PETE 524 Advanced Well Logging

Homework#2
Due Date: February 24th, 2024

Q1: Using Fick’s law and Nernst–Einstein relation, prove that the potential generated by
the shale membrane is five times that generated by the diffusion (liquid junction).

Q2: The static SP is determined from the following equation assuming that the shale is a
perfect membrane:

Rmfe
SSP = − KLog
Rwe

i. Explain how the shale resistivity will affect the SSP value?
ii. When can we replace the equivalent resistivities by the measured ones? (replace
Rmfe and Rwe with Rmf and Rw)

Q3: A 9 in. borehole is filled with mud at a constant temperature of 100◦ F. The resistivity
of the mud is 0.9 ohm-m at 100◦F.
• What is the resistance of the mud column from surface to 7,000 ft?
• What is the resistance if the temperature is raised to 200◦F?
• In the latter case, what would be the resistance if the diameter of the borehole were
increased to 1 m?

Q4: The log of Fig. 1 shows a measurement of the mud resistivity (in ohm-m) as a function
of depth. Ignore the SP curve since it was measured 9 months prior to the mud
measurements.
• Assuming constant mud salinity for the bottom 300 ft of log, what temperature
variation would be required to produce such a resistivity change? Sketch a log of it
in track 3.
• What salinity variation could produce a similar change in resistivity in accordance
with the temperature over this zone? Plot a few points of the concentration of NaCl
as a function of depth in track 3.
• What is a good explanation for the resistivity behavior in this example?

Q5: From the data of Fig. 2 verify the expected exponential dependence of resistivity on
the inverse of temperature (◦K). Taking points from the curve for a concentration of 4,000
kppm, how far does the resistivity at 350◦F deviate from the following model of water
viscosity?
C
 =  o e ( is the water viscosity, T = temp., C = constant)
T
Fig. 1

Fig. 2