Boron shielding design for neutron and gamma detectors of a pulsed neutron tool

分类： 核科学技术 >> 核探测技术与核电子学 提交时间： 2024-05-27

Wang, Xinyang Chen, Junyan Zhang, Qiong

摘要： Shielding material is critical for downhole pulsed neutron tool design as it directly influences the accuracy of formation measurements. A well-designed shield configuration ensures that the response of the tool is maximally representative of formation without being impacted by tool and borehole environment. This manuscript investigates the effects of boron-containing materials on neutron and gamma detectors based on a newly designed logging-while-drilling tool, which is currently undergoing manufacturing process. As boron content increases, its ability to absorb thermal neutrons significantly enhances. Through simulation, it is proven that boron carbide (B4C) can be used as an effective boron shielding material for thermal neutrons and therefore employed in this work. To shield against thermal neutrons migrating from mud pipes, the optimal shielding thicknesses for near and far neutron detectors are determined to be 5mm and 4mm. For an example, at a porosity of 25 p.u., the near neutron sensitivity shows a 5.6% increase in response. Furthermore, in order to shield capture gamma generated by thermal neutrons once they enter tool from the mud pipe and formation, the internal and external shields for the gamma detector is evaluated. Results show internal shield needs 75% boron content while the external shield is of 14.2mm thickness and 25% boron content to minimize tool effect.

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