Principles and Interpretation

Concepts in Sonic Logging

Lecture Presentations
Carlos Torres-Verdn, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
PGE368
Fall 2001 Semester
November 26 and 30, 2001
APPLICATIONS:
Mechanical Property Analysis
Formation Evaluation
Geophysical Prospecting (Seismic
Exploration)
Stress and Strain
Stress and Strain
Mechanical Properties and Petrophysics
Units and Conversions
P and S WAVES
Compressional and Shear Wave Excitation
in Solids
Static and Dynamic Deformation
Static and Dynamic Deformation
BASIC PRINCIPLES
250 cm 200 150 100 50 0 cm
80 cm
80 cm
40 cm
30 cm
20 cm
60 cm
5 cm
2 cm
0 cm
INDUCTION LOG
LATEROLOG
NEUTRON
GAMMA RAY
DENSITY
SONIC
MICRO RESISTIVITY
MICROLOG
DIPMETER
DEPTH OF INVESTIGATION
R
E
S
O
L
U
T
I
O
N
RESISTIVITY
RADIOACTIVITY
RESISTIVITY
ACOUSTIC
Logging Tools
Traditional Monopole Tool
Monopole in a Fast Formation
Different Waves, Different Velocities
MONOPOLE WAVEFORM
PLANE WAVE ANALYSIS
Boundary Conditions and Snells Law
SNELLS LAW
Single Transmitter-Single Receiver Tool
Single Transmitter-Dual Receiver Tool
EARLIER TOOLS
Single Transmitter Single Receiver
EARLIER TOOLS
Single Transmitter Dual Receiver
EARLIER TOOLS
Dual Transmitter Dual Receiver
(Borehole Compensation)
Synthetic Compensation
CYCLE SKIPPING
Typical Ranges of Velocities
P-WAVE VELOCITIES OF GASES
P- and S-WAVE VELOCITIES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Typical Ranges of Velocities
Relationship with Depth
Relationship with Pressure
Formation Over-Pressure
Influence of Saturating Fluids
Influence of Gas and Water Saturation
Qualitative Summary
BOREHOLE
ENVIRONMENT
BOREHOLE WAVES
HARD FORMATION, MONOPOLE EXCITATION
SOFT FORMATION, MONOPOLE EXCITATION
DIPOLE FLEXURAL WAVE
Sonic Porosity
1. The porosity from the sonic slowness is different from that of
the density or neutron tools.
2. Sonic porosity reacts to primary porosity only, i.e. it does not
see the fractures or vugs.
3. The difference between the sonic porosity and the neutron-
density porosity gives a Secondary Porosity Index (SPI) which
is an indication of how much of this type of porosity there is in
the rock.
t
log
= t
f
+ 1
( )
t
ma
=
t
log
t
ma
t
f
t
ma
This is very simple with the inputs of a matrix
slowness and a fluid slowness
The basic equation for sonic porosity is the Wyllie Time Average
Formula (strictly speaking, an empirical formula):
Sonic Porosity
Sonic Porosity
=C
t
log
t
ma
t
log
C is a constant usually taken as 0.67
There is another possibility for transforming slowness
to porosity, called Raymer Gardner Hunt
This formula tries to take into account some
irregularities seen in the field
the basic equation is
a simplified version used on the CSU and Maxis is
1
t
c
=
1
( )
2
t
ma
+

t
f
Intuitive Model
Theory and Measurements
Compaction Effects
Biot- Gassman
K
b
= K+
1
K
K
ma






2

K
f
+
1
K
ma

K
K
ma
2
G
b
= G
t
c
=
304.8
K+
4
3
G

t
s
=
304.8
G

K and G are the dry frame bulk moduli

Intuitive Understanding
Example of Computation
Example of Computation
Gas and Water Saturation
Gas and Water Saturation
Synthetic Seismogram from Logs
1D seismic response along the wellbore
Inputs
Sonic & Density logs
Wavelet (shape, frequency & phase)
Two way time
density log
sonic log
reflectivity
synthetic
seismogram
Synthetic Seismogram (cont.)
Applications
Well Tie & Correlation
Allow to correlate log
data with surface
seismic data
Surface
Seismic
Acoustic
Impedance
Synthetic
Seismogram
BOREHOLE DIPOLE SOURCE
SOFT FORMATION, DIPOLE EXCITATION
DIPOLE WAVEFORMS:
Fast Formation
DIPOLE SONIC
ARRAY TOOL
EXAMPLE:
Ultra Slow Compressional Wave
EXAMPLE:
Ultra Slow Dipole Shear Response
STONELEY PERMEABILITY
FRACTURE
EVALUATION
DYNAMIC ELASTIC PROPERTIES
CORE DATA
LOG DATA
V
p
/V
s
vs. t
c
FLUID EFFECT
POISSONS RATIO
POISSONS RATIO
LOGGING FOR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
CROSS-DIPOLE:
In-Situ Stress
In-Situ Stress
SANDING MODEL DIAGRAM
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Baker Atlas
Schlumberger