Borehole Imaging: General

Borehole Imaging 8
GENERAL
The term "borehole imaging" refers to those logging and data-processing
methods that are used to produce centimeter-scale images of the borehole
wall and the rocks that make it up. Borehole images are electronic pictures
of the rocks and fluids encountered by a wellbore. Such images are made
by electrical, acoustic, or video devices which have been lowered into the
well. Images are oriented, they have high vertical and lateral resolution,
and they provide critical information about bedding dip, fractures, faults,
unconformities, paleocurrent directions, vuggy and fracture porosity, and
other geological features.
*Borehole imaging has been one of the most rapidly advancing

technologies in wireline well logging.
Types
• Optical Borehole Images (Downhole Video Images).
• Acoustic Borehole Images.
• Electrical Borehole Images.
1-Optical Borehole Images

(or downhole video images) Downhole photographic images have been
available since the 1960s (Mullins, 1966). However, limitations on the
strength of the light source, maximum temperatures allowed, and data-
transmission capabilities prevented them from gaining widespread
acceptance. Downhole cameras were the first borehole-imaging devices.
Today they furnish a true high-resolution color image of the wellbore. The
principal drawback is that they require a transparent fluid in liquid-filled
holes. Unless transparent fluid can be injected ahead of the lens, the method
fails. This requirement has limited the application of downhole cameras.
The other major historic limitation, the need to wait until the camera is
recovered before the images can be seen, has fallen away with the
introduction of digital systems.
The principal application of downhole video has been in air-filled holes in

which acoustic and contact electrical images cannot be obtained. Most
applications described in the literature are directed at fracture identification
or casing inspection.
1
2-Acoustic Borehole Images
Acoustic borehole-imaging devices are known as "borehole televiewers."
They are mandrel tools and provide 100% coverage of the borehole wall.
The first borehole televiewer, operating at a relatively high ultrasonic
frequency of 1.35 MHz, was developed by Mobil Corp. in the late 1960s.
Since then, a succession of improvements have been made, principally
through advances in digital instrumentation and computer-image
enhancement. Modern tools contain a magnetometer to provide azimuthal
information.
The borehole televiewer operates with pulsed acoustic energy so that it can
image the borehole wall in the presence of opaque drilling muds. Short
bursts of acoustic energy are emitted by a rotating transducer in pulse-echo
mode. These travel through the drilling mud and undergo partial reflection
at the borehole wall. Reflected pulses are received by the transducer. The
amplitudes of the reflected pulses form the basis of the acoustic image of
the borehole wall. These amplitudes are governed by several factors. The
first is the shape of the borehole wall itself: irregularities cause the reflected
energy to scatter so that a weaker reflected signal is received by the
transducer. Examples of these irregularities are fractures, vugs, and
breakouts. Moreover, the reflected signal is degraded in elliptical and oval
wellbores because of non-normal incidence. The second factor is the
contrast in acoustic impedance between the drilling mud and the material
that makes up the borehole wall. Acoustic impedance provides an acoustic
measure of the relative firmness of the formations penetrated by the
wellbore material and, thus, it has the capability of discriminating between
different lithologies, with high acoustic impedance giving rise to high
reflected amplitudes. Borehole televiewers work best where the borehole
2
walls are smooth and the contrast in acoustic impedance is high. The third
factor is the scattering or absorption of acoustic energy by particles in the
drilling mud. This problem is more serious in heavily weighted muds,
which are the most opaque acoustically, and it gives rise to a loss of image
resolution.
The borehole televiewer can provide a 360° image in open or cased holes.
It can operate in all downhole environments other than gas-filled holes.
The travel time for the acoustic pulse depends on the distance between the
transducer and the borehole wall, as well as the mud velocity. Modern
televiewers allow some independent method of measuring the mud
velocity. Thus, the borehole televiewer also operates as an acoustic caliper
log. For best results, the tool should be centered, although correction
algorithms have been developed for eccentered surveys.
8.1
3
3-Electrical Borehole Images
Electrical borehole images are based on dipmeter technology that has been
commercially available since the 1950s. Figure 8.1 is an illustration of the
tool configuration and basic principles behind dipmeter logs. Electrical
borehole-imaging tools are, in essence, sophisticated dipmeters. The
imaging tools have microresistivity electrodes arranged around the
wellbore on pads that are pressed against the borehole wall. The
evolutionary trend from dipmeters to borehole images has been from a
few electrodes to a complex array of electrodes on multiple pads (Figure
8.2).
8.2
8.1
4
Data Acquisition—Tools are first run into the hole with the pads closed.
At the start of the log run, either four, six, or eight pads are pressed against
the borehole wall. The number of pads depends on the logging device
which is being used (Table 8.2). Electrical current is forced into the rock
through the electrodes, and remote sensors measure the current after it
interacts with the formation (Figure 8.3). Raw data include multiple
electrode readings, caliper readings from individual pads or pairs of pads,
and x-, y-, and z-axis accelerometer and magnetometer readings. Borehole
deviation and pad 1 (tool) orientation are determined from the
magnetometers .
8.2
8.3
5
6

Borehole Imaging: General

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Borehole Imaging: General

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Borehole Imaging: General

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Borehole Imaging 8

*Borehole imaging has been one of the most rapidly advancing

1-Optical Borehole Images

The principal application of downhole video has been in air-filled holes in

You might also like