Acoustics

Acoustics SIG

About

The Acoustics Special Interest Group has been formed in accordance with SPWLA bylaws and has been ratified/approved by the committee. The purpose of this SIG is to provide a forum for those interested in borehole acoustics to conduct technical discussions concerning tool design, data acquisition, applications, interpretation, and to develop/promote industry standards.

Borehole Acoustics has grown significantly in technology and applications since the early days of monopole wireline tools in the 1960s. There have been design advances in both the wireline and LWD systems allowing for ever-increasing data quality and complexity. Uses of the data have grown from porosity and cement bond logging to include pore pressure prediction, seismic correlation, 3D stress profiling, fracture characterization, production enhancement, permeability, geosteering, and more.

The complexity of acoustic data and number of applications which require high levels of processing skill have led to some frustrations in the industry about understanding accuracies and uncertainties. Different vendors can have quite different processing methods and data delivery techniques, leading to apparent conflicts in results. An acoustics SIG is a vehicle to develop or suggest industry-wide standards for processing, data delivery, and log displays (where appropriate).

The SIG should be an excellent vehicle for discussions of existing and emerging applications and validation of new techniques. Some benchmark test cases could be organized for emerging tools and applications. Membership is open to all, with participation welcome from operators, service companies, academia, and consultants. There is no fee to join the SIG (though there is sometimes a registration fee to attend meetings in order to offset the cost of meeting facilities/meals).

 

First Topical Conference

Our first topical conference will be held 24 June 2014 at Weatherford’s Uptown Facility, located at 2000 St. James Place, Houston, TX, 77056 from 9 am to 4 pm. The format of the meeting will be “off the record” presentations along with panel discussions. Lively interactive discussions are expected, and participants are encouraged to present case studies, new methods, reviews of existing techniques, as well as unresolved issues for consideration. Reports on the status of ongoing SIG projects will be presented as well.

Anyone wishing to present should send an abstract to the committee at [email protected] by 3 June.

There is no fee to attend. Breakfast and afternoon tea will be provided. Participants can purchase lunch at the canteen located adjacent to the conference room.

Web meeting joining details will be distributed nearer the date. Note that it will be at each author’s discretion whether or not they wish their slides to be visible over the link.

Please reserve your place by 15 June by sending a request to: [email protected]

 

Acoustic Tool Mnemonics

We are currently compiling a list of all service provider tool and curve mnemonics.  We will eventually merge then in to the general SPWLA mnemonics guide but for now we will just store them below:

Weatherford: Spreadsheet

 

The executive committee (2013-2014) is composed of:

Chairman: Jennifer Market (Weatherford) [email protected]

Vice-Chairman Technology: John Walsh (Schlumberger) [email protected]

Secretary: Doug Patterson (Baker-Hughes) [email protected]

Treasurer: Adam Haecker (Continental) [email protected]