Method and apparatus for mapping a crush zone of a perforated core sample

A method for determining a permeability of a crush zone of a perforated core sample, the method comprising:

• mapping a perforation tunnel and crush zone of a perforated core sample, including;
• scanning a perforated core sample having a perforation tunnel containing a permeability-impairing material with a first computerized tomography (CT) scanning apparatus to produce a first 3D model of the perforation tunnel;
• forming a cleared perforation tunnel by removing the permeability-impairing material from within the perforation tunnel without splitting the core sample at the perforation tunnel;
• scanning the perforated core sample having the cleared perforation tunnel with a second computerized tomography (CT) scanning apparatus to produce a second 3D model of the cleared perforation tunnel;
• and
• comparing the first 3D model and the second 3D model to obtain a 3D mapping of a crush zone;
• and
• determining a permeability value for the crush zone based on a permeability of an unperforated core sample and the 3D mapping of the crush zone of the perforated core sample.