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Neutron Log
Omar El Gushti

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Neutron Logs
– Neutron Log is a continuous record of a formation reaction to
fast neutron bombardment.

– Neutron Log measures the Hydrogen richness in the formation

(Hydrogen index).

– Geologically, Hydrogen is abundant in the formation fluids

(highest in water, less in oil, and the least in gas).

– The richness of Hydrogen indicates porosity, since the formation

fluids fill the pore space.

– Rocks with no or very low porosity will have low Hydrogen index.

– Neutron log source emits pulses of high-energy neutrons into

the formation and the detectors measure the loss of the neutron
energy as they pass through the formation.

– Since the Hydrogen has the same nucleus mass of neutron, it makes it very good at slowing
down the neutrons generated by the log tool. This makes the slower the neutrons detected
back from the formation indicates higher porosity.

– Depth of investigation 15-25 cm in high porosity Fms and 50-60 cm in tight Fm.

– Bed resolution is 15 cm.

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Neutron Logs

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Neutron Log Tools

– Thermal detector tools are used for cased holes with Non air base mud.

– Epithermal detector tools are used for the air or gas filled borehole.

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Unwanted Logging Effects

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Unwanted Logging Effects (Open Hole)

Hole Size Correction.

– Necessary because the tools algorithm from ratio to porosity is built to "fit" a 77/8" hole.

– Larger holes cause the tool to see more mud (100% porosity) around the borehole, hence the tool
reads too high in larger hole sizes.

Mud Cake Correction

– The mud cake absorbs neutrons before they can enter or leave the formation.

– mud cake = stand-off with porosity <100%.

– The larger the mud cake, the larger the correction.

– It is a small correction but one that is rarely ever applied because the mud cake cannot be easily
measured.

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Unwanted Logging Effects (Open Hole)

Borehole Salinity Correction

– This arises due to Chlorine.

– The more Chlorine present, the more neutrons absorbed in the borehole. ==> decrease count rate.

– The largest effect is seen in salt-saturated muds.

Mud Weight Correction

– The extra material in heavier muds means there is less hydrogen, hence more neutrons reach the
formation.

– It also changes if the mud is full of barite.

– In this case the amount of material needed to achieve the same mud weight is less, hence the
correction is less.

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Unwanted Logging Effects (Open Hole)

Formation Temperature Correction

– The correction is large and depends on the porosity.

– This is a dual effect:

– The expansion of the water reduces the quantity of Hydrogen seen by the tool.

– Change in the borehole fluid capture cross-section.

Pressure Correction

– The effect is caused by the compression of the fluids down hole.

– In standard water-based muds the effect is small.

– In oil-based muds the correction is large.

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Unwanted Logging Effects (Cased Hole)

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Application of Neutron Logs

Porosity Measurement

– Neutron log gives the porosity measurements directly without using any equations.

– Since this log is effected by number of bore hole factories and fluid content, it is usually used
with the density porosity to calculate the total porosity by using either an equation or a chart.

Salt water base mud Fresh water base mud

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Application of Neutron Logs (Fresh Water Base Mud)

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Application of Neutron Logs (Salt Water Base Mud)

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Application of Neutron Logs

Gas Zone determination

– Due to the very low hydrogen index of the gas compared to that of the water, Neutron porosity
reads very low porosity. For this reason, using the Neutron porosity with density log on the
same track in order to recognize the gas zones.

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Application of Neutron Logs

Lithology determination
– Neutron log may indicate shale (40-50 Por N)

– Relation between Density log and Neutron log

might give an indication about lithology.

– Using Porosity chart (slides 20-21) can be

used to determine the lithology.

+ve separation

-ve separation

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Application of Neutron Logs

Texture change determination (Grain size) Organic Matter Detection

– Due to the relation between the porosity – As the organic material has a higher

and the grain size, Neutron porosity may hydrogen abundance per unit volume than

show the change in grain size. clay, it shows a notable increase in the
neutron porosity. This increase is usually
– Neutron log is very sensitive to the quartz.
coincide with decrease in the RHOb.
The more quartz the lower Neutron
porosity

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