Computed Tomography Scanning and Geophysical Measurements of Core from the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory
The computed tomography (CT) facilities and the Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia were used to characterize middle Devonian black shale from the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory (MSEEL) site in northeastern West Virginia. The samples are representative of the Middle Devonian Marcellus Formation, a clay-rich black shale in the Appalachian Basin. The MSEEL site is a unique field study area for new techniques supporting natural gas production and a high level of monitoring of environmental impacts. The primary impetus of this work is a collaboration between NETL, West Virginia University, Northeast Natural Energy (NNE), and Ohio State University to characterize core from multiple wells to better understand the structure and variation of the Marcellus Shale formations. This report, and the associated scans, provide detailed datasets not typically available from unconventional shales for analysis.