Does mudcake change the results of modeling gamma-gamma well-logging?

Abstract

Among the different techniques available, nuclear methods, including gamma-gamma logging tools, are of special importance. Though the real environment which surrounds the drilled borehole is a complex fractured medium which the fluid can flow through the porosities, simulation studies generally use the traditional model of a homogeneous mixture of formation and the liquid. Considering a previously published study, which shows that modeling of fluid flow in fractured reservoirs and simulating the formation as an inhomogeneous fractured medium leads to different results compared with those of homogeneous mixture, here we study the effect of the presence of drilling fluid (mudcake) on the response of the detectors in both the models. To study this effect, a typical gamma-gamma logging tool was modeled by using the MCNPX Monte Carlo code. The results show that the responses of the detectors in the mixture model in the presence of various thicknesses of mudcake are sensitive to the density of the formation material. However, this effect is not notable in the inhomogeneous fractured medium. These results emphasize the importance of the model employed for simulation of the medium in gamma-gamma well-logging.

Keywords

• Well-logging
• Borehole
• Porous media
• Mudcake
• Monte Carlo simulation