Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP)'

A VSP test experiment at the high temperature geothermal field Krafla in NE-Iceland has been carried out. In two boreholes a zero-, far-, and multi-offset VSP were applied to assess the applicability of VSP as a method for delineating subsurface structures like magmatic bodies, zones of supercritical fluids, superheated steam, and high permeability in volcanic geothermal fields. Because of high well temperatures (>150°C) and high attenuating surface layers, challenging field preparations were necessary. Three-component seismic data were recorded with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and dominant signal frequencies around 20 Hz and 40 Hz, down to 2200 m depth, for air gun and explosive sources, respectively. As a result, the data provide a good basis for several processing and imaging techniques. As part of this Master\'s thesis, standard and novel processing techniques of a subset of the data (zero and far-offset VSP in a single well) have been tested and show promising results in accordance with the lithology from well data. Besides velocity profiles and a corridor stack for both P- and S-waves were determined, a 3D Kirchhoff depth migration and Fresnel volume migration have been applied and tested. Already for a single source location, results show structures in the vicinity and below the well, and it can be assumed that further interpretation and data integration will provide a great potential in addition to hitherto applied teleseismic and potential methods. Especially, for geothermal sites it has been shown, that VSP can be applied and provide information of geometries where dipping faults and fracture zones are expected. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community\'s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 608553 (Project IMAGE).

Les capteurs distribués à fibre optique (aussi nommés DAS) sont une nouvelle technologie d'acquisition sismique qui utilise des câbles traditionnels à fibre optique pour fournir une mesure de la déformation le long du câble. Ce système d'acquisition est largement utilisé dans les profils sismiques verticaux (PSV). Le couplage est un facteur clé qui a une grande influence sur la qualité des données. Alors que, pour les acquisitions PSV, les géophones sont attachés à la paroi du puits, le câble de fibre optique est soit cimenté derrière le tubage, soit attaché avec des pinces rigides au tubage ou simplement descendu dans le puits. Cette dernière stratégie de déploiement donne généralement le plus petit rapport signal sur bruit, mais est considérée comme la plus rentable en particulier pour les installations dans des puits existants. Cette thèse porte sur la problématique du couplage du DAS quand le câble est simplement descendu dans le puits. Nous développons des modèles numériques pour analyser les données réelles. L'interprétation de ces résultats nous permet de conclure qu'un contact immédiat du câble avec la paroi du puits avec une force de contact calculée est nécessaire pour fournir des bonnes conditions de couplage. Sur la base de ces résultats, nous proposons des solutions pour optimiser davantage les acquisitions avec le système DAS. Nous modifions numériquement la force de contact et les propriétés élastiques du câble DAS et démontrons comment ces modifications peuvent améliorer mais aussi détériorer la qualité des données. Enfin, nous proposons un algorithme de détection du couplage qui permet d'assurer l'acquisition de données réelles avec un rapport signal / bruit élevé
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a new technology of seismic acquisition that relies on traditional fibre-optic cables to provide inline strain measurement. This acquisition system is largely used in vertical seismic profiling (VSP) surveys. Coupling is a key factor influencing data quality. While geophones and accelerometers are clamped to the borehole wall during VSP surveys, the fibre cable is either clamped and then cemented behind the casing, or attached with rigid clamps to the tubing, or loosely lowered into the borehole. The latter deployment strategy, also called wireline deployment, usually acquires the lowest level of signal but is regarded as the most cost-effective in particular for existing well installations. This PhD thesis addresses the problematic of coupling of DAS using wireline deployment. We develop numerical models that are used to analyse real data. The interpretation of these results allows us concluding that an immediate contact of the cable with the borehole wall with a computed contact force is required to provide good coupling conditions. Based on those findings, we propose solutions to further optimise DAS acquisitions. We numerically modify the contact force and the elastic properties of the DAS cable and show how these modifications can improve but also deteriorate data quality. Finally, we propose a coupling detection algorithm that is applied to real datasets and allows ensuring the acquisition of data with a high signal-to-noise ratio

Du fait de l’épuisement des réserves de pétrole, l’exploration et la production sont réalisées dans des environnements de plus en plus complexes. Faire de l’imagerie sismique sous le sel allochtone (par exemple dômes de sel) demeure une tâche difficile à cause du fait contraste de vitesse dentre le sel et les sédiments voisins et les structures très complexes produites par les déplacements de sel. Les nappes de sel allochtone couvrent de nombreuses régions potentiellement productives dans l’offshore profond du Golfe du Mexique. Forer la base du sel est une tâche extrêmement difficile en raison des pressions de pore fortement variables que l’on recontre dans les sédiments sous le sel. Des méthodes sismiques pour estimer la vitesse des ondes sismiques peuvent être employées en même temps que des formules empiriques pour prévoir la pression de pore. Cependant, il est souvent impossible de mesures précises depuis la surface, et nous avons donc employé des données VSP (Vertical Seismic Profile) “walk-away” cela implique d’effectuer plusieurs tirs sismique à diverses distances du forage (géneralement avec un dispositif de canons á air) tout en enregistrement les vitesses mesurees par des geophones placés à des profondeurs appropriées dans le forage. Avant cette thèse, les données étaient traitées en utilisant l’information d’amplitude en fonction de l’angle dans un simple approximation 1D ou en utilisant l’information de temps de parcours (également avec une approximation 1D). Dans cette thèse, j’ai effectué une inversion 2D de forme d’onde pour résoudre le problème d’estimation des vitesses. Cela a l’avantage d’inverser simultanément l’ensemble des données (comprenant les ondes transmises, les ondes refléchies et les ondes converties) et la méthode inclut l’information de temps de parcours et d’amplitude. L’inversion a été exécute avec des méthodes locales d’inversion du fait de la taille du problème inverse et de la difficulté du problème direct. Les problèmes liés aux grandes variations de le sensibilité inhérents à l’acquisition de données, ont conduit à un examen de la méthode de Gauss- Newton et à des matrices, de préconditionnement possibles pour la méthode du gradient conjugué. En raison de la nature mal contrainte du problème inverse, une régularisation a été appliquée avec une méthode de préconditionnement innovatrice. La méthodologie a été appliquée à des données réelles et la pression de pore a été prédite en utilisant l’équation bien établie de Eaton. En outre, les structures sous le sel ont été déterminées, confirment ainsi l’efficacité de cette technique
Depletion of the earth’s hydrocarbon reserves has led to exploration and production in increasingly complex environments. Imaging beneath allochthonous salt (e. G. Salt domes) remains a challenging task for seismic techniques due to the large velocity contrast of the salt with neighbouring sediments and the very complex structures generated by salt movement. Extensive allochthonous salt sheets cover many potentially productive regions in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. Drilling through the base of salt is an extremely challenging task due to widely varying pore-pressure found in the sediments beneath. Seismic methods to estimate the seismic velocity can be used in conjunction with empirical formula to predict the pore pressure. However, accurate measurements are often not possible from surface reflection seismic data, so walk-away Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) data has been used. This involves repeatedly firing a seismic source at various distances from the borehole (usually an airgun array) while recording the velocities measured by geophones in the borehole placed at appropriate depths near the base of the salt. Before this thesis, the data had been processed using the amplitude versus angle information in a simple one-dimension approximation or using travel time information (also using a 1D assumption). In this thesis, I have used 2D full waveform inversion to tackle the problem of velocity estimation. This has the advantage of simultaneously inverting the whole dataset (including transmitted waves, reflected waves, converted waves) and the method includes traveltime and amplitude information. The inversion was performed using local inversion methods due to the size of the inverse problem and the cost of the forward problem. Concerns over large sensitivity variations, that are inherent in the data acquisition, have lead to an examination of the Gauss-Newton method and possible preconditioning matrices for the conjugate gradient method. Due to the poorly constrained nature of the inverse problem, a smoothness constraint has been applied with an innovative preconditioning method. The methodology has been applied to real data and the pore pressure has been predicted using the well established Eaton equation. In addition, the sub-salt structure was recovered, further demonstrating the value of this technique

Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin, 2004.
Title from cover. "Dezember 2004"--P. [2] of cover. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-113). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1991.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-208).
by Robert D. Cicerone.
Ph.D.

A VSP test experiment at the high temperature geothermal field Krafla in NE-Iceland has been carried out. In two boreholes a zero-, far-, and multi-offset VSP were applied to assess the applicability of VSP as a method for delineating subsurface structures like magmatic bodies, zones of supercritical fluids, superheated steam, and high permeability in volcanic geothermal fields. Because of high well temperatures (>150°C) and high attenuating surface layers, challenging field preparations were necessary. Three-component seismic data were recorded with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and dominant signal frequencies around 20 Hz and 40 Hz, down to 2200 m depth, for air gun and explosive sources, respectively. As a result, the data provide a good basis for several processing and imaging techniques. As part of this Master\'s thesis, standard and novel processing techniques of a subset of the data (zero and far-offset VSP in a single well) have been tested and show promising results in accordance with the lithology from well data. Besides velocity profiles and a corridor stack for both P- and S-waves were determined, a 3D Kirchhoff depth migration and Fresnel volume migration have been applied and tested. Already for a single source location, results show structures in the vicinity and below the well, and it can be assumed that further interpretation and data integration will provide a great potential in addition to hitherto applied teleseismic and potential methods. Especially, for geothermal sites it has been shown, that VSP can be applied and provide information of geometries where dipping faults and fracture zones are expected. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community\'s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 608553 (Project IMAGE).

Landslides have occurred throughout the Holocene geologic epoch and they continue to occur in the Peace River Lowlands of Alberta and British Columbia. This study was conducted to provide an understanding of the processes and extents of one such landslide situated on a major slope at the Town of Peace River, Alberta by means of geophysical techniques with the aim of reducing the geohazard risk to lives and infrastructures. The geophysical characterization involved the acquisition, processing, and joint interpretation of seismic reflection, seismic refraction tomography, vertical seismic profile, and electrical resistivity tomography datasets, thereby providing important information about the subsurface geometry of the landslide, insights into the material properties of the unstable mass in contrast to that of the stable rock, and possible causes of the landslide. This contribution shows that putting considerable efforts into the acquisition and processing of geophysical datasets can yield valuable functional details.
Geophysics

A study was undertaken to improve the signal quality and the resolution of the velocity profile for deep downhole seismic testing. Deep downhole testing is defined in this research as measurements below 225 m (750 ft). The study demonstrated that current testing procedures can be improved to result in higher signal quality by customizing the excitation frequency of the vibrator to local site conditions of the vibrator-earth system. The earth condition beneath the base plate can be an important factor in the signal quality subject to variations with time when tests are repetitive. This work proposes a convenient method to measure the site localized natural frequency and damping ratio, and recommends using different excitation frequencies for P- and S-wave generation. Properly increasing the excitation duration of the source signal also contributes to the quality of the receiver signal. The source signature of sinusoidal vibratory source is identified. Conventional travel time analysis using vibratory source generally focuses on chirp sweeps. After testing with impulsive sources and chirp sweeps and comparing the results with the durational sinusoidal source, the sinusoidal source was then chosen. This work develops an approach to identifying the source signature of the sinusoidal source and concludes that the normalized source signature is relevant only to four parameters: the fixed-sine excitation frequency, the duration of excitation, the damping ratio of the vibrator-earth system, and the damped natural frequency of the vibrator-earth system. Two of the parameters are designated input to the vibrator and the other two parameters are measured in the field test using the proposed method in this work. A new wavelet-response technique based on deconvolution and consideration of velocity dispersion is explored in travel-time analyses. The wavelet-response technique is also used for development of a new approach to correcting disorientation of receiver tool. The improved downhole procedures and analyses are then used in the analysis of deep downhole test data obtained at Hanford, WA. Downhole testing was performed to a depth of about 420 m (1400 ft) at Hanford site. Improvements in resolving the wave velocity profiles to depths below 300 m (1000) ft are clearly shown.
text

This work was conducted to help understand a premature and irregular water breakthrough which resulted from a waterflooding project in the increment II region of Haradh oilfield in Saudi Arabia using different geophysical methods. Oil wells cannot sustain the targeted oil production rates and they die much sooner than expected when water enters the wells. The study attempted to identify fracture systems and their role in the irregular water sweep. Single-well acoustic migration imaging (SWI), walkaround vertical seismic profiling (VSP) and cross-dipole shear wave measurements were used to detect anisotropy caused by fractures near and far from the borehole. The results from all the different methods were analyzed to understand the possible causes of water fingering in the field and determine the reasons for discrepancies and similarities of results of the different methods. The study was done in wells located in the area of the irregular water encroachment in Haradh II oilfield. Waterflooding was performed, where water was injected in the water injector wells drilled at the flanks of Harahd II toward the oil producer wells. Unexpected water coning was noticed in the west flank of the field. While cross-dipole and SWI measurements of a small-scale clearly identify a fracture oriented N60E in the upper tight zone of the reservoir, the VSP measurements of a large-scale showed a dominating fracture system to the NS direction in the upper highpermeability zone of the same reservoir. These results are consistent with the directions of the three main fracture sets in the field at N130E, N80E and N20E, and the direction of the maximum horizontal stress in the field varies between N50E and N90E. Results suggested that the fracture which is detected by cross-dipole at 2 to 4 ft from the borehole is the same fracture detected by SWI 65 ft away from the borehole. This fracture was described using the SWI as being 110 ft from top to bottom, having an orientation of N60E and having an angle of dip of 12° relative to the vertical borehole axis. The detected fracture is located in the tight zone of the reservoir makes a path for water to enter the well from that zone. On the Other hand, the fractures detected by the large-scale VSP measurements in the NS direction are responsible for the high-permeability in the upper zone of the reservoir.