Energy Research Program Facilities and Equipment

Fluid Inclusion Laboratory

Fluid inclusions are micro-scale fluids trapped within a crystal. These fluids can be petroleum, gases, and/or aqueous and can answer questions related to petroleum exploration and production.

Ultraviolet photomicrograph from petroleum inclusions in saddle dolomite cement in Stack Play, OK.

Lynn Watney Core Laboratory

The Lynn Watney Laboratory is operated as a service to the people and industry of Kansas providing routine and special core analysis to determine rock quality. It is named after Dr. Lynn Watney, a beloved scientist who worked for the KGS until 2017.

Core samples in boxes on the left side and Dr. Lynn Watney on the right holding a piece of basement rock from a core.

Petrographic and Cathodoluminescence Lab

The Petrographic and Cathodoluminescence Lab is where thin slices of rocks are inspected for microscopic features like fossils. This is useful for understanding how Kansas rocks formed.

Microscope atop a table attached to a computer.

Petrophysics Lab

The Petrophysics Lab is where rocks are analyzed for the size of pores they contain using either helium or mercury. This is useful for understanding how well water, oil or natural gas flows through a rock.

Computer on a desk with a helium tank to the left and a pore analyzer to the right.

Soil Lab

The Soil lab is where the sizes and shapes of particles in soils and sediments are measured using laser or video analyzers. This is useful for understanding the ecological history of Kansas as well as prospecting for construction materials.

A lab with instruments and samples.

GeoFabLab

GeoFabLab is a collection of 3-D models of rocks, minerals, and landscape features.

A collage that show rock samples and their 3D printed replicas

Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Lab

Portable XRFs emit X-rays that ionize component atoms in a sample, which then emit energy characteristic of the elements in the samples. In the pXRF lab, core, cuttings, and other samples are analyzed with the Olympus Vanta M-Series pXRF or Bruker Tracer 5G pXRF to identify the prescence of critcal minerals.

The image shows the the Olympus Vanta M-Series and Bruker Tracer 5G pXRFs.

Multi-Sensor Core Logger Lab

The Geotek multi-sensor core logger at KGS is equipped with eight sensors and a high-resolution (100, 50, or 25μm) line-scan camera. The sensors obtain the following data types: density, p- and s-wave velocity, magnetic susceptibility, spectral gamma (API units, and K, U Th content), visible and near-infrared light (VNIR), short-wave infrared light (SWIR), bulk surface geochemistry (pXRF), and electrical resistivity (soft sediment cores only). The Geotek Multi-Sensor Core Logger allows us to survey hundreds of feet of core for critical elements at regular intervals (5-10cm) much more quickly and efficiently than using a pXRF in handheld mode would. Located on campus.

The image shows the Geotek multi-sensor core logger, which allows for a pXRF to be attached and then has a long track where a core sample can eb fed through to be scanned.

X-ray Diffraction Lab

The Bruker D2 Phaser XRD sends x-ray beams through a sample, “bouncing” off of the atoms in the structure and changing the direction of the beam at some different angle, known as the angle of diffraction, which is different from the original beam angle. The angle of diffraction can then be used to determine the distance between atomic planes using Bragg’s law. The distance between atomic plates can then be used to determine composition or crystalline structure to identify which minerals are hosting the critical elements in a sample. Located on campus.

The image shows the The Bruker D2 Phaser XRD.