Sonic

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Client Seminar
 Outline
• Basic Theory
• Applications

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• Operation
• LQC - Log Quality Control

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 Classification of Acoustic Waves
z Seismic
— “Shake or move violently”- low frequency
— Energy can be felt by humans

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— Covers very large areas

z Sonic
— Higher frequency than seismic
— Can be heard by humans
— Smaller area of investigation
than Seismic

z Ultrasonic
— Still higher frequency than sonic
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— neither felt or heard by humans
— Very small area of investigation
 Basic Tool Theory

• Sound energy is emitted by the transmitter …

• … travels through the mud to the formation …

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• … through the formation ..
• … and returns to
the receivers

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 Basic Sonic Theory
• Sonic tools measure the transit time ∆T, or slowness,
of a wave propagating through the formation

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– Slowness is the reciprocal of velocity
∆T = µs/ft
• The waveform contains compressional, shear,
stoneley and mud waves

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 Propagation of Sound in the Formation

Particle
• Compressional Waves (p- Displacement

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waves)

• Shear Waves (s-waves)

Direction
λ of
Known as body waves propagation

6 BTC At Rest Compressional Shear

(P) (S)
 Propagation of Sound in and along the
Borehole
• Stonely Waves
– Travels in mud column by
interaction with the

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formation
– Very sensitive to wall
rigidity λ

• Mud Waves
– Travels directly through
mud column to the receiver
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without interaction with
borehole wall
 Composite Wave

• In a typical wave we will see these four major

components

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AMPLITUDE

Firing Pulse
Transmitter

Compressional Shear Mud Stoneley

Arrivals Arrivals Arrivals Arrivals
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 AMPLITUDE Applications

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Firing Pulse
Transmitter

Compressional Shear Mud Stoneley

Arrivals Arrivals Arrivals Arrivals

• OH: Porosity • Rock mechanical properties • Permeability

Perforating stability, sanding
• CH: Cement bond • Fractures
analysis, Hydraulic fracture height
• Seismic Depth to Time determination, Well bore stability
conversion
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• Lithology
• Fractures
• Gas indication
 Tool Mechanics

• Sound is generated and received using transducers

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• A transducer converts one form of
energy to another, in our case
mechanical and electrical

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 Producing Sound

• Magnetostrictive transducer
– A high current is passed through a coil surrounding a

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magnetic material introducing a strain and causes a
ticking sound (Joule effect)

∆L / L

I
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 Receiving Sound

• Piezoelectric transducer
– Polarized ceramic crystals in the BHC produces a

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voltage when exposed to strain (Villari effect)

strain
- - - -
Unstrained crystal
Voltage

+ + + +
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 Steered Beam Sondes

• The BHC actually focuses the sound at the detectors

– Uses 2 transmitters which fire 17 µsec apart

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– This is called a steered beam sonde

2 Transmitter fire 17 µsec

apart focussing the sound
energy towards the upper
receivers
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 Borehole Compensation (BHC)

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Temperature: 350 F
Pressure: 20,000 psi
Length: 20.5 ft

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 Borehole Compensation

• Transit Time = TT = a + b + c

• Slowness = 1/velocity

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= time (µ sec)/distance (ft)

∆t = (a + b + c)/L

Problem: Mud effect on rays “a” and

“c” are unknown

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 Borehole Compensation

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• Slowness = ∆t = [(a + b + c) - (a + d + c)] / L
∆t = (b - d) / L
16 BTC • Problem: only works when tool is not tilted in the
borehole
 Borehole Compensation

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• Problem: Zone a ≠ Zone b
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 Borehole Compensation

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• Solution: Zone a = Zone b
Slowness independent of changes in
borehole diameter
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• BHC - Borehole compensation
 Borehole Compensation (BHC)
Limitation of BHC
Unconsolidated, shally formations the altered zone close to the
borehole means the BHC can not accurately estimate formation

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slowness

Solution
Increase distance between transmitters and receivers to increase
depth of investigation

Problem
BHC tool would become too long and heavy
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 Transit Time Detection

• Detection occurs when the waveform crosses a amplitude threshold

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E2 E4
Firing pulse Threshold

E1
E3

Transit Time
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 Incorrect Detection - Noise

• Threshold detection works great, provided that E2 is the only signal which
will be larger than the threshold.

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Noise Peak E2

Transit Time

Noise will cause a premature detection of the

transit time. Since we are only looking for the
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first arrival, we will never see the actual E2
arrival.
 Noise - Classification
• Road Noise
– Caused by tool contact with borehole wall (CME-Z’s, Standoffs
etc)

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• Reverberation
– Echoes of the previous firing
• Tool Noise
– Electrical noise
– Sonde noise (sound travelling up the tool)

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 Noise - Reduction
• Road Noise
– Position CME-Z’s and standoffs correctly

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– Slow Down
• Reverberation
– Reduce firing rate (from 15 per sec to to 5 per sec)
• Tool Noise
– Electrical failure
– Housing damage

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 Noise - Work Around It

• We can set the “detection interval” to a time after the noise.

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Detection
Noise Peak Interval

Transit Time

The “Detection interval” is the ONLY time that a Transit

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Time can be detected.
 Incorrect Detection - Cycle Skip

• If the amplitude of E2 falls below the threshold, the next positive peak (E4)
will be detected as the first arrival.

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E4
E2

E1
E3

Transit Time

A Cycle Skip occurs when either the

waveform amplitude at E2 is smaller than the
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threshold, or when the threshold is too high.
The transit time “Skips” E2 to E4 (or E6…)
 Porosity Determination from ∆T

The formation matrix has a

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known transit time
ROCK
MATRIX Transit times for oil,
mud and formation
water are very similar
OIL or GAS while gas has a very
Formation Water high transit time

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 Porosity Determination from ∆T

• Applying the unit cube to this example;

– The quantity of matrix is 1-φ

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– The void fraction is φ
¾∆tlog = φ ∆tf + ( 1-φ ) ∆tmatrix

∆t − ∆t
log ma
φs =
∆ t − ∆t
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 Porosity Correction Values and
Estimation
• Wyllie Time Average has Compaction Factor- Bcp
∆t − ∆t ma
log 1
φs = ⋅

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∆t − ∆t ma Bcp
f
• Raymer - Hunt is empirical
∆t − ∆t
ma
φs = 5 log
8 ∆t
log
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 Log Quality, Interpretation

• Sonic tools are used to determine secondary

porosity

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– Sonic tools tend to ignore secondary porosity
while nuclear tools see total porosity, so
Φsec = ΦN - ΦS
• Curves tend to mirror the GR curve
• Relates well to resistivity curves
• Logs correlate well to offsets

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 Log Quality, Interpretation
• DT reads correctly in known lithology
– Free Casing -57 msec / ft

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– Anhydrite -50 msec / ft
– Salt -60 msec / ft
– Repeatability - 1 msec / ft
• Φs compares well to ΦD and ΦN in clean, wet zones in
the absence of Φsec
• No Noise Spikes or Cycle Skipping

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 ∆T Values

MATERIAL ∆Tma(µsec/ft)

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CALCITE (limestone) 47.5
QUARTZ (sandstone) 55.5
DOLOMITE 43.5
ANHYDRITE 50.0
STEEL CASING 57.0
FRESH MUD 189
OIL 240
GAS 666

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