AN OVERVIEW OF DENSITY LOG

AVIPSHA CHAKRABORTY

ROLL NO: 01
3RD SEMESTER
GROUP A
CONTENTS:

 INTRODUCTION

 STRUCTURE OF FORMATION DENSITY LOG

 WORKING PRINCIPLE

 OPERATION

 DEPTH OF INVESTIGATION

 LOG PRESENTATION

 APPLICATION OF FORMATION DENSITY LOG

 CONCLUSION

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
A well log is a record of the formations and any events that are encountered in the drilling process. It
basically tells you what you pass through as you are drilling deeper and deeper. It is also referred to
as borehole logging.
Formation density logging is an well logging tool that can provide a continuous record of the bulk density
of the formation along the whole length of a borehole. Its main use is to derive a value for the total porosity
of the formation. It is also useful in the detection of gas-bearing formations and in the recognition of
evaporites. The formation density tools are induced radiation tools. They bombard the formation with
radiation and measure how much radiation returns to a sensor.
This is one of the three well logging tools that are mainly used for calculating porosity of formations,
the other two being sonic logging and neutron porosity logging.

 STRUCTURE:
The tool consists of:

. A radioactive source- This is usually caesium-137 or cobalt-60, and emits gamma rays of medium
energy (in the range 0.2 – 2 MeV). For example, caesium-137 emits gamma rays with a energy of 0.662
MeV.

· A short range detector - This detector is very similar to the detectors used in the natural gamma ray
tools, and is placed 7 inches from the source.

· A long range detector -This detector is identical to the short range detector, and is placed 16 inches from
the source.

FIG 1 : DIAGRAM OF FORMATION DENSITY TOOL

 WORKING PRINCIPLE:

The gamma rays enter the formation and undergo Compton scattering by interaction with the electrons in
the atoms composing the formation. Compton scattering reduces the energy of the gamma rays in a step-
wise manner, and scatters the gamma rays in all directions. When the energy of the gamma rays is less than
0.5 Me V , they may undergo photo-electric absorption by interaction with the atomic electrons. The flux
of gamma rays that reach each of the two detectors is therefore attenuated by the formation, and the amount
of attenuation is dependent upon the density of electrons in the formation.
· A formation with a high bulk density, has a high number density of electrons. It attenuates the gamma
rays significantly, and hence a low gamma ray count rate is recorded at the sensors.

· A formation with a low bulk density, has a low number density of electrons. It attenuates the gamma
rays less than a high density formation, and hence a higher gamma ray count rate is recorded at the
sensors.

The density of electrons in a formation is described by a parameter called the electron number density, ne .
For a pure substance, number density is directly related to bulk density, and we can derive the relationship in
the following way:

. The number of atoms in one mole of a material is defined as equal to Avogadro’s number N
(N=6.02×1023).

· The number of electrons in a mole of a material is therefore equal to NZ, where Z is the atomic number
(i.e., the number of protons, and therefore electrons per atom)

· Since the atomic mass number A is the weight of one mole of a substance, the number of electrons per
gram is equal to NZ .
A
· However, we want the number of electrons per unit volume, and we can obtain this from the number of
electrons per gram by multiplying by the bulk density of the substance, ρb. Hence, the electron number
density is
ne = N Z × ρb
A

where: ne = the number density of electrons in the substance (electrons/cm3 )

N = Avogadro’s number (=6.02×1023)
Z = Atomic number (no units)
A = Atomic weight (g/mole)
ρb= the bulk density of the material (g/cm3 ).
Thus, the gamma count rate depends upon the electron number density, which is related to the bulk
density of a substance by the above equation. The bulk density of a rock depends upon the solid minerals
of which it is composed, its porosity, and the density of the fluids filling that porosity. Hence, the
formation density tool is useful in the determination of porosity, the detection of low density fluids (gasses)
in the pores, and as an aid in lithological identification.
 OPERATION :

The radiometric measurement of density is based on the Gamma transmission principle.

A radiation emitter and one detector are all that is necessary for a simple measurement. All the newer tools
have two detectors to help compensate for the mud-cake problem.The newer two detector tools are called
compensated formation density logs, an example of which is Schlumberger’s FDC (formation density
compensated) tool.

Compensated formation density tools have one focused (collimated) radiation source, one short spacing
detector at 7 inches from the source, and one long spacing detector 16 inches from the source (Fig. 1). The
source and both detectors are heavily shielded (collimated) to ensure that the radiation only goes into the
mud cake and formation, and that detected gamma rays only come from the mud-cake or formation. The
leading edge of the shield is fashioned into a plough which removes part of the mud-cake as the tool is
pulled up the well. The tool is pressed against one side of the borehole using a servo-operated arm with a
force of 800 pounds force. Under this pressure and the pulling power of the wire-line winch the plough can
make a deep impression in the mud-cake. The large eccentering force also means that there is much wear of
the surface of the tool that is pressed against the borehole wall. The heavy shielding also doubles as a skid
and a wear plate that protects the source and detectors and can be replaced easily and cheaply when worn
down.

The operation of this tool depends upon the detection of gamma rays that have been supplied to the
formation by the source on the tool and have undergone scattering. Clearly the natural gamma rays from
the formation confuses the measurement. A background gamma ray count is therefore carried out so that the
gamma rays coming from the formation can be removed from the measurement.

 DEPTH OF INVESTIGATION:
In Fig.2 it is seen that for the short spacing detector over 80% of its signal comes from within 5 cm of the
borehole wall, which is commonly mainly mud-cake. About 80% of the long spacing signal comes from
within 10 cm of the borehole wall. Therefore the tool has a shallow depth of investigation. When the mud-
cake compensation has been carried out, it is seen from Fig.2 that the depth of investigation has been
improved and less signal comes from the first 5 cm region.

FIG 2: DEPTH OF INVESTIGATION IN DENSITY LOG

TOOL
 LOG PRESENTATION :
The formation density log is recorded in tracks 2 and 3 of the standard API log presentation on a linear
scale. The scale is in g/cm3 , and usually spans 1.95 to 2.95 g/cm3 as this is the normal range for
rocks.Density logs are useful for determining hydrocarbon density and for detecting hydrocarbon gas with
low density compared to rock matrix or liquid densities. A low density implies high hydrocarbon gas
content, while a high density suggests low hydrocarbon gas content.

FIG 3 : DENSITY LOG PRESENTATION

 APPLICATION OF THE FORMATION DENSITY LOG :

The main use of the formation density log is to determine porosity. It has numerous other uses, the
main ones being the recognition of gas-bearing zones, and the identification of minerals (particularly
evaporites). The combination of formation density log data with neutron log data gives one of the best
ways of identifying lithologies in a borehole.

A) Determination of Porosity:
The porosity φ of a formation can be obtained from the bulk density if the mean density of the rock
matrix and that of the fluids it contains are known.

The bulk density ρb of a formation can be written as a linear contribution of the density of the rock
matrix ρma and the fluid density ρf , with each present is proportions (1- f) and f, respectively :
 rb =(1 - f )rma + f r f

When solved for porosity, we get

ρma -ρb
Φ=
ρma -ρf

where: rb = the bulk density of the formation

ρma= the density of the rock matrix
rf = the density of the fluids occupying the porosity
f = the porosity of the rock.

B) Identification of lithology :Formation density logging is not very useful for identification of lithology
alone as most sedimentary rocks can have a range of densities that commonly overlap.But when used with
neutron log , lithology can be identified. Evaporites are often found in a very pure state, and have clearly
defined densities. If evaporites are recognized within a log sequence, their type may be determined directly
and unambiguously from the formation density log bulk density.

FIG 4: LITHOLOGY DETERMINATION BY DENSITY LOG

C ) Shale Compaction, Age, and Unconformities :Shale undergoes progressive compaction and increasing
density with depth of burial and age. Occasionally, if the formation density data is plotted on a sufficiently
small depth scale, the compaction trend may be noted by a steady but small rate of increase of density with
depth (Fig. 13.13). It is a rule of thumb that the more compact shales are older (although this is not always
the case). If, within a given shale interval, there is a sudden change of density, the most likely explanation is

that the formations above and below the change have been deposited in a completely different environment.
The change is therefore an indication of a possible unconformity
D) Organic Content of Source Rocks :The presence of organic matter can reduce the density of shale by
up to 0.5 g/cm3 . It is possible to calculate the total organic carbon (TOC) content of a source rock from the
change in bulk density. In practice this is done by calibrating the log with TOC determinations made on core
samples from the well or nearby wells, then using the calibrated relationship to calculate TOC in the
uncored intervals of the well.

 CONCLUSION:

Conclusions are that density logs ,under good borehole conditions , provides an accurate means for
measuring bulk density of the formation. If the grain density is known valid estimates of porosity can also be
made. Because of the response characteristics of the system,there is accuracy in determining porosity is best
when formation densities are low and porosities are high and thus is helpful in oil exploration.

 BIBLIOGRAHY:

 PAUL GROVER PETROGRAPHY NOTES

 GEOPHYSICS BY TELFORD
 IMAGES FROM GOOGLE.COM