecting subsamples.
To continue reading more about this project, view the
1-page pdf here.
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 Berkeley Lab's portable scanner has sailed the high seas and endured arctic cold, imaging more than 2,000 feet of core along the way.
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Berkeley Lab's portable scanner has sailed the high seas and endured arctic cold, imaging more than 2,000 feet of core along the way.