A cumulant analysis for non-Gaussian displacement distributions in Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows through porous media

We use displacement encoding pulsed field gradient (PFG) nuclear magnetic resonance to measure Fourier components Sq of flow displacement distributions P(ζ) with mean displacement 〈ζ〉 for Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows through rocks and bead packs. Displacement distributions are non-Gaussian; hence, there are finite terms above second order in the cumulant expansion of ln(Sq). We describe an algorithm for an optimal self-consistent cumulant analysis of data, which can be used to obtain the first three (central) moments of a non-Gaussian P(ζ), with error bars. The analysis is applied to Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows in rocks and beads. Flow with shear-thinning xanthan solution produces a 15.6±2.3% enhancement of the variance σ2 of displacement distributions when compared to flow experiments with water.