SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
NEUTRON POROSITY MEASUREMENTS USING A PULSED NEUTRON
GENERATOR AND LI-6 GLASS NEUTRON DETECTORS
Anton Nikitin, Loren P. Roberts, Feyzi Inanc, and Margarete M. Kopal
Baker Hughes Incorporated
Copyright 2011, held jointly by the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log
Analysts (SPWLA) and the submitting authors.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPWLA 52nd Annual
Logging Symposium held in Colorado Springs, CO, USA, May 14-18, 2011.
ABSTRACT
Neutron porosity measurements are among the basic
well logging services provided to operators. Most
commonly, this measurement is performed by well
logging tools equipped with chemical neutron
sources, such as AmBe or Cf-252, using He-3
neutron detectors. The recent dramatic decrease in
the He-3 gas supply and potential governmental
restrictions on the use of chemical sources are likely
to make the current form of neutron porosity
measurements quite impractical. The potential
solutions to these problems are to use a pulsed
neutron generator (PNG) as replacement of chemical
sources and Li-6 glass scintillation neutron detectors
as an alternative to He-3 detectors. Well logging tools
equipped with PNGs and Li-6 glass detectors have
additional advantages, specifically being capable of
performing formation Sigma (Σ) measurements
because of Li-6 glass detector sensitivity to gamma
rays, and controllable neutron output of the PNG.
This paper discusses how to extract the neutron and
gamma ray signal from the total spectra recorded
with Li-6 glass detectors. It also presents results of
the neutron porosity measurements obtained with a
generic slim cased-hole test article fitted with two Li-
6 glass detectors. Spectral decomposition parameters
of the neutron capture spectrum, which are correlated
to the thermal neutron flux, show stable and
prominent dependence on porosity. Simultaneously
measuring the time spectra for each record introduces
the advantage of a combined formation Sigma and
neutron porosity measurement. The possibility of
using time spectra for determining diffusion
corrections for measured Σ values is discussed as
well. Finally, the example of an openhole neutron
porosity log measured using this test article is
presented. It will be compared with the neutron
porosity values obtained from the measurements
made by a chemical source compensated neutron
porosity tool.
1
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INTRODUCTION
The reasons to move away from chemical neutron
sources, such as the commonly used AmBe, are
numerous. Chemical sources can be lost downhole,
sources breached while drilling, HS&E issues of
excess human exposure to radiation, and now the
threat of terrorist acquisition and use of sources in so-
called dirty bombs is of new concern. The pros and
cons related to source replacement have been
documented recently by various publications and
reports (National Academy of Science, 2008;
Badruzzaman, 2009; NRC, 2010; Gilchrist, 2011)
and their general conclusions are adopted as premises
for this work.
The current preferred alternative to chemical neutron
sources is the implementation of deuterium-tritium
(D-T) accelerator based sources, or pulsed neutron
generators (PNG). The pulsing is an optional mode of
operation for neutron generators that allows for time
dependent neutron and gamma ray measurements to
be made. The major service companies already have
this proprietary technology developed and
implemented in various tools, whether the application
is cased-hole, open-hole, or MWD/LWD. For service
companies that do not possess this technology in-
house, PNG technology is available through public
vendors. Or, safer chemical sources such as Cf-252
can be used (Xu, 2009) that are of lower source
activity.
The resulting neutron source energies from AmBe,
Cf-252, and PNGs differ greatly. PNGs produce 14.2
MeV neutrons from the D-T fusion reaction. AmBe
produces a wide spectrum of neutrons to above 10
MeV. Cf-252 neutrons are distributed much lower in
energy, on average, but also extend to above 10
MeV. This is illustrated in Figure 1. The varying
source energies result in differing slowing down
lengths (Ls) for the neutrons, which in turn require
tool source-detector spacing to be optimized for the
use of different sources. An illustration of the general
placements of neutron detectors in a porosity tool for
PNG and AmBe sources is shown in Figure 2.
SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
Detectors are optimally placed with respect to
sensitivity and precision (Gilchrist, 2008; Gilchrist,
2011) in the spatially log-linear region of the neutron
distribution. Environmental corrections will vary,
such as lithology effects, salinity corrections
(Roberts, 2010), etc. Therefore, it should be obvious
to the reader that sources can’t simply be swapped for
one another without modification and full re-
characterization of any new or existing neutron
porosity tool.
Figure 1. Energy distributions of neutrons emitted
from AmBe, PNG, and Cf-252 sources.
Figure 2. Neutron flux distribution showing possible
positions for PNG-based tool long and short space
detectors, as well as for AmBe-based tools.
The use of Li-6 glass scintillator neutron detectors for
future neutron porosity measurements is ideal as a
replacement for He-3 detectors, which must be
addressed due to the He-3 supply shortage
(Ginhoven, 2009; Kouzes, 2009). Naturally occurring
He-3 abundance is only 0.000137% of all helium in
the earth. The He-3 available for industrial use has
largely resulted from the decay of tritium produced
for use in nuclear weapons, although some He-3 is
produced from tritium formed in heavy water nuclear
reactors. Since the end of the Cold War, nuclear
2
weapon stockpiles continue to be reduced and the
He-3 stockpile has followed suit. The U.S. stockpile
has been heavily depleted in recent years by the U.S.
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Department of Homeland Security’s building of large
portal and inspection monitors for use at home and
abroad.
While the exact amount of He-3 gas remaining and
expected to be produced in the future is hard to
obtain from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),
the price of He-3 is quite illuminating. As recently as
2007, the price of He-3 was about $35 per liter. In
2010 it has been observed from $3000 to $5000 per
liter on the open market—if any significant quantity
can be found. A typical detector for oil and gas
industry use may have on the order of 1 to 2 liters.
In contrast, Li-6 is readily available, except for being
a controlled material due to its potential use in fusion
weapons. Other currently commercially available
alternatives, such as detectors based on boron
reactions, are not as practical. For example, thin layer
boron detectors are not as efficient and BF3 gas
detectors require much higher high-voltage power
supplies. Most service company tool fleets use He-3
detectors, but Baker Hughes has continued to use Li-
6 in an LWD compensated neutron porosity tool
(Baker Hughes Incorporated, 2011). This experience
readily lends itself to the practical pairing of Li-6
with PNG sources.
The overall purpose of the work presented here is to
initially explore the coupling of a PNG with Li-6
detectors in a generic and practical test apparatus.
Our goal is to work toward an overall solution to both
the He-3 shortage and use of chemical neutron
sources as they apply to performing a compensated
neutron porosity log.
Slow-Neutron Detection Material Properties
Replacing He-3 detectors with Li-6 glass scintillators
is attractive for many reasons. A short comparison of
benefits and drawbacks for He-3, Li-6, and B-10
based detection systems is presented next.
The first item to examine is the physical process for
detecting a neutron. He-3 gas is used in proportional
counters to detect neutrons through the following
reaction
3
He+ 01n→13H +11p Q = 0.764 MeV ,
2
where the thermal neutron (n,p) cross section is 5328
b. The useful B-10 reaction is as follows with a path
 SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
to both the ground state (6% of the time) and the
excited state (94% of the time) shown to be
10
B+ 01n→37 Li + 24α Q = 2.792 MeV ,
5
10
5 B+ 01n→37 Li* + 24α Q = 2.310 MeV ,
where the thermal neutron (n,α) cross section is 3837
b. Li-6 has the following reaction
6 commercially available Li-6 glass of 3 mm thickness
3 Li + 01n→13H + 24α Q = 4.78 MeV ,
where the thermal neutron (n,t) cross section is 940 b.
For each reaction the Q value energy is much larger
than that of a thermal or epithermal neutron, so the
kinetic energy of the incident neutron is negligible.
The ability to separate gamma ray and neutron counts
is important to consider for each detector
configuration scheme, not just the Q value of the
neutron reaction as compared to energy deposited by
incident photons. This is discussed next, for each
type.
Since He-3 is employed as a low-density gas
detector, gamma rays mainly interact in the wall of
the detector and produce electrons that enter the gas
region. However, the low gas density provides small
stopping power to these electrons. They typically hit
the opposite wall of the detector while only
depositing a fraction of their energy in the gas. This
results in pulses that are much smaller than that from
the triton and proton of the neutron reaction and
allows for simple discrimination. He-3 tubes with a
central anode are subject to harmonic vibration that
can create noise and interfere with the neutron signal,
unless carefully designed and constructed. Also,
when used in a high gamma ray flux environment,
such as with a PNG, the many low-voltage pulses
from gamma rays can pile up to overlap the neutron
signal. Typical He-3 detectors are on the order of one
inch in diameter, a few atmospheres of pressure, and
are >95% efficient for thermal neutrons.
B-10 is typically employed as a gas (BF3) or within a
thin solid layer. As a gas-filled detector, the gamma
ray separation properties are the same as discussed
for He-3. As a thin layer solid, gamma rays largely
pass through without interaction. Any electrons
produced will have a mean free path length longer
than the much more massive reaction products and
they tend to escape the active volume. B-10 lined
tubes will lose about half their efficiency due to one
side of the layer facing the detector wall, but newer
geometric designs of sandwiches and straws are
being explored. B-10 will also result in two neutron
3
peaks, but the high Q value of each corresponding
reaction allows for simple discrimination separation
of gamma rays and neutrons. B-10 based gaseous and
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solid state detectors are typically of lower thermal
neutron efficiency due to lower operating pressures
and boron layers that are required to be on the order
of microns thick.
Finally, Li-6 has the lowest thermal neutron capture
cross section, but the largest Q value. Typical
will be >95% efficient for thermal neutron
absorption, so the lower cross section is not an issue.
However, the Q value is deceiving because heavy
charged particles and gamma rays do not produce the
same amount of light through the scintillation process
in the glass. A gamma ray of about 1.2 – 1.5 MeV
will produce a similar amount of light as the 4.78
MeV reaction products. Coupled with the Li-6 being
employed in a solid glass matrix rather than a gas, it
results that Li-6 detectors are sensitive to both
neutrons and gamma rays. Light output is also
relatively low, for example about 15% of NaI(Tl) for
one glass type (Applied Scintillation Technologies,
2009), and results in inherently low spectral
resolution. This eliminates the possibility for dual
neutron-gamma spectroscopy; rather the goal is
simply to separate accurately the gamma ray and
neutron spectral components. A Li-7 (Li-6 depleted)
detector can be used to measure only the gamma ray
component. However, well logging tools generally
don’t allow for placing a second detector in a position
where it measures the gamma ray background of the
first detector accurately.
A number of references can be found on the
properties of standard Li-6 glass types (Wraight, L.
A., 1965; Zetterstrom, H. O., 1966; Spowart, A. R.,
1970; Spowart, A. R., 1977; Ejik, C. W. E., 2002;
Applied Scintillation Technologies, 2009;). Li-6
manufacturing has largely been a niche market, but
it's becoming popular again due to the He-3 shortage
and new vendors with new glass mixtures are
becoming available.
Processing of Li-6 Spectra
The main issue to tackle with Li-6 data, once
obtained, is how to precisely separate the neutron
counts from the photon background in wide ranging
environments. Also, optimizing Li-6 detector
construction is vital to maximize the light collection
from the neutron interactions so as to increase
separation of the neutron peak above the low-energy
background. The latter item is proprietary and not
SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011

covered in this paper, although it certainly affects the approaches is that the spectral shapes need not be
data quality obtainable. known precisely beforehand. This approach is built
upon the fact that the PNG provides high count rates

The basic components of a Li-6 neutron-gamma
spectrum are first, a low-resolution neutron peak and
second, a continuous gamma ray background. This is
exemplified by Figure 3, and each component’s
behavior is discussed next.
The neutron peak shape is well approximated by a
Gaussian for short scintillators, but longer
scintillators have a peak skewed to the right with a
high-end tail. This is caused by the increased light
absorption in longer detectors, i.e. a position sensitive
detector has been created. Longer detectors are
required for PNG based tools since the long-space
detectors must be positioned farther from the source
than AmBe based tools to maintain porosity
sensitivity (Roberts, 2010; Gilchrist, 2011). Further,
the neutron peak shape is subject to change with
temperature as the light yield and absorption
properties of the glass change. Consistency of
manufactured glass batches also comes into play.
The featureless gamma ray background extends
across the whole spectrum. Generally, the spectrum
doesn’t exhibit peaks due to both the low resolution
of the Li-6 glass and low efficiency for full-energy
deposition from high energy photons. The gamma ray
background at higher energies is primarily due to
single event Compton scattering of much higher
energy photons then the energy deposited in the
detector. When a PNG is used, the inelastic and
capture gamma ray background present at a detector
will be larger than that of a typically smaller activity
AmBe. Consider that the relatively low energy
hydrogen capture gamma ray of 2.2 MeV, let alone
the myriad others, can be detected to the right of the
neutron peak, although the efficiency for this is low.
In order to minimize the background, the Li-6 glass
detector thickness needs to be optimized for neutron
detection, as discussed in a paper in the same
conference proceedings (Gilchrist, 2011).
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at the detectors, thus the spectral components need
not be used for precise separation. Furthermore, the
neutron count rates do not directly indicate porosity.
A transform of the near-to-far detector count rate
ratio is performed to convert to limestone porosity
units. Precision is the utmost goal, because the tool
calibration will eliminate minor systematic errors.
Environmental corrections, such as lithology effect,
will also aid in reducing uncertainty.
Figure 3 illustrates the use of a linear background. Fit
Point 1 is defined to be where the slope of the
spectrum equals zero. Fit Point 2 can be defined by
simply using a preset number of channels to the right
of the peak, or as a function of the FWHM of the
neutron peak. These two points form a linear line
under the neutron peak that is used to separate the
components, as shown in the figure.
Figure 4 illustrates the exponential background
method. Fit Region 1 is defined as a preset number of
channels extending to the left of the zero-slope point,
as found with the linear method. Fit Region 2 is
defined as a preset number of channels extending to
the right of Fit Point 2, described for the linear
method earlier. The exponential function is fit with a
least squares routine to both regions.

The variable shapes of the neutron and background

components do not lend themselves well to spectral Figure 3. Illustration of a linear approximation to
deconvolution. Deconvolution is advantageous when the gamma ray background below the neutron peak.
the spectral shape is known apriori and it changes
little or in an expected manner. Or, it is useful when
the count rate is low and the entire spectrum must be
used for precise separation of spectral components.

Two simplified approaches are used in this work to

separate the components, namely a linear and an
exponential approximation to the background beneath
the neutron peak. The advantage of these two

4
 SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
Figure 4. Illustration of an exponential
approximation to the gamma ray background below
the neutron peak.
A side benefit to using a PNG is that time dependent
measurements can be made, such as Σ and an
associated diffusion correction. Figure 5 and Figure 6
show the Li-6 spectra in 3D and 2D, respectively.
They illustrate the time dependent behavior of both
the neutron peak and gamma ray background for one
case. The time behavior seen in Figure 6 is very
similar to what is seen in time spectra obtained from
typical PNG based tools. The quality of the gamma
ray portion may not be good enough because, as
stated before, the magnitude of the gamma ray
background is desired to be minimized. However, the
separated neutron count rate is available for such a
measurement. It is expected that the neutron peak or
low-energy gamma ray background would provide a
shallower depth of investigation than standard Σ
tools. Previous work has shown the effects of Σ on
LWD thermal neutron porosity measurements
(Roberts, 2010).
Figure 5. 3D plot of Li-6 spectra in voltage
(energy), time, and count rate.
5
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Figure 6. 2D plot of Figure 5 in voltage (energy)
and time with count rate as the coloring.
Construction, Characterization, and Field Test of
a Generic Wireline Test Article
A generic 1 11/16 in. wireline test article was
constructed to test the PNG and Li-6 detector
combination in the lab and the field. A SS and a LS
detector were implemented with the LS being five
times longer than the SS to investigate spectral shape
changes. The purpose was to quickly identify
foundational issues to be solved and test first
generation interpretation schemes.
Laboratory testing and modeling were used to
establish the data acquisition and post processing
algorithms. The test article was modeled in Monte
Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) (LANL, 2009) and
benchmarked with laboratory freshwater-filled
limestone formations of 0, 19, 27, and 100 pu.
Individual ratio-to-porosity transforms for the linear
and exponential background methods were created.
An open-hole wireline log was performed using the
test article and a natural gamma ray tool. The well
logged is in Travis County, TX and consists of
limestone and dolomitized limestone with a
freshwater-filled borehole. The data acquired is from
a single pass with the test article against the wall of
the vertical nominally 7⅞ in. borehole at a data point
frequency of 4 points/foot. Existing open-hole well
logs were available from natural gamma ray,
compensated neutron (Mickael, 1994), compensated
density, and pulsed neutron mineralogy tools
(Pemper, R., 2006; Jacobi, D., 2007) for comparison.
Figure 8 presents the data acquired from the test well.
The first track presents natural gamma used for depth
shifting and the caliper. The second track presents the
apparent limestone porosity and apparent bulk
density from previous logs, then the apparent
limestone porosities from the test article with the
exponential and linear backgrounds. The third track
presents mineralogy derived from existing pulsed
neutron spectroscopy logs. The fourth track presents
SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
the neutron count rate for the linear and exponential
background subtraction methods overlaid on top of
the raw detector spectra for the SS Li-6 detector. The
fifth track is the same format for the LS Li-6 detector.
The sixth track shows the near-to-far ratio for both
linear and exponential methods.
Discussion
The Li-6 count rates are qualitatively as expected.
The SS Li-6 detector is short in length which creates
a more Gaussian-like neutron peak and the linear and
exponential background methods give nearly
identical results. The much longer LS Li-6 exhibits
higher count rates for the exponential method, which
is better able to account for the high-end tail of the
neutron peak in the long detector. The SS and LS
spectra display the different spectral shapes clearly in
tracks 4 (SS) and 5 (LS) of Figure 8 for the whole log
interval shown. An individual example is shown in
Figure 7 from a clean limestone depth interval, which
further illustrates the differing SS and LS spectral
shapes.
The ratios of the linear and exponential method
display a higher dynamic range for the former
method. Although not shown, the model and
laboratory based ratio-to-porosity transforms exhibit
the same trend of higher dynamic range for the linear
method up to approximately 50 pu.
Figure 7. Plot of the SS and LS raw detector spectra
at 1400 feet from the Travis County, TX well.
The apparent porosities all differ for reasons that
require more investigation to separate the individual
effects. First, the presence of dolomite causes the
neutron porosity to be high. Second, the borehole is
larger than nominal. Third, the smaller 1 11/16 in.
test article is calibrated for 7⅞ in. It won’t displace as
much borehole fluid as the compensated neutron tool,
so the borehole size effect is expected to be larger.
Fourth, both Li-6 porosities appear to have a higher
lithology effect in dolomitic regions, which is
6
expected due to the higher neutron source energy
(longer Ls).
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However, no corrections are applied to the data and
the PNG based Li-6 apparent limestone porosities are
very comparable to the CN porosity in the clean
limestone depths of 1280 to 1315 ft. and 1320 to
1330 ft.
CONCLUSIONS
The adaptation of an existing 1 11/16 in. cased hole
PNG based tool to include two Li-6 detectors allowed
for a quick look into items that need to be addressed
for any future pairing of a PNG and Li-6 detector for
neutron porosity logging in any platform. This
pairing was tested as a way to make a sourceless
neutron porosity log using readily available Li-6
glass scintillators, which avoids the use of AmBe and
dwindling supplies of He-3. MCNP modeling and
laboratory measurements were combined to generate
first generation data processing algorithms for a log
acquired from a dolomitic limestone Texas test well.
The response of any new PNG and Li-6 based tool
must closely emulate the response of preceding
AmBe based tools. The resulting log indicates good
correlation between the test article’s apparent neutron
porosity and a previous CN log using two different
gamma ray background subtraction methodologies.
The differences between the test article and CN data
highlight areas of improvement that need to be
addressed through porosity transforms,
environmental corrections, and possibly more
sophisticated background subtraction methods.
It was further shown that the use of a PNG allows for
time dependent neutron and low-energy gamma ray
measurements to be made with Li-6 detectors. This
additional information can be used to generate a Σ
log without additional detectors. Σ can be used to
correct the thermal neutron porosity measurement for
the effects of neutron absorbers, such as clays and
salinity.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge Baker Hughes
Incorporated for permission to publish this paper.
The authors are extremely appreciative of the
following Baker Hughes team members who were
instrumental in constructing the test article and
acquiring data: Mike Bruner, Alvin Berger, Joe
Koudelka, and John Brzuzy.
 SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
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SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Anton Nikitin received his MS in Physics from
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology,
department of General and Applied Physics, studying
consequences of the Chernobyl disaster and chemical
bonding in uranium compounds at Kurchatov
Institute, Moscow, Russia. He continued his
education in the USA and received a Ph.D. degree in
Applied Physics from Stanford University where he
studied different material research techniques based
on the photon, electron and neutron interactions with
matter. He joined the Nuclear Center of Excellence at
Drilling and Evaluation Research at Baker Hughes
Houston Technology Center as scientist in March
2008. His main focus is the development of new
gamma ray and neutron detectors, pulsed neutron
generator-based well logging tools and methods to
process nuclear spectroscopic data. He is a coauthor
of more than 15 publications in the area of
spectroscopy, physical chemistry and material
science, including an invited talk at IEEE Nuclear
Science Symposium.
Loren Roberts is a scientist in the Nuclear Center of
Excellence, Drilling and Evaluation Research group
of Baker Hughes Incorporated. Loren received a PhD
degree in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina
State University in 2008 and a BS in Mechanical and
Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University in
2002. He joined Baker Hughes in 2008. His primary
responsibility is the design, characterization, and
interpretation of nuclear instruments. Loren has
authored or coauthored multiple publications in the
8
industry and currently serves as SPWLA Houston
Chapter Secretary.
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Feyzi Inanc is a nuclear scientist at the Baker
Hughes Houston Technology Center. He earned a BS
in metallurgical engineering followed by MS and
Ph.D. degrees in the nuclear engineering discipline
from Iowa State University in 1986 and 1989.
Following a postdoctoral position at the Iowa State
University, he worked as an assistant and associate
professor at Marmara University from 1990 to 1995.
He later worked at Iowa State University as a
research scientist at the Center for Nondestructive
Evaluation from 1995 to 2007. He joined Baker
Hughes in 2007 as a scientist. In his career, he has
published more than 50 technical articles, had various
software products licensed and has been granted
several patents with other patents pending. He
received a distinguished service award from Marmara
University and inventors award from Iowa State
University.
Margarete Kopal received her M.Sc. in Geology
2003 from TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany).
Before joining Baker Hughes in 2006, she worked as
a research scientist at RWTH Aachen University.
There she was involved in the Integrated Ocean
Drilling Program (IODP) and sailed as a logging
scientist during Expedition 305. Within Baker
Hughes, Margarete was part of the engineering
development team for LWD-NMR in Celle
(Germany) and is currently a scientist in the
Integrated Interpretation and Petrophysics Center of
Excellence of the Drilling and Evaluation Research
group of Baker Hughes in Houston.
 Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/SPWLAALS/proceedings-pdf/SPWLA11/All-SPWLA11/SPWLA-2011-III/1662479/spwla-2011-iii.pdf/1 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, lei zhao on 26 December 2023
SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium, May 14-18, 2011

Figure 8. Travis County, TX test well data acquired with the 1 11/16 in. PNG test article with two Li-6 detectors.