WATER PROTON RELAXATION STUDIES OF AIR-WATER DISTRIBUTIONS IN BEDS OFRANDOMLY PACKED MONODISPERSE GLASS MICROSPHERES

Nuclear magnetic resonance water proton transverse and longitudinal re laxation time distributions are measured for randomly packed beds of m onodisperse glass microspheres of varying water content and sphere rad ius. The changes in the relaxation time distributions are compared wit h various models of pore emptying. It is found that different models a pply depending on the sphere radius and on the balance of capillary an d gravitational forces in the beds. The results highlight the need for numerical calculations of the relaxation behaviour of water in the co rners of regular octahedral, tetrahedral and triangular pores found be tween packed spheres.