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Sonic Measurement

Sonic Measurement

Schlumberger 1999

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Sonic Measurement

Sonic Tool
The sonic tools create an acoustic signal and
measure how long it takes to pass through a rock.

By simply measuring this time we get an

indication of the formation properties.
The amplitude of the signal will also give
information about the formation.

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Sonic Measurement

sonic borehole waves

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Sonic Measurement

waves 2
In a fast formation both compressional and shear
waves are created.
The head waves in the borehole are the signals
seen by the receivers.
The array of receivers see the signal at different
times as they are at different distances from the
transmitter.

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Sonic Measurement

Sonic -BHC
A simple tool that uses a pair of transmitters and
four receivers to compensate for caves and sonde
tilt.
The normal spacing between the transmitters and
receivers is 3' - 5'.
It produces a compressional slowness by
measuring the first arrival transit times.
Used for:
Correlation.
Porosity.
Lithology.
Seismic tie in /
time-to-depth
conversion.
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Sonic Measurement

Long Spacing Sonic

The BHC tool is affected by near borehole altered
zones hence a longer spacing is needed with a
larger depth of investigation.
The tool spacings are 8' - 10', 10' - 12'.
The tool cannot be built with transmitters at each
end like a BHC sonde, hence there are two
transmitters at the bottom.
A system called DDBHC - depth derived borehole
compensation, is used to compute the transmit
time.
The uses of this tool are the same as the BHC
tool.

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Sonic Measurement

Array Sonic
Multi-spacing digital tool.
First to use STC
processing.
Able to measure shear waves
and Stoneley waves in hard
formations.
Used for:
Porosity.
Lithology.
Seismic tie in /
time-to-depth conversion.
Mechanical properties (from shear and
compressional).
Fracture identification (from shear and
Stoneley).
Permeability (from Stoneley).

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Sonic Measurement

DSI General
In a slow formation the shear wave from a
monopole source never creates a head wave.
The fluid wave is the first arrival after the
compressional.
A dipole source is directional.
It creates a flexural wave on the borehole wall
and shear and compressional in the formation.
The shear wave is recorded whether the
formation is soft or hard.

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Sonic Measurement

DSI tool
Generates both monopole and dipole signals.
Generates different frequencies for measuring a
range of waves.
Measures:
Compressional and shear
Two orthogonal shear - dipole signals
Stoneley
Application:
Seismic.
Mechanical properties (from shear and
compressional).
Fracture identification (shear and
Stoneley).
Permeability computation (Stoneley).
Porosity / Lithology.
Gas shows.
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Sonic Measurement

STC Processing
This type of processing is necessary to extract the
shear and Stoneley information from the
waveform.
The processing applies a "semblance algorithm"
to the recorded set of traces.
This means looking for the same part of the wave
(e.g. shear) on each wavetrain.
Once this has been done the transit time can be
computed.

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Sonic Measurement

STC Map
At a given depth, the slowness can be plotted
against time.
Regions of large coherence appear as contours.

These correspond to the compressional (fastest),

shear (close to the compressional) and Stoneley
(furthest away).

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Sonic Measurement

STC Output

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Sonic Measurement

Tools Summary
Measurements:

BHC

LSS

Array
Sonic
x

Dipole
Sonic
x

Compressional

Shear/Stoneley:
Hard rock
Soft rock

x
-

x
x

Computations:
Porosity
Lithology
Seismic tie in

x
x
x

x
x
x

x
x
x

x
x
x

Mechanical properties:
Hard rock
Soft rock
-

x
-

x
x

Fracture detectionPermeability
-

x
-

x
x

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Sonic Measurement

Borehole Effects
As the sonic tool is measuring the time for the
signal to go from the transmitter to the receiver
there are two types of erroneous responses.
Cycle skipping
If the signal strength
is too low the
detection goes to the
next peak.
This means that the
final transmit time
will be wrong.
Road noise

This is noise at the receivers that is due to the

borehole environment and has nothing to do with
the signal being measured.
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Sonic Measurement

Borehole Effects 2
There are a number of borehole phenomena
which cause these effects:
Borehole rugosity - causes the tool motion to be
erratic, the signal may be distorted and give road
noise or cycle skipping.
Large holes - if the borehole diameter is very
large the mud signal may arrive at a receiver
before the formation signal. The proper tool setup for each condition has to be picked before the
job.
This means choosing whether to centralise or
excentralise the tool and the equipment to
be used.

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Sonic Measurement

Borehole Effects 3
Gas in the well
The acoustic impedance of gas is very low, hence
the signal will be strongly attenuated. There may
be skipping.
Altered zone
This is largely overcome by using a long spacing
tool to read deeper into the formation.
Caves
Can create problems in spite of compensation as
they will also reduce signal amplitude.
Fractures
Reduce the signal amplitude especially the shear
and Stoneley waves.

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Sonic Measurement

Porosity - 1
The porosity from the sonic slowness is different
than that from the density or neutron tools.
It reacts to primary porosity only, i.e. it does not
"see" the fractures or vugs.
The basic equation for sonic porosity is the Wyllie
Time Average:

t log = t f + (1 )t ma
=

t log t ma
t f t ma
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Sonic Measurement

porosity 2
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:

1
1

+
=
t c
t ma
t f
2

A simplified version used on the Maxis is:

=C

t log t ma
t log

C is a constant, usually taken as 0.67.

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Sonic Measurement

Porosity 3
This chart shows the relationship between the
sonic compressional slowness and the porosity.
Both the lithology and the equation must be
known prior to using this chart.

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Sonic Measurement

Crossplots
The sonic measurements can be cross-plotted
with the density or the neutron readings to give
porosity and lithology information as with the
density-neutron crossplot, however:

The neutron - sonic (TNPH-Dt)

Has problems because there are two
possible equations.
The density - sonic (Dt-RHOB)
Has problems with the transforms as there
is no separation between the lithology
lines.

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Sonic Measurement

mechanical properties

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Sonic Measurement

Mechanical Properties and

Sonics
A combination of compressional, shear and
density measurements gives the rocks' dynamic
elastic moduli.
These are used to obtain the formation's
mechanical properties.

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Sonic Measurement

Mechanical Properties uses 1

Main uses of mechanical properties in soft
formations are:
Sand stability evaluation, i.e.
The prediction of the formation collapse under
producing conditions.
Using theoretical failure criteria it is possible to
predict if the perforation will produce sand.
Well bore stability, i.e.
The prediction of formation failure / collapse
while drilling.
This is especially relevant in deviated wells when
drilling at high angles through soft rock can be
problematic.
The physical mechanism is similar to that of sand
stability evaluation.
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Sonic Measurement

Mechanical Properties uses 2

The major use of mechanical properties in hard
rocks is to predict how they will behave under
"excess" pressure:
Drilling:
Will the formation fracture and the drilling mud
disappear?
Hydraulic fracturing:
How much pressure will fracture the formation
and how far will the fracture extend?
Experimental models are used to compute
parameters such as tensile strength.
Simulations are used to predict the pressures that
will "crack" the rock and lengths of fractures.

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Sonic Measurement

Sonic Parameters
Vertical resolution:
Standard (BHC, LSS, MSTC)
STC
6"DT

24"
36"
6"

Depth of investigation:
BHC
LSS-SDT

5"
12" (12 ft spacing)

Readings in(ms/ft)
Limestone (0pu)
Sandstone (0pu)
Dolomite (0pu)
Anhydrite
Salt
Shale
Coal
Steel (casing)

47.5
51-55
43.5
50
67
>90
>120
57

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