Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Radioactive Tracer Logs
Applications
Radioactive tracers have three main applications:
1. Determining flow rates and flow profiles
2. Diagnosing completion problems
3. Evaluating treatment effectiveness
The essential components of radioactive tracer logs are a radioactive material
and a gamma ray detector. And the methods of using radioactive materials together
with gamma ray detectors include:
Treating the well with a radioactive injectant
Using a tracer ejector tool
Monitoring the deposit of radioactive salts on the casing from water production
Well Treatment
A common practice is to frac a well using specially “doped” radioactive sand.
Before the frac a base gamma ray log is run. After the frac a second gamma ray log
is run. Where differences in the two gamma ray logs appear, it is assumed that the
formation took the frac material. Sometimes formations will be tested for injectivity
before attempting a frac. In that case, after the base gamma ray log is run, injection
water, containing a soluble radioactive material, will be injected. A post inject log
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