Chirped CPMG for well-logging NMR applications

In NMR well-logging, the measurement apparatus typically consists of a permanent magnet which is inserted into a bore, and the sample is the rock surrounding the borehole. When compared to the conditions of standard NMR experiments, this application is thus challenged by relatively weak and invariably inhomogeneous B-0 and B-1 fields. Chemical shift information is not generally obtained in these measurements. Instead, diffusivity, porosity and permeability information is collected from multi-echo decay measurements - most often using a Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence to enhance the experiment's limited sensitivity. In this work, we explore the consequences of replacing the hard square pulses used in a typical CPMG sequence with chirped pulses sweeping a range of frequencies. The greater bandwidths that for a maximum B-1 level can be excited by chirped pulses translates into marked expansion of the detection volume, and thus significant signal-to-noise improvements when compared to standard CPMG acquisitions using hard pulses. This improvement, usually amounting to signal enhancements >= 3, can be used to reduce the experimental time of NMR well-logging measurements, for measuring T-2 even when B-0 and B-1 inhomogenieties complicate the measurements, and opening new opportunities in the determination of diffusional properties. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.