Past Projects with NICO

 Past Projects - Nuclear Tool Design & Characterization

• ​Design of a CsI based spectral gamma ray tool. 
• Design and evaluation of a Co-60 density tool.
• Design of a small-diameter litho-density tool that logs below the bit.
• Design of a LWD neutron porosity tool using a Cf-252 neutron source.
• Design and characterization of a small diameter compensated neutron tool using a Cf-252 source.
• Design and characterization of a neutron porosity tool using thermal and epithermal detectors. 
• Design and software development of a pulsed neutron capture (PNC) tool.
• Design and characterization of a new azimuthal LWD gamma-ray tool.
• Design and characterization of a new geochemical logging tool.
• Design of a borehole-fluid density measurement.
• Generic logging tool models that can be quickly changed to model existing tools.
  

•   Characterization of compensated neutron tools and generation of EC nomographs (several projects).
• Characterization of a new small diameter compensated neutron tool.
• Design studies between an AmBe-based neutron porosity tool and a Cf-252 based tool.
• Determination of the optimal gating sequences for a PNC logging tool.
• The effect of different pressure housings on the response of a new natural gamma-ray tool.
• Processing of natural GR counts based on 256-channel, 5-window and 11 window processing.
• Alpha processing of spectral gamma-ray measurements.
• Evaluation and performance of different litho-density windows such as Be, titanium and PEEK.
• Response of a density tool in the presence of rugosity in formations from 2 to 5 g/cc.
• Benchmarking and calibration of older generation logging tools.
• Density-neutron cross plots for a new density-neutron tool string.
• Environmental corrections for a small GR tool centered in a borehole with heavy barite muds.
• Comparison of the porosity and hydrogen index responses of PNC tools vs. CNL tools.
• Environmental corrections for a neutron porosity tool in cased holes.
• Response of a neutron porosity tool to gas in the borehole.
• Comparison of a single-detector epithermal neutron measurement to a standard CNL measurement.
• Design of a compensated neutron porosity tool using low pressure He-3 detectors.
• Evaluation of modifying existing tools with shorter detector spacings to improve performance.
• Cased-hole environmental corrections for a small diameter Cf-252 based neutron porosity tool.
• Evaluation of sigma and neutron porosity measurements in the presence of CO2 and precipated NaCl salt.
• Comparison of new tool designs to earlier generation designs.
• Comparison of the sigma and gas responses of 5 different PNC tools.
• Environmental corrections for a PNC tool for a wide range of conditions such as hole size, casing size and weight, cement quality, clay content, water/oil/gas in the formation, and water/oil/gas in the borehole.
• Environmental corrections for a Si-activation measurement in gravel pack.
• PNC C/O response in a gravel pack.
• Comparison of two different PNC tools in the same well to calibrate one tool to the other.
• Detailed evaluation of the diffusion effect on PNC sigma measurements.
• Evaluation of an X-ray backscatter measurement.
• Evaluation of an X-ray fluid density measurement.
• The effect of invasion on nuclear measurements.

General Physics Studies / Design of Lab Equipment

•   Modeling of the response from NaI, BGO, GSO, LaBr3, YAP, YSO, GYSO, CsI, and LaCl3 detectors.
• Dose rates from a neutron tool in a calibration/shield tank.
• Design of calibration fixtures and shield tanks for neutron tools.
• Dose rates on the outside of calibration tanks for PNC tools.
• Evaluation of a mineral logging density tool in calibration formations in Australia.
• Neutron porosity tool response in the University of Houston API Calibration facility.
• Gamma-Ray tool response in the University of Houston TUK Calibration wells.
• Evaluation of tool response in the Callisto calibration facility.
• Evaluation of neutron slowing-down and migration lengths in different formations for AmBe and 14Mev neutrons.
• Development of a new way to interpret elemental capture spectroscopy data.
• Comparison of simulated density spectra to lab measured spectra.
• Studies of neutron activation (oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, titanium, etc)
• Determination of the effectiveness of an PNC activation measurement to detect defects in liquid hydrogen fuel tanks (NASA project).

General Physics Studies / Design of Lab Equipment

• Modeling of the response from NaI, BGO, GSO, LaBr3, YAP, YSO, GYSO, CsI, and LaCl3 detectors.
• Dose rates from a neutron tool in a calibration/shield tank.
• Design of calibration fixtures and shield tanks for neutron tools.
• Dose rates on the outside of calibration tanks for PNC tools.
• Evaluation of a mineral logging density tool in calibration formations in Australia.
• Neutron porosity tool response in the University of Houston API Calibration facility.
• Gamma-Ray tool response in the University of Houston TUK Calibration wells.
• Evaluation of tool response in the Callisto calibration facility.
• Evaluation of neutron slowing-down and migration lengths in different formations for AmBe and 14Mev neutrons.
• Development of a new way to interpret elemental capture spectroscopy data.
• Comparison of simulated density spectra to lab measured spectra.
• Studies of neutron activation (oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, titanium, etc)
• Determination of the effectiveness of an PNC activation measurement to detect defects in liquid hydrogen fuel tanks (NASA )

Software Development

• Development of a Windows-based user interface for an old program that calculates the response of neutron, density and PNC capture logs in user-defined formations.
• VBA programs for Excel.

Proprietary Software Used In Nuclear Modeling

• Development of the NICO System which is used for all MCNP modeling studies.
• Various upgrades to the MCNP code to model scintillator detectors, for improved precision of detector count rates, and for neutron activation modeling.
• Generic logging tool models that can be quickly changed to model existing tools.
• Random Walk Engineering maintains a CPU cluster of 58 workstations (about 450 cores) for performin