HIGH RESOLUTION MAPPING OF MECHANICAL AND FLOW PROPERTIES OF SUBURFACE STRUCTURE FROM NEW METHODS FOR ACOUSTIC LOGGING DATA PROCESSING

IN THE EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION OF OIL AND GAS RESERVOIRS AND IN GROUNDWATER STUDIES, THERE IS A NEED FOR HIGH RESOLUTION MAPPING OF FLUID FLOW CHANNELS IN THE SUBSURFACE FORMATION. THE INCREASED RESOLUTION PROVIDES ACCURATE LOCATIONS OF THE FLOW CHANNELS AND HELPS ENHANCE THE RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON RESOURCES. FOR ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS, THE ACURATE MAPPING OF THE FLOW CHANNELS WILL HELP TRACK CONTAMINANTS AND POLLUTANTS ASSOCIATED WITH GROUNDWATER FLOW. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, EFFECTIVE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES AND HIGH RESOLUTION PROCESSING TECHNIQUES NEED TO BE DEVELOPED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP HIGH RESOLUTION TECHNIQUES FOR SINGLE WELL ACOUSTIC LOGGING DATA PROCESSING TO OBTAIN IN-SITU ESTIMATES OF PERMEABILITY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SUBSURFACE FORMATION AND TO LOCATE AND CHARACTERIZE BEDROCK FRACTURES. AS A RESULT, SUBSURFACE FLOW SYSTEMS AND THEIR TRANSMISSIVITY (OR PERMEABILITY) WILL BE ACCURATELY MAPPED TO PROVIDE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR ENHANCED OIL AND GAS RECOVERY AND FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION AND REMEDIATION OF SOIL AND GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION PROBLEMS. PHASE I WILL ADDRESS TWO MAJOR TASKS. THE FIRST IS TO DEVELOP THE HIGH RESOLUTION PROCESSING TECHNIQUE TO INCLUDE THE CONVENTIONAL FULL WAVEFORM ACOUSTIC LOGS. THE SECOND IS TO DEVELOP ANALYSIS METHODS FOR HIGH RESOLUTION PERMEABILITY ESTIMATION FROM TUBE WAVES AND TEST THE METHODS USING AVAILABLE DATA. THE COMPLETION OF THESE TASKS WILL DETERMINE THE APPLICABILITY OF THE PROPOSED TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH RESOLUTION MAPPING OF SUBSURFACE STRUCTURE.