CHINESE JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICS Vol.51, No.

5, 2008, pp: 11001109

A JOINT INVERSION METHOD FOR NMR DUAL-TW LOGGING

DATA AND FLUID TYPING
TAN Mao-Jin1 , SHI Yao-Lin1 , ZHAO Wen-Jie2 , XIE Guan-Bao2
1 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
2 Shengli Well Logging Company, SINOPEC, Dongying 257096, China

Abstract For the analysis of dual-TW activation of NMR logging, a joint inversion method is proposed based
on genetic algorithm (GA), a global searching method, and damping least squares (LSQR) method, a local optimization method. Firstly, multi-exponential response mechanism of NMR spin echo trains of dual-TW activation
in reservoir filled with oil, water and gas is deduced and discussed in detail. Then, GA method is applied to global
optimization of the echo difference data of NMR dual-TW, and T2 value of oil and gas, oil porosity, gas porosity
are calculated. Finally, LSQR method is run for dual-TW echo trains based on the results of GA, and gives T2
distribution of dual-TW activation data, component porosity, effect porosity and hydrocarbon saturation. From
calculated results above, fluid type of reservoirs is interpreted and summarized successfully. The inversion results
of synthesized echo trains from forward modeling of various ideal models indicate that the inversion method is
correct and effective. Furthermore the interpretation conclusions from the inversion results in oil field case agree
well with well testing. So, the inversion method based on GA and LSQR is effective and suits to dual-TW
activation data of NMR logging and fluid typing.
Key words NMR dual-TW logging, Genetic algorithm (GA), Damping least squares method (LSQR), Joint
inversion, Fluid typing

1 INTRODUCTION
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging technology can provide pore radius distribution and petrophysical parameters, such as formation porosity bound fluid, movable fluid, permeability and diffusion coefficient
and viscosity at reservoir conditions. Considering the relaxation and diffusivity difference of oil, gas and water, NMR logging designed several hydrocarbon detection, including dual waiting time (TW), dual echo space
(TE)[1,2] . In dual-TW activation, polarizability of various fluids is different in different waiting time: water is
polarized completely and oil is polarized partly in short waiting time; water and oil are polarized completely
in long enough waiting time. Therefore, through analysis of NMR logging responses in different waiting times,
fluid is determined qualitatively and quantitively.
In data processing and fluid typing of NMR logging, some scholars worldwide have made good achievements. For the echo trains of dual-TW and dual-TE, Sun et al.[3,4] provided two different inversion methods:
fluid typing edit (FET) and global inversion of fluid typing. Through analyzing different T2 distributions, they
acquired fluid saturation, but the method has not popularized. Xiao[1] , Wang et al.[5] , Weng et al.[6] , and Wang
et al.[7] , have probed into multi-exponent inversion with different methods from different views, such as singular
value decomposer (SVD), non-negative least squares (NNLS), and spectrum estimation. Furthermore, Liao et
al.[8] studied some effects on inversion results, such as the number of T2 bins, echo number and time domain data
compress. Furthermore, they compared different inversion methods including SVD, BRD and SIRT, and gave
corresponding correction methods. Xiao[1] , Wang et al.[9] introduced in detail differential spectrum analysis,
time domain analysis (TDA), and diffuse analysis, and discussed application effects in some oil fields. Tan et
al.[10] , Yun et al.[11] constructed several flags from dual-TW analysis results, and realized a fast and effective
fluid typing in low porosity and low permeability reservoirs, utilizing pre-constructed cross-plot combining with
well testing. So, fluid typing from NMR dual-TW logging is one of the most effective methods. However, in real
E-mail: tanmj@gucas.ac.cn

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oil and gas exploration worldwide, dual-TW activation data processing and interpretation softwares of NMR
logging used include differential spectrum model (MEADREA) of eXpress software and time domain analysis
(TDA) model of DPP software, which is linear inversion and supposed relaxation time parameters such as T1
and T2 is known in advance. But in new exploration area, the reservoir location and fluid type are difficult to
determine, and the relaxation time parameters are unknown. If empirical values are adopted, the calculated
results are not reliable, some examples are not successful in some oil fields[9] . In fact, in case of fluid relaxation
parameters unknown, the response of echoes difference of dual-TW is non-linear, which need resort to non-linear
inversion algorithm.
In view of the limitation of data processing methods of dua-TW activation, the paper improves the problem.
And the whole procedure adopts joint method of non-linear inversion and linear inversion. First, the echoes
difference of dual-TW was inverted with GA, the characteristic relaxation parameters of fluids and fluid volumes
are calculated. Then, damping least squares method is used to echo trains of short and long waiting times for
linear inversion, whose initial values are from results of GA, and the results are T2 distribution, component
porosity, and effective porosity of dual-TW activation. Finally, hydrocarbon saturation of every reservoir is
calculated.
2 FORWARD MODELING OF DUAL-TW ACTIVATION DATA OF NMR LOGGING
The raw data of NMR logging is a series of echo trains including hundreds of spin echoes. T2 distribution
inversion is one of the most important problems in NMR data processing. The inversion results include T2
distribution of various pores as well as fluid information[1,2] . According to NMR theory, the global magnetization
measured is made up of magnetism of a series of single pore including some noises. When the reservoir is filled
with oil, water and gas, the echo trains by CPMG are expressed as following equation[1,2] :
M (t) =

n
X

M0i e

t
T

2i

+ Mo e

t
T

2o

+ Mg e

t
T

2g

+ ,

(1)

i=1

where, M (t) is magnetization at time t, (unit: A/m); Mi (0) is magnetization of the ith component, (unit:
A/m); T2i relaxation time of the ith pore, namely the base parameter in the inversion. i = 1, 2, 3, , n; T2o
is transverse relaxation time of oil, (unit: s); T2g is transverse relaxation time of gas, (unit: s); (t) is random
noise. when polarization effects are considered, M0i , Mo and Mg can be expressed respectively:
M0i =M0i (1 e
Mo =Mo (1 e

TW
T
1i ),

TW
T
1o ),

Mg =Mg (1 e

TW
T
g ).

(2)

The amplitudes of echo trains for long waiting time (TWL ) and short waiting time (TWS ) are then given as
MTWL (t) =

n
X

M0i (1 e

TW
T L
1i

)e

t
T

TW
T S
1i

)e

t
T

2i

+ Mo (0)(1 e

TW
T L
1o

)e

+ Mo (0)(1 e

TW
T S
1o

)e

t
T

TW
T L
1g

)e

TW
T S
1g

)e

+ Mg (0)(1 e

2o

t
T

2g

(3)

(4)

i=1

and
MTWS (t) =

n
X

M0i (1 e

2i

t
T

2o

+ Mg (0)(1 e

t
T

2g

i=1

Subtract two equations above,

M (t) =

n
X

M0i (e

TW
T S
1i

TW
T L
1i

)e

t
T

2i

+ Mo (0)(e

TW
T S
1o

TW
T L
1o

)e

t
T

2o

+ Mg (0)(e

TW
T S
1g

TW
T L
1g

)e

t
T

2g

i=1

(5)

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Polarization functions are then defined for water (wi ), oil (o ), gas (g ) as follows:
wi =e

TW
T S
1i

TWS

=e T1o

TWS

=e T1g

TW
T L
1i

TWL

e T1o

TWL

e T1g

(6)

So, Eq.(5) subsequently becomes:

M (t) =

n
X

M0i e

t
T

2i

wi + Mo (0)e

t
T

2o

o + Mg e

t
T

2g

g .

(7)

i=1

If TWS was selected to fully polarize the protons of water in rock pores, namely, wi = 0, this condition
allows the difference of the two echo trains to be written as
M (t) = Mo (0)e

t
T

2o

o + Mg (0)e

t
T

2g

g .

(8)

Through shop calibration, the magnetization can be transferred into porosity[2] . The differential porosity
function is then defined by:
(t) = o HIo e

t
T

2o

o + g HIg e

t
T

2g

g + ,

(9)

where, (t) is difference in hydrocarbon-filled porosity obtained from the two echo trains, o is oil-filled
porosity obtained from the two echo trains, g is gas-filled porosity obtained from the two echo trains, HIo is
hydrogen index of oil, HIg is hydrogen index of gas, is noise during CPMG measurement of the two echo
trains.
To calculate oil and gas porosity from Eq.(9), the transverse and longitudinal relaxation time of oil and
gas, T2o , T2g , T1o , T1g , in reservoir condition must be given. These relaxation parameters may resort to some
empirical formula[1] , but, in new explanation area, fluid types and relaxation properties are unknown, the Eq.(9)
is non-linear. Therefore, the solution of the problem must resort to non-linear algorithm, and the porosity and
relaxation parameters of fluids are finally calculated correctly.
3 MULTI-EXPONENT JOINT INVERSION OF NMR SPIN ECHO
The key problem is how to calculate the component porosity of the ith pore from Eq.(9), the results include
corresponding T2 distribution, oil porosity and gas porosity, T2 values of oil and gas (T2o , T2g ) and oil porosity
(o ) and gas porosity (g ). This step is named as relaxation character parameters sorting and fluid volume
calculating. After the transverse and longitudinal relaxation parameters, T1o , T1g , T2o , and T2g of oil and gas
are determined, a further linear inversion is excused according to Eq.(5) and Eq.(6).
3.1 T1 , T2 Sorting and Fluid Evaluation Based on GA
Genetic algorithm (GA) is an optional algorithm based on global searching, which was proposed by some
scientists imitating biological evolution in mid-1960s. The algorithm is also based on the principle of survival
competition and the survival of the fittest, and resort to some operations such as copying, exchanging,
mutation, and finally, it makes the target problem approach to optimization solution from initial solution step
by step. Now, GA is widely used in logging data processing and interpretation paramors evaluation[12,13] . In
this paper, we will attempt to apply GA into non-linear inversion of NMR logging data. The target function is
selected as the following
2
m 
t
X
t

Qmin =
echodiff(i) (o HIo e T2o o + g HIg e T2g g ) ,
(10)
i=1

Tan M J et al.: A Joint Inversion Method for NMR Dual-TW Logging Data and Fluid Typing

1103

where echodiff(i) is echo trains difference of dual-TW activation. m is the number of echoes in one echo train,
Qmin is square sum of residual error between echo data and forward modeling results in theory.
In GA inversion of dua-TW activation, model parameters such as the component porosity and relaxation
time of oil and gas, constitute a chromosome. According to known information, searching space range of each
model parameter is limited effectively. Binary coding and decoding are adopted in gene expression. The left
boundary is all 0 binary coding, the right boundary all 1 binary coding, in limited zone mixed coding of 0 and
1. The code train length is 15. In inversion of GA, all inversion parameters are limited by the real ranges. The
range of parameters is as following Table 1.
Table 1 NMR properties for reservoir fluids
Fluid

Longitudinal relaxation time (T1 /ms)

Transvers relaxation time (T2 /ms)

Typical T1 /T2

Hydrogen index (HI)

Water

1500

1500

Oil

30004000

3001000

Gas

40005000

3060

80

24 or 2.25

Note: is density of gas, unit: g/cm3 .

To determine population size (popsize), iterative

time (iteration), crossover probability (Pc ) and mutation probability (Pm ), we make some experiments and
compare the results to determine them. The final parameters are as follows: popsize: 80, iteration: 75, Pc :
0.90, Pm : 0.0015.
Figure 1 illustrates residual error decreasing with
iterative time increasing. When the iterative time is
lower than 60, the convergence speed of GA is faster,
after this residual error shows stable characters. Furthermore, through some tests with different crossover
probability and mutation probability, we find these parameters have effect on convergence speed and optimization solutions. To elevate calculation precision,
the parameter may be reset up according to primary
inversion results.

Fig. 1 Residual error decreasing with iterative

time increasing in GA method

3.2 Echo Trains Inversion Based on Damping Least Squares Method

Genetic algorithm realists global searching of solution space, and the transverse relaxation parameters and
volume of oil and gas, but the convergence speed is slower when it approaches to the global optimal solution.
So, on basses of GA method, the paper uses damping least squares method (LSQR) on dual-TW activation
data for further and precise inversion.
When T2o , T2g are determined by GA, for the target problem (1), the corresponding equation is expressed
as
Ax = b.
(11)
For improving the condition number of A, left multiply AT to equation above, namely
AT Ax = AT b,

(12)

iTE

where, to echo trains data of dual-TW, Ai,j = e T2j , i = 1, 2, 3, , m, j = 1, 2, 3, , n, xj = P1 , P2 , Pn , Pi

is component porosity, bi = echo(i), m is echo number, n is the number of T2 bins in inversion.

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When A is not a singular matrix, the equation has exclusive solution: x = (AT A)1 AT b. When A is a
singular matrix, the solution formula above will lead some error, and the divergence in the inversion occurs. To
solve the puzzle, Marquart proposed a device to improve the condition of the equation: adding a constant on
diag element of coefficient matrix AT A, namely, (AT A + kI)x = AT b. This is Marquart method, named also
as damping least squares method (LSQR).
On the basis of GA algorithm, LSQR method is used for more precise inversion. First, the solution is
initialized as x(0) from GA algorithm. The problem turns into solving the difference x from Ax = b.
Second, x is to be solved with LSQR method as described by (AT A + kI)x = AT b AT x(0) . After x is
computed, the final result is gained by calculating x = x(0) + x.
Damping factor improves the condition number of coeffient matrix, stability, and precision. If damping
factor is set as a large number, this will decrease step length, and make convergence speed slower, otherwise,
damp factor is set as a smaller one, the singularity of matrix is not improved. Therefore, in calculation procedure,
an adaptive algorithm is adopted. Firstly, an initial value is set up for damping factor, the value is often 0.01,
if the value is too small, we will increase it, otherwise we will decrease it.
3.3 Data Processing of Joint Inversion
Figure 2 is the flowchart of joint inversion based on GA and LSQR of dual-TW activation data of NMR
logging.

Fig. 2 Data processing flow of joint inversion method of NMR dual-TW logging

4 METHOD VERIFICATION AND CASE CALCULATION

To verify the algorithm, a corresponding program is developed. First, the program is verified in ideal
models, then, the real logging data in oil field is processed by the program, the results are compared to those of

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enhanced X-window petrophysics evaluation software system (eXpress). Finally, according to analysis of data
processing results, the target reservoirs are interpreted, which will be compared with well testing.
4.1 Forward and Inversion Results of Ideal Models
Three petrophysical models filled with different fluids such as oil-water, gas-water, oil-gas-water, are set
up, whose model parameters are illustrated in Table 2 and Fig. 3. All parameters are as follows: TWS =1.5 s,
TWL = 5.6 s, T E=1.2 ms, N E=210, HIo =1.0 and HIg =0.4 respectively. First, according to given petrophysical
model and response mechanism of dual-TW activation principle, the dual-TW echo trains are created as shown
in Fig. 3(af). In inversion, the standard bins adopted are 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 ms. Besides,
30 bins and 10 power exponents are adopted for inversion of gas-water and oil-gas-water models, calculation
of bins: T2i = T2min (T2max /T2min )(j1)/(301) , where, T2min and T2max are minimum and maximum of T2 ,
j = 1, 2, 3, , 30, the results are illustrated in Fig. 3(g,h). The results indicate that the calculated oil and
gas volumes are well consistent with model parameters and verify that the algorithm is correct. Furthermore,
for models filled with gas or oil, the inverted T2 distributions of dual-TW activation are different from each
other, and the differential amplitude is highest at characteristic relaxation times of fluids. And the difference
of oil-water model is higher than gas-water model. By contrast, T2 distributions of 9 bins are smoother than
those of 30 bins. The amplitude of differential spectrum of the former is higher than that of the latter. This is
because that dual-TW activation is devised to identify light oil.
4.2 Inversion Results of NMR Logging Case from Some Oil Field
A real NMR dual-TW logging data is selected for test and calculation. The data is acquired with MRIL-C
tool, the logging parameters are as follows: TWS =1.5 s, TWL =5.6 s, N E=210, T E=1.2 ms. For convenience of
comparison with previous results, the data processed is filtered echo trains with eXpress software. The difference
of dual-TW activation, the transverse and longitudinal relaxation time of various fluids and fluid volumes, were
inverted by GA method. Then, differential spectrum and T2 distribution of short waiting time are inverted
by LSQR. Finally, T2 distribution of long waiting time is inverted locally on base of results above. The bins
adopted are still 2 power exponents. The T2 threshold is 33 ms. By contrast, not only T2 distributions of dualTW and differential spectrum, but also various fluid volume agree well with those of eXpress software (Fig. 4).
Subsequently, the inversion is excused by 30 bins of 10 power exponent, and some petrophysical parameters
such as component porosity, bound fluid volume (MBVI), effective porosity (MPHE), effective water volume
(BVWE), hydrocarbon porosity (HC) and water saturation (SWXO) of flushed zone are calculated. All results
are illustrated in Fig. 5.
According to gamma ray log and processing results of NMR dual-TW logging, three layers are interpreted.
In layer 1, hydrocarbon porosity is about 5%, hydrocarbon saturation is about 20% in flushed zone. In layer 2,
hydrocarbon volume is about 10%, hydrocarbon saturation is about 38% in flushed zone. Layer 3 resembles layer
1. Furthermore, from differential spectrum in layer 2, signal amplitude of long relaxation component, where
transverse relaxation time sorted is about 950 ms, is stronger than that in the other layers, and amplitude
difference exists through comparing T2 distribution of dual-TW at transverse characteristic relaxation times
Table 2 Inversion results and parameters of fluid filled model
Various models and

Longitudinal and transverse

Oil porosity

Longitudinal and transverse

Gas porosity

inversion results

relaxation time of oil

(o /%)

relaxation time of gas

(g /%)

(T1o /s)

(T2o /s)

Model parameters

4000.000

900.00

5.000

Inversion results

3856.268

917.623

4.934

Gas-water

Model parameters

5000.000

50.000

5.000

Inversion results

4688.441

48.291

4.998

Oil-gas-water

Model parameters

4000.000

900.00

5.000

5000.000

50.000

0.500

Inversion results

3218.039

909.929

4.998

4020.448

46.462

0.588

Oil-water

(T1g /s)

(T2g /s)

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Fig. 3 Forward modeling of ideal models and inversion results of synthesized echo trains
(a) Simulation of oil-water model; (b) Pore model and inversion results of synthesized data of oil-water model;
(c) Simulation of gas-water model; (d) Pore model and inversion results of synthesized data of gas-water model;
(e) Simulation of oil-gas-water model; (f) Pore model and inversion results of synthesized data of oil-gas-water model;
(g) Inversion results of synthesized data; (h) Inversion results of synthesized data of oil-gas-water model, 30 bins.

Tan M J et al.: A Joint Inversion Method for NMR Dual-TW Logging Data and Fluid Typing

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Fig. 4 Contrast of inversion results of NMR dual-TW logging data

namely about 900 ms. Through comparison and analysis, layer 2 is interpreted as oil layer, the others are both
oil and water layers. The well testing is that layer 2 yields oil 95.66 t/d, no water. The calculated saturation
in flushed zone is well consistent with well testing results.
5 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
The paper introduces a joint inversion method of dual-TW activation data of NMR logging. Considering
that reservoir fluid relaxation parameters are unknown in newly drilled wells in new exploration area, the
inversion of dual-TW activation data of NMR logging is a non-linear problem. Furthermore, GA has some
advantages such as stable sorting and it doesnt have to solve derivative of target function. The difference
of dual-TW activation of NMR logging is inverted by GA, the longitudinal and transverse relaxation time,
volumes of various fluids, are calculated. Then, differential spectrum and T2 distributions of dual waiting time
are inverted by LSQR. Finally, hydrocarbon saturation in flushed zone is computed. Joint inversion results
of synthesized data proved that the method based on GA and damping LSQR not only makes sure global
optimization solution, but also elevates convergence speed in global search space. The comparison of results
with previous method indicates that the method and analysis results are accurate and reliable, which can be

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Fig. 5 Analysis result of NMR dual-TW logging data from oil field case

used to identify fluids in reservoirs. Certainly, the condition of fluid typing from dual-TW activation of NMR
logging is based on difference of T1 between oil and water, namely, differential porosity of dual-TW activation
is related to this difference[1,2,10,11] . Furthermore, in this paper, it is also supposed that water is polarized
entirely in short waiting time, and oil is fully polarized in long waiting time as soon as possible. So, job
planning before NMR logging is the key to data processing and analysis of dual-TW activation. Dual-TW
logging and its application are more effective to identify light oil than viscous oil, because the present NMR
logging is one-dimensional NMR logging technology, all signals often overlap when reservoir pores are filled with
oil, water and gas, it is more difficult to distinguish from each other clearly in light oil layer than in viscous
oil layer. This will urge to expand NMR logging information, and develop two-dimensional NMR (2D NMR)
logging technology[1416] . Furthermore, because of shallow depth of investigation, the calculated hydrocarbon
porosity and saturation dont belong to uninvited formations; and NMR logging must be combined with other
deep-detecting logging technology.
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