Reservoir Rock Properties Laboratory Manual 3rd stage \ Petroleum engineering at Koya University By Barham Sabir

1. Koya University
Faculty of Engineering
Petroleum Engineering Department
By Barham Sabir
2019-2020
Reservoir Rock Properties Laboratory Manual

2. Experiment #1
Plug preparation

3. Aim / Objective
To plug a core sample from a rock block using plugging machine and measuring
the diameter of the core sample plugged.
Introduction
When a piece of rock or a core is wanted to be used for analysis as a sample in the
laboratory, several steps, as per-processing steps, should be considered on the
sample to be prepared for experiments. The main per-processing steps are as
follow:
1) Slabbing: the cores need to be slabbed with the aim of making the rock
structure visible. This can simply be done by sawning down the middle of
the core and cuting it at desired length.
2) plugging: one can drill the plugs at every one foot of the core.
3) trimming: both end of the plugs and core samples can be trimmed in order
to produce high quality thin sliced samples without disturbing the structure
of the sample.
Core slabbing
Core slabbing is the first step in the preparation of samples for core laboratory
experiments. The radial core slabbing saw is a machine for cutting rocks into the
smaller parts. This is basically for cutting a big size outcrop rock into the smaller
parts and/or cutting the longer cores to the shorter ones. Radial core slabbing saw
is designed for diamond cutting discs only, which is connected to the motor with a
shaft and two pulleys and the use of the cooling waters improves the slice quality

4. and cutting speed and reduces the heat which is produced by sawing process.
Figure below shows the core slabbing machine figure 2.
Figure 1: radial core slabbing machine
The students should considered the following safty notices:
a) This machine must only be operated by qualified personnel specially those
who has had the operation training and the safety regulations.
b) Protect yourself from any splash produced by wearing a suitable overall.
Machine Description:
The machine has a motor which supplies the rotational motion for sawing. The
main machine parts are:
 Radial saw
 Electro motor
 Shaft, pulleys and rim
 Adjustable tilting table
 Cooling system, including pumps, water supply, flexible pipes

5. The rotational motion transmitted by two pulleys from electro motor. At either
side, there are three different stepped pulley couples. The speed of motion can be
adapted by positioning the compound diamond rim on the suitable stepped pulley
couple on the electro motor and saw system. The dimension of rock sample should
be smaller than the max height of saw from table to be cut electively. Bigger rocks
should be broken to a proper part with other methods. One draw back of this
machine is its noise. The machine noise level is around 70 dBa. During the cutting
process, the noise level depends on the material to be cut, the type of disc used, the
rotation speed and the cooling.
Experiment operation
The procedure for cutting a given sample is as follows:
 Close the draining of the tank with the crok foreseen for this effect, and fill
the tank with water. Make sure that the water level exceeds the bottom of
pump.
 Put the sample on the table
 Clamp the core with clamping system by tightening the binding screws.
 Start the water pump and check the direction of water and check the flow
 Start the saw by pressing the start bottom
 Cut the sample by screwing up and down of the saw and pushing the sample
table of machine
 Press the stop button
 Unclamp the core sample

6. Maintenance
 Clean the machine regularly.
 Drain the tank frequently to remove cutting residue, which otherwise could
block the pump and cause it to wear out prematurely.
 Carefully clean the contact faces for the table rollers.
Plugging using plug drill Press machine
The core cutting machine is designed to cut specimens from cores of between 4 to
6 inches, or from blocks of a similar size. The produced plugs are in two different
size of 1 and 1.5 inches. This machine can be installed on any table figure 3. By
screwing down of a hollow plug drill, plugs are cut from the samples.
The students should considered the following saftey notices:
a) The core cutting machine should only be used by qualified operators who
have been suitably trained in.
b) how to produce the quality of cut required under the prescribed safety
conditions.
Figure 2: Core plugging machine

7. Machine Description
The machine can accommodate cores measuring from ½” to 3”. A swivel joint
with a tap allows internal irrigation of the core drill and a hose fitted with a tap
allows external irrigation of the core drill. The speed can be adjusted by
repositioning the belt (1800 rpm – 2500 rpm – 3500 rpm) like core slabbing
machine.
The machine comprises of:
 clamping stand
 column
 « Spindle-Motor » unit
 adjustable tilting table
 protective housing
 clamping unit
 recycling tank
Table of machine has a rotating capability up to 45º. This capability causes that
user can make plugs from any part of slab even deviated sides.
Experiment operation
 Check the tension on the pulleys
 Check the direction of the spindle
 Fill the recycling tank
 Screw down the core drill and lock it in place
 Mount a core sample and lock it firmly in the clamping unit

8.  Adjust the lower stop on the core drill.1-2 mm before the end of slab is
sufficient for prevention of plugging the sample in plug driller. Touching of
the driller with table causes severe damage to the driller.
 Close the core drill protective housing
 Press the Start button
 Open the irrigation taps
 Check the flows
 Using the handwheel, get down the rotated coring bit, attacking the core as
softly as possible
 Perform the drilling untile the index touch the bottom part of the scale
 Press the « Stop » button
 Unclamp the core sample
Speed of rotation can be adjusted by changing pulleys. The procedure for this
operation is as:
 open the pulley cover
 loosen the 2 locking screws and pulley tension lever
 pinch together the two sides of the spindle belt
 change the position of the belt
 tighten the belts with the lever and lock the two screws in place
 close the cover
If the tension of pulleys is not sufficient then the belt should be changed. The
procedure for changing the belt is as follow:
 make sure that the machine is disconnected
 open the pulley cover
 loosen the two clamping screws and the belt tensioning lever

9.  pinch together the two sides of the spindle belt
 change the belts
 tighten the belts with the lever and lock the two screws
 close the cover
Maintenance of machine
1. Core plug unit
 Keep the unit and the protective housings clean
 Remove debris and core particles
 Remove sludge
 Clean all moving parts
2. Recycling tank
 Change the cooling fluid as soon as it is dirty
 Make sure that the machine is disconnected
 Remove the pump and the waste pipe from the recycling tank
 Empty the tanks
 Clean the tanks and the separators
 Fill the tank with cooling fluid
 Refit the pump and the waste pipe to the recycling tank
Data and calculations:
Sample No.
Diameter of core sample ………………… (cm)