Evaluation of Rock Properties and Rock Structures in the µ-range with sub-µ X-ray Computed Tomography

In recent years high resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) for geological purposes contribute increasing value to the quantitative analysis of rock properties. Especially spatial distribution of minerals, pores and fractures are extremely important in the evaluation of reservoir properties. The possibility to visualize a whole plug volume in a non-destructive way and to use the same plug for further analysis is undoubtedly currently the most valuable feature of this new type of rock analysis and will be a new area for routine application of high resolution X-ray CT in the near future. The paper outlines new developments in hard- and software requirements for high resolution CT. It showcases several geological applications which were performed with the phoenix nanotom and recently phoenix nanotom m, the first 180 kV nanofocus CT system tailored specifically for extremely high-resolution scans of samples up to 240 mm in diameter and weighing up to 3 kg with voxel-resolutions down to <300 nm.