Visualizations of Berea sandstone pores using neutron tomography

Sandstone is a reservoir rock commonly found by oil and gas companies. Oil and gas usually trap inside the sandstone pores. A Destructive-Testing (DT) method or chemical solution method is usually used to measure the porosities of the sandstone sample. On the other hand, neutron computed tomography (NCT) can visualise and quantify all the porosities of the sandstone non-destructively. Neutron tomography is an imaging technique that employs neutron generated by a nuclear research reactor. The NCT produces cross-sectional images of the object that was used to visualise the Barea sandstone porosities distribution. The results show that each rock sample possesses connected and concentrated pores in the middle part of the rock with total porosity of ± 20%.

Phase Composition and Its Spatial Distribution in Antique Copper Coins: Neutron Tomography and Diffraction Studies

The chemical and elementary composition, internal arrangement, and spatial distribution of the components of ancient Greek copper coins were studied using XRF analysis, neutron diffraction and neutron tomography methods. The studied coins are interesting from a historical and cultural point of view, as they are “Charon’s obol’s”. These coins were discovered at the location of an ancient Greek settlement during archaeological excavations on the “Volna-1” necropolis in Krasnodar Region, Russian Federation. It was determined that the coins are mainly made of a bronze alloy, a tin content that falls in the range of 1.1(2)–7.9(3) wt.%. All coins are highly degraded; corrosion and patina areas occupy volumes from ~27 % to ~62 % of the original coin volumes. The neutron tomography method not only provided 3D data of the spatial distribution of the bronze alloy and the patina with corrosion contamination inside coin volumes, but also restored the minting pattern of several studied coins. Taking into account the obtained results, the origin and use of these coins in the light of historical and economic processes of the Bosporan Kingdom are discussed.