Downhole lithium detection systems and methods
A system may include one or more downhole tools, where a first downhole tool includes a pulsed neutron generator to emit neutrons into a borehole of a geological formation and one or more gamma-ray detectors to obtain a measurement of gamma-ray emissions, of a borehole environment, induced by the emitted neutrons. The system may also include data processing circuitry to determine a Sigma value associated with the borehole environment based on the measurement and determine elemental concentrations, excluding lithium, based on one or more gamma-ray energy spectra obtained via the one or more downhole tools. The data processing circuitry may also determine an elemental Sigma contribution of the elements other than lithium based on the elemental concentrations, determine a lithium Sigma contribution based on a difference between the Sigma value and the elemental Sigma contribution, and determine a lithium concentration within the borehole environment based on the lithium Sigma contribution.
1. A system comprising:
one or more downhole tools, wherein a first downhole tool of the one or more downhole tools comprises:
a pulsed neutron generator configured to emit neutrons into a borehole of a geological formation;
one or more first gamma-ray detectors configured to obtain a first measurement of gamma-ray emissions of a borehole environment, the gamma-ray emissions induced by the neutrons emitted from the pulsed neutron generator; and data processing circuitry configured to:
determine a Sigma value associated with the borehole environment based on the first measurement;
determine a plurality of elemental concentrations of a corresponding plurality of elements based on one or more gamma-ray energy spectra obtained via the one or more downhole tools, wherein the plurality of elements excludes lithium;
determine an elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements based on the plurality of elemental concentrations of the corresponding plurality of elements;
determine a lithium Sigma contribution based on a difference between the Sigma value and the elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements; and
determine a lithium concentration within the borehole environment based on the lithium Sigma contribution.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of elements excludes boron, and wherein determining the lithium Sigma contribution comprises subtracting the elemental Sigma contribution and a boron Sigma contribution from the Sigma value, wherein the boron Sigma contribution is based on an estimated boron concentration within the borehole environment.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the estimated boron concentration is based on a second measurement of a second downhole tool of the one or more downhole tools.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the second measurement comprises a borehole fluid analysis of the second downhole tool.
5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the estimated boron concentration is based on a second measurement of gamma-ray emissions of the borehole environment.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the second measurement of gamma-ray emissions of the borehole environment is performed via the one or more first gamma-ray detectors of the first downhole tool.
7. The system of claim 5 , wherein a second downhole tool of the one or more downhole tools comprises one or more second gamma-ray detectors, and wherein the second measurement of gamma-ray emissions of the borehole environment is performed via the one or more second gamma-ray detectors of the second downhole tool.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the borehole environment comprises a portion of the geological formation surrounding the borehole, and wherein the Sigma value comprises a formation Sigma value or a borehole Sigma value.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Sigma value is determined based on a decay rate of capture gamma-rays of the gamma-ray emissions of the first measurement.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more gamma-ray energy spectra is obtained via the one or more first gamma-ray detectors.
11. A method comprising:
determining a Sigma value associated with a borehole environment based on a first measurement of the borehole environment, the first measurement comprising counts of neutron-induced gamma-ray emissions;
determining a plurality of elemental concentrations of a corresponding plurality of elements based on one or more gamma-ray energy spectra of a second measurement of the borehole environment, the second measurement comprising energy levels of neutron-induced gamma-ray emissions, wherein the plurality of elements excludes lithium;
determining an elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements based on the plurality of elemental concentrations of the corresponding plurality of elements;
determining a lithium Sigma contribution based on a difference between the Sigma value and the elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements; and
determining a lithium concentration within the borehole environment based on the lithium Sigma contribution.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
obtaining the first measurement and the second measurement via one or more gamma-ray detectors of a first downhole tool; or
obtaining the first measurement via the one or more gamma-ray detectors of the first downhole tool and obtaining the second measurement via one or more gamma-ray detectors of a second downhole tool.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining the Sigma value and the plurality of elemental concentrations for multiple vertical depths of the borehole environment based on respective measurements obtained at the multiple vertical depths;
determining the lithium concentration associated with each of the multiple vertical depths; and
determining a depth map comprising the lithium concentration associated with each of the multiple vertical depths.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising obtaining a boron Sigma contribution, and wherein determining the lithium Sigma contribution comprises subtracting the elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements and the boron Sigma contribution from the Sigma value, and wherein the plurality of elements excludes boron.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein obtaining the boron Sigma contribution comprises determining the boron Sigma contribution based on an estimated boron concentration of the borehole environment.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements comprises a summation of individual contributions to the Sigma value by the plurality of elements.
17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining whether to perform an extraction of lithium from the borehole environment based on the lithium concentration.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining whether to perform the extraction of lithium from the borehole environment comprises:
determining a threshold concentration corresponding to a profitability of the extraction of lithium from the borehole environment; and
comparing the lithium concentration to the threshold concentration.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the plurality of elemental concentrations of the corresponding plurality of elements is based on the one or more gamma-ray energy spectra and one or more parameters of a set of parameters, wherein the set of parameters comprises:
a size of a borehole associated with the borehole environment;
whether or not the borehole comprises a casing;
a position of a downhole tool within the borehole;
a porosity of a geological formation associated with the borehole environment; and
a formation density of the geological formation.
20. A non-transitory, machine-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
determining a Sigma value associated with a borehole environment based on gamma-ray counts measured at the borehole environment;
determining a plurality of elemental concentrations of a corresponding plurality of elements based on one or more gamma-ray energy spectra measured at the borehole environment, wherein the plurality of elements excludes lithium;
determining an elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements based on the plurality of elemental concentrations of the corresponding plurality of elements;
determining a lithium Sigma contribution based on a difference between the Sigma value and the elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements; and
determining a lithium concentration of the borehole environment based on the lithium Sigma contribution.
21. The non-transitory, machine-readable media of claim 20 , further comprising obtaining a boron Sigma contribution, wherein determining the lithium Sigma contribution comprises subtracting the elemental Sigma contribution of the plurality of elements and the boron Sigma contribution from the Sigma value, and wherein the plurality of elements excludes boron.