Automated apparatus for characterization of fluid-solid systems

A method of characterizing a fluid-solid system, the method comprising:

• (a) contacting a porous rock sample, disposed within a core holder, with a fluid to form a fluid-solid system inside the core holder;
• (b) automatically adjusting a temperature of the fluid-solid system, a pressure of the fluid-solid system, or both, to a preselected value via a processor and at least one automated valve;
• (c) monitoring the fluid-solid system for equilibrium via a pressure sensor;
• (d) recording a value for temperature, a value for pressure, a value for mass, or a combination thereof, of the fluid-solid system, to provide recorded data;
• (e) performing an action based on the recorded data, the performing an action comprising at least:
• analyzing a pressure signal for stationarity by performing an Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, a Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) test, or both, the pressure signal corresponding to the pressure within the core holder;
• and
• (f) repeating one or more of operations (b) through (e) to produce a thermodynamic data characteristic of the fluid-solid system.

A method of characterizing a fluid-solid system, comprising:

• (a) introducing a fluid with a porous rock sample disposed within a core holder to form a fluid-solid system inside the core holder;
• (b) automatically adjusting a pressure of the fluid-solid system to a preselected value via a processor and at least one automated valve, wherein the automatically adjusting comprises:
• performing a series of short valve openings in order to generate a series of data;
• and
• analyzing the series of data in order to calculate a calculated period of time;
• (c) monitoring the fluid-solid system for equilibrium by a pressure sensor;
• (d) recording a value for pressure, a value for mass, or a combination thereof, of the fluid-solid system, to provide recorded data;
• (e) performing an action based on the recorded data, the performing an action comprising:
• analyzing a pressure signal for stationarity by performing an Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, a Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) test, or both, the pressure signal corresponding to the pressure within the core holder;
• and
• (f) repeating one or more of operations (b) through (e) to produce thermodynamic data characteristic of the fluid-solid system.