Unconventional neutron sources for oil well logging

Americium–Beryllium (AmBe) radiological neutron sources have been widely used in the petroleum industry for well logging purposes. There is strong desire on the part of various governmental and regulatory bodies to find alternate sources due to the high activity and small size of AmBe sources. Other neutron sources are available, both radiological (252Cf) and electronic accelerator driven (D–D and D–T). All of these, however, have substantially different neutron energy spectra from AmBe and thus cause significantly different responses in well logging tools. We report on simulations performed using unconventional sources and techniques to attempt to better replicate the porosity and carbon/oxygen ratio responses a well logging tool would see from AmBe neutrons. The AmBe response of these two types of tools is compared to the response from 252Cf, D–D, D–T, filtered D–T, and T–T sources.