PDK-100

Enhance formation evaluation and reservoir monitoring

with proven pulsed neutron capture technology

In June 1963, the first Neutron Lifetime

Log was run in a well near Humble, Texas,
by Lane Wells Co., a predecessor of Baker
Atlas. Since then, thousands of pulsed
neutron logs have been used by successive
generations of petroleum engineers and
log analysts. The commercial success of

the Neutron Lifetime Log and its continuing enhancement, such as the PDK-100
service, is a tribute to the dedication of
Baker Atlas scientists and engineers and
the managements commitment to progress
in the petroleum industry.

The PDK-100 (pulse and decay 100 channels)

instrument provides high-resolution formation data to help you assess the
extent of your hydrocarbon reserves.
The PDK-100 data can be used to optimize hydrocarbon recovery, whether
you are producing a single well or an entire field. By periodically monitoring reservoir fluid saturations and gas/oil/water contact levels, you can continually refine the reservoir model, impacting decisions concerning daily
well-site operations to initiating secondary or tertiary recovery. The PDK100 data can also help you avoid premature well or field abandonment by
identifying bypassed hydrocarbons that could be recovered economically
from the reservoir.
The PDK-100 instrument responds to both inelastic and capture gamma
rays, allowing you to determine sigma (), the macroscopic neutron absorption cross section of the formation, in a variety of borehole fluid conditions
and completion hardware configurations. Full-spectrum recording, digital
data transmission, and continuous tool monitoring ensure data quality and
reliability in a variety of cased and openhole environments. The unique fullspectrum recording provides additional reservoir and borehole information
to further enhance your formation evaluation.

Applications
Reservoir monitoring of gas/oil/water
contact levels
Formation evaluation
(fluid saturations and porosity)
- Through casing
- When openhole logs are not available
- Through drill pipe when openhole
logs cannot be run due to hole
conditions
Hydrocarbon typing differentiation
between gas and oil
Flood monitoring
Log-inject-log surveys
Preabandonment logging to locate
bypassed hydrocarbons
Locating hydrocarbons trapped
between tubing and casing strings
Identifying water channeling

The PDK-100 instrument provides valuable

information for developing accurate 3-D
reservoir depletion models.

System Overview
The PDK-100 instrument uses a fast (14 MeV)
neutron accelerator and two scintillation
gamma ray detectors to measure sigma (),
the macroscopic neutron absorption cross
section of subsurface formations.
The instrument responds to both inelastic
and capture gamma rays. The inelastic
gamma rays, produced by fast neutron
collisions during the accelerator pulse, are
used primarily to infer the type of fluid
present in the formation. The capture
gamma rays are generated by the absorption of slow or thermal neutrons after
the pulse. The sensitivity of the capture
process to salinity produces a log response
similar to a conductivity measurement.
These measurements allow for calculating
the formation water saturation and monitor
different fluid contact points behind the
casing, through tubing or drill pipe, as well
as in open hole.
The PDK-100 instrument measures a complete 100-channel decay spectrum for each
detector. The formation is computed from
the rate at which these spectra decay toward
the background level. A spectrum that exhibits rapid decay is produced by a high-
formation, such as a shale or high-porosity
zone with high-salinity formation fluid.
Conversely, a low- formation, such as lowporosity reservoir rocks, gas zones, or lowsalinity formation fluids, is represented by
a slowly decaying spectrum. The PDK-100
instrument can record all 100 channels of
spectral data for future in-depth analysis.

A single-level PDK-100 decay spectrum for two

different formations clean limestone and
a shale. A unique advantage of the PDK-100
system is that the entire spectrum is recorded
over 100 channels, providing a detailed delineation of decay for each detector.

Pulsing and Timing Modes

The PDK-100 instrument fires short bursts
of fast neutrons into the formation at a
rate of 1,000 times per second. Gamma
rays, induced by neutron interactions in
the borehole and the formation, are measured and sorted into 100 equal-width
gates for each of the two detectors. Two
complete decay curves are thus obtained,
each representing the neutron absorption
rates in both the borehole and the formation. The short duration of the pulse and
the large number of counting gates provide
enhanced delineation of all the pertinent
features, decay process, as well as superior
statistical precision.

The method used for computing the formation from the short-spaced detector
is based on a single exponential decay
process. The borehole contribution to the
tool response is minimized by delaying
the analysis until the rapidly diminishing
borehole component of the decay curve
has died away. Compensation for any
residual borehole signal, as well as diffusion effects, can readily be accomplished
by using corrections based on extensive
sets of laboratory and modeling data.
Background activation is eliminated from
the decay curve by subtraction. The measurement of this background activity takes
place within a 4-ms counting gate that
occurs after every 28 neutron pulses. This
method for determining the formation
provides an accurate log and, yet, is far
more robust and reliable than more complex iterative algorithms based on dualexponential or diffusion models.
The 100-channel raw data spectrum shows
the excellent delineation of the decay process. The counts in the first six channels
occur during the neutron pulse and consist
primarily of gamma rays produced during
inelastic collisions with atomic nuclei in
the borehole and formation. The next 10 to
20 channels are strongly affected by neutron capture within both the borehole and
the formation. Beyond 400 s, the decay
process is governed primarily by neutron
capture in the formation.

PDK-100 short-spaced spectrum SS detector

response provides an enhanced thin-bed
response and superior statistical precision.

Field Applications
The PDK-100 log presentations and curve
descriptions are provided in a document
accompanying this brochure.

Example 1
This example shows a typical PDK-100
response in zones of low porosity, gas, oil,
and water-saturated rock.* In the lowporosity zone, SGMA goes low while RIN
increases due to the high density and low
hydrogen index of the formation. The confirmation that this zone is tight is the lowporosity readings of the openhole neutron
and density logs shown at the right.
In the gas zone, SGMA again moves to low
values. In this case, however, a dramatic
drop in the RIN curve and the separation
of the LONG SPACE (LS) and SHORT SPACE
(SS) count rates reveals the presence of gas.
This gas interval is confirmed by the crossover in the neutron and density porosity
logs.

In the oil zone, SGMA remains low and RIN

stays relatively high throughout the zone.
Here the SS and LS count rates help distinguish this zone from the low-porosity formation. Note that in this oil-filled porosity,
the neutron and density overlay. The wet
zone is inferred by a high value of RIN
along with a relatively high SIGMA reading
indicating formation salinity. Also, the neutron and density porosity curves almost
stack in the shaly zone.

15

GAMMA RAY
(API)

65

SIGMA
(su)

60
16

0 60

RIN=INELASTIC RATIO RESPONSE

0

RIN is high in
a low zone.

Low Sigma

NPHI
(pu)

LONG (CPS)
3800 60

SHORT (CPS)
0
10000

DPHI
(pu)

LS/SS crossover

Neutron/
Density
low

LOW
POR

RIN is low in
a high gas zone.

Low Sigma

LS/SS crossover
and separation

Neutron/
Density
crossover
high

GAS

RIN is high in a
high oil zone.

Low Sigma

RIN is high in a
high water zone.

High Sigma

No crossover
of LS/SS

Neutron/
Density
overlay, high

OIL

WET

PDK-100 and openhole neutron/density

responses in zones of low-porosity, gas, oil,
and water-saturated rock

*Adapted from example in paper by Scheibal et al.,

Differentiation of Hydrocarbon Type in Laminated
Pliocene/Pleistocene Turbidite Sands via Inelastic Pulsed
Neutron Capture Data (SPE 24737, 1992 SPE Annual
Technical Conference, Washington, D.C.)

LS & SS
stack

Neutron/
Density
high

Example 2

SHALE
D
E
P
T
H

SANDSTONE

SW-RT ORIGNAL

GAMMA RAY-API
100 0

HYDROCARBON

100 50

WATER

FLUID POR.
YEAR 10

FLUID POR.
YEAR 13
0 50

FLUID POR.
ORIGINAL
0 50

SHALE
0 0

SW-PDK YEAR 13
100

100
POROSITY

100

SW-PDK YEAR 10
0
100

0
SAND

100

X100
X200

Track 1

Track 2

Track 3

Track 4

Track 5

Track 6

SEARCH Time Lapse analysis of PDK-100 and

openhole log data help monitor hydrocarbon
and water saturation changes over a 13-year
period.

This is a SEARCH Time Lapse analysis

showing the use of PDK-100 measurements
to monitor reservoir depletion over time.
SEARCH is a cased-hole exploration service
analysis program developed by Baker Atlas
to calculate fluid saturation, reservoir
porosity, and shaliness from PDK-100 and
openhole log data for monitoring reservoir
depletion and gas/oil/water contact levels.
The six-track display includes a gamma ray
correlation curve in track 1; three water
saturation curves in track 2; porosity and
fluid analysis in tracks 3, 4, and 5; and a
total volume analysis in track 6. The total
volume analysis and fluid volumes shown
in tracks 5 and 6 are based on openhole
porosity and resistivity data. The PDK-100
data were used to monitor changes in
hydrocarbon and water saturations over
13 years of production.

and LS combine to provide the needed

information. The lower interval (3B)
reveals gas sands above and below the
bottom of the casing. Again, the measurement is made through a string of stuck
drill pipe. SGMA and RIN both read low
in the gas zones where the LS and SS
count-rate curves separate.

Example 3
The examples below demonstrate the ability of the PDK-100 system to perform under
different borehole conditions. The upper
zone (3A) shows a high GOR oil zone on
top of water measured through a string of
casing and stuck drill pipe. SGMA, RIN, SS,

Sigma

Sigma
X100

Gamma
Ray

Gamma
Ray

SS

RPOR
RIN
X750

SS
LS

7-58 csg
Gas
Flag

X150

Oil
Sand

RPOR

X800

Gas
Sand

758 csg

312 DP
X200
X850

312 DP

X250

Oil/Water
Contact

Oil
Sand

X900

Gas
Sand

X300

Water
Sand

X950

Gas
Sand

X350

3B

Formation evaluation and differentiation between gas, oil, and water can
be achieved through drill pipe and casing using the 1.70-in. OD PDK-100
instrument.

X10

3A

RIN

LS

Borehole and Diffusion Corrections

Correction to the raw measurement may
be required for quantitative analysis. For
instance, if the neutron population is not
uniformly distributed within the borehole
and the formation, the measured value
may be high. Thermal neutrons tend to
move from regions where their concentration is high into regions where their concentration is relatively low. This movement
of neutrons in and out of various regions
due to concentration differences is called
diffusion.
SGMA-SGNT
departure surface
for 8-in. (203-mm)
borehole/7-in.
(178-mm) casing
(fresh cement)
plotted as a function of SGMA and
borehole salinity

PDK-100 response
in three different
borehole fluids
diesel, 42k ppm
salt water, and
175k ppm salt
water

Diffusion can have a significant influence

on the apparent rate of decay of thermal
neutrons. As a general rule, thermal neutrons tend to move away from the borehole
and out into the less populated regions of
the formation. This phenomena reduces the
count rate and tends to make the formation

appear more absorptive, with a larger measured than the actual intrinsic value.
The diffusion effect is more important for
formations with low intrinsic cross sections.
Another influence on the raw measurement is that various regions in the formation
and the borehole absorb thermal neutrons
at different rates. The standard SGMA measurement is made by waiting a sufficient
amount of time after the neutron pulse so
that most of the counts in the detector will
result from neutrons that have spent most
of their time in the formation rather than
in the borehole. In many wells, borehole
and diffusion effects are insignificant, and
routine formation evaluation can be performed with proper interpretation parameters. Under some circumstances, however,
it is necessary to make corrections prior to
quantitative log analysis. These corrections
are particularly important in well monitoring applications where borehole fluids
change from one logging run to the next.
Borehole- and diffusion-correction algorithms and charts for the PDK-100 have
been determined from extensive sets of
laboratory measurements and modeling
calculations. The top figure shows the
combined effects of borehole and diffusion
on the PDK-100 instrument in 7-in. liquidfilled casing. The corrected value, SGNT,
is determined from the measured , SGMA,
and analyst input of borehole fluid information. PDK-100 borehole fluid indicators,
such as RBOR, can be used to guide the
analyst. SGNT is not dependent on any
initial guesses as required by simultaneous optimization solution techniques. The
calculations are robust and produce reliable
results. The log interval in the bottom figure shows three PDK-100 logging passes
through the same interval with different
borehole fluids. The raw SGMA measurements are shown just to the right of the
depth track, with the corrected SGNT values
presented in the far right track. The borehole and diffusion-corrected SGNT is available from your Baker Atlas Geoscience
Center or as postprocessing on many field
units. Corrections can also be applied to
PDK-100 log data from your files.

Log example and surface plot are from a 1990 paper by Murdoch et al., Diffusion Corrections To Pulsed Neutron Capture
Logs: Methodology, Trans., SPWLA Thirty-First Annual Logging Symposium, Lafayette, LA.

Instrument Specifications

1.70 in.
(43.2 mm)

Temperature Rating
Pressure Rating
Min. Hole Diameter
Tool Diameter
Length
Weight
Recommended Logging Speed
Vertical Resolution
Depth of Investigation

Wireline Requirements
Detector
Source
Measure Points
SS
GR
CCL

340F (171C)
16,000 psi (110.3 MPa)
2.25 in. (57.2 mm)
1.70 in. (43.2 mm)
32.9 ft (10.03 m) including CCL and GR
148 lb (67.1 kg)
20 ft/min (6.1 m/min)
25 in. (635 mm) given proper formation
contrast above and below zone of interest
11 in. (279 mm), estimated for a 7.88 in.
(200 mm) water-filled borehole with
a nominal 20% porosity
Single conductor or 7-conductor cable
Scintillation
Pulsed neutron 14 MeV, 1000 Hz
8.0 ft (2.4 m) from bullplug (zero point)
20.0 ft (6.1 m)
29.4 ft (9.0 m)

CCL MP

29 ft-5.0 in.
(8.97 m)

GR MP

32 ft-10.8 in.
(10.03 m)

20 ft-0.0 in.
6.10 m

SS MP

8 ft-0.0 in.
(2.44 m)

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