Clays, hydrous aluminous phyllosilicates, have a significant impact
on the interpretation of physical measurements and properties of porous
media. In particular, the presence of paramagnetic and/or ferromagnetic
ions like iron, nickel, and magnesium in clays can complicate the
analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data for porous media
characterization. This is due to the internal magnetic field gradient
induced by the clay minerals. In this study, we aim to investigate
the impact of clay content on spin–spin relaxation time (T
2), which is strongly influenced by the pore
surface chemistry. Seven rock core plugs, characterized with variable
clay content, were used for this purpose. The clay mineralogy and
volume were determined by means of quantitative evaluation of minerals
by scanning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN). The T
2 relaxation time was measured using a Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill
(CPMG) sequence with variable echo spacing (T
E). The maximum percentage difference in dominant T
2 values (MRDT
2) between shortest
and longest echo spacing was subsequently correlated with clay content
obtained from QEMSCAN. Our results show that the reduction in T
2 distribution with increasing echo time T
E is more significant in samples characterized
by higher clay contents. The MRDT
2 was
found to be strongly correlated with clay content. An analytical equation
is presented expressing MRDT
2 as a function
of clay content providing a quick and non-destructive approach for
clay content estimation. Moreover, the MRDT
2–clay content relationship showed a nonlinear behavior: MRDT
2 increases drastically as the clay content
increases up to 15%, beyond which the rate of MRDT
2 change with clay content diminishes. This behavior could
be attributed to the clay distribution. At higher clay contents (above
15%), it is more likely for clay to form clusters (structural clays),
which will not significantly increase the clay surface in contact
with the pore fluid. Further, experimental data suggests that ignoring
the impact of clay on internal magnetic gradients and T
2 signal may result in considerable underestimation of
the actual pore size distribution.