The invention relates generally to borehole/oilfield electronic radiation generators.
Ionizing radiation has been used in the oilfield for well over half a century to enable measurements not possible with other formation probing techniques (such as electrical resistivity, acoustic, electro-magnetic, NMR, etc.). The broad types or kinds of ionizing radiation include charged particles, X-rays, gamma-rays, and neutrons.
Historically, the first method employed to produce ionizing radiation for oilfield applications involved radioactive sources. These radioactive sources (e.g. 137Cs, 241Am, 252Cf, 238Pu, etc.), were chosen, based on the application, for their emitted radiation type and in quantities sufficient for the desired intensity. Few naturally occurring radioactive sources emit neutrons during their decay, generally as a consequence of spontaneous fission. One example of a radioactive material with a significant probability for spontaneous fission is 252Cf. While 252Cf is used in some applications, its short half-life of only 2.6 y is generally considered a drawback. Many neutron sources rely on the generation of neutrons through a nuclear reaction, typically the 9Be(alpha, n)12C reaction. Such sources consist of an alpha emitter, such as 241Am or 238Pu, mixed with Be-powder. The small nuclear reaction probability necessitates the use of a large amount of radioactive alpha emitter to generate a sufficient neutron output.
The small size and simplicity of the source housing, the reliability of continuous radioactive decay, and the typically low purchase cost make such radiation sources very attractive. The shortcomings, however, include limited radiation output, (particularly for neutron sources), issues of radiation safety because the source remains ON at all times, as well as the increase in the cost of the material and its disposal, the accountability (tracking/inventory requirements) and, for some like 252Cf, a short useful life. The absence of the ability to fast pulse ON/OFF a chemical source also limits the measurements that can be made.
To overcome these disadvantages of radioactive sources, electronic radiation generators were developed over the last several decades. Electronic radiation generators function by accelerating and colliding charged particles inside of sealed tubes to induce radiation-producing reactions. The two approaches to accelerating charged particles are to use linear accelerators (e.g., Linac) or circular accelerators (e.g., cyclotron). The linear accelerators employed in the oilfield, and of relevance to this particular invention disclosure, are electrostatic-based. Linear accelerators operate by creating a sufficiently large voltage difference between a source of charged particles and a target. Once the source is turned ON, charged particles entering the region of high voltage (HV) are accelerated to the predetermined desired energy and made to collide with a suitable target material to produce radiation. If either the ion source or the voltage are turned OFF, the radiation stops. The accelerated charged particles can be electrons, protons and heavier ions, which will generate ionizing radiation when they impinge on the target.
The intensity and energy of the radiation produced depends on the high voltage used to accelerate the charged particles. Typically, the higher the “high voltage” is, the higher the energy of the charged particles. High voltage power supplies capable of producing from tens to hundreds of kilovolts are desirable. A common power supply design employed is based on the Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier, also known as the Greinacher multiplier. Such a voltage multiplier includes an array of stages in series, shaped like a ladder, with each stage 100 comprising a pair of capacitors 102 and a pair of diodes 104 (see
During each ON cycle, the A/C current supplied by the step up transformer 106 charges each respective capacitor 102, according to the rectification provided by the diodes 104. The maximum admissible voltage for each stage 100 depends on the capacitor and diode component ratings as well as on the AC voltage provided by the secondary of the step up transformer 106. To achieve a given high voltage, a ladder is constructed such that, to first order (i.e., neglecting losses, etc.), enough stages are used to sum up to the predetermined desired voltage. The high voltage output 108 of the series of stages, or ladder, can then be fed to a voltage divider (bleed resistors, discussed in further detail in related application Ser. No. 61/261,398, non-provisional application filed concurrently herewith, to obtain a measurement of the high voltage fed out to neutron generator tube.
One electrical constraint for the design of high voltage power supplies is that electrical hold off between high voltage and ground must be sufficient over the whole length of the power supply. Given the limited diameter available in downhole tools, the stage component size must be small enough to accommodate the necessary high voltage insulation over a very limited radial distance. Typically, the size of high voltage components increases with their voltage rating. A tradeoff must be made between the stage (and component) size and the necessary high voltage insulation based upon the voltage difference to neighboring ground potential. For borehole-size radiation generators, high voltage capacitor ratings are typically on the order of around a few kilovolts (e.g., five kilovolts). Typically, multi-layer capacitors are used to achieve the required capacitance, and are generally rectangular or box-shaped with radial leads. Thus, typically to produce from tens to hundreds of kilovolts requires a power supply with several dozens of stages. When the stages are placed end to end, this adds up to a significant overall length for the power supply.
Currently, the most frequently employed electronic radiation generator in the oilfield is the pulsed neutron generator (PNG), as shown in
The considerable length of a typical PNG configured as in
In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments are possible.
In light of the above discussion, it would be advantageous to reduce radiation generators, including a PNG, to as short and compact a size as possible.
Most pulsed neutron generators generate neutron radiation through the reaction of energetic deuterium with tritium (d-T) reaction. However, other known reactions, like d-D and t-T can be employed as well. X-rays are generated by directing energetic electrons onto a target. The scattering of the energetic electrons on the target leads to the emission of Bremsstrahlung x-rays and x-rays characteristic of the target material.
The present disclosure discusses solutions for a compact generator collocated with a linear multi-stage power supply, such as a Cockcroft-Walton (CW) power supply. In a most preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, a multi-stage high voltage power supply, such as a Cockcroft-Walton styled voltage multiplier, would be employed, however parallel work on single-staged voltage multipliers indicates that single-staged voltage multipliers are also contemplated in the present disclosure, as any other axially collocated supplies could be used. An embodiment of a pulsed neutron generator collocated with its high voltage power supply is shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to the embodiment of
As shown in
An alternate approach for reducing electrical stress at the turn-around is to “split-and flip” the voltage multiplier back on itself. The schematic in
Yet another approach consists of folding the voltage multiplier itself and bringing it back as shown in
For both embodiments, an additional improvement can be accomplished by making sure that an axial plane coinciding with the fold of the voltage multiplier is at the same electrical potential as the folding point in the voltage multiplier. This can be accomplished by inserting a conductive plane into the insulating support that connects the end of the generator tube to the end of the generator housing. The additional electrically conducting plane is shown in
The ceramic support can be made in such a way that the heat evacuation from the CW voltage multiplier is facilitated to reduce the temperature seen in particular by the diodes but also by the capacitors.
Collocation of the voltage multiplier with the generator tube has additional advantages. It is feasible to tap off from intermediate stages of the CW generator to provide a well defined potential to one or more intermediate electrodes of the generator tube. Radiation generator tubes with multiple intermediate electrodes are described in more detail in the concurrently pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/618,821 filed Nov. 16, 2009, entitled “Electrode Configuration for Downhole Nuclear Radiation Generator”. An example of such an arrangement using an intermediate-electrode-neutron-tube is shown in
While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/261,398, filed provisionally on Nov. 16, 2009. This application also claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/261,394, filed provisionally on Nov. 16, 2009.
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