Patents by Inventor James L. Thornton

James L. Thornton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9447680
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for matching the lithology effect of a downhole tool having a lower-energy neutron source, such as AmBe, using a downhole tool having a higher-energy neutron source, such as an electronic neutron generator, are provided. One such downhole tool may include a neutron source, first and second neutron detectors, and data processing circuitry. The neutron source may emit neutrons into a subterranean formation, which may scatter off the formation. The first neutron detector may detect neutrons of a relatively lower spectrum of energies than the second neutron detector. From counts of these neutrons, the data processing circuitry may determine a property of the subterranean formation having a lithology effect that substantially matches another lithology effect associated with another downhole tool having a lower-energy neutron source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: James L. Thornton
  • Publication number: 20150234084
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for determining a porosity of a subterranean formation corrected for borehole effects are provided. One such device may be a downhole tool capable of being lowered into a borehole of a subterranean formation that may include a neutron source, two or more neutron detectors, and data processing circuitry. The neutron source may emit neutrons into the subterranean formation. The two or more neutron detectors may be respectively disposed at two or more azimuthal orientations within the downhole tool, and may detect neutrons scattered by the subterranean formation or borehole fluid in the borehole, or both. Based on the neutrons detected by the neutron detectors, the data processing circuitry may determine a porosity of the subterranean formation corrected for borehole effects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2015
    Publication date: August 20, 2015
    Inventors: James L. Thornton, Bradley Roscoe
  • Patent number: 8759750
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for determining porosity with high sensitivity are provided. In one example, a downhole tool with such high porosity sensitivity may include a neutron source, a near neutron detector, and a far neutron detector. The neutron source may emit neutrons into the subterranean formation, which may scatter and be detected by the near and far detectors. The near neutron detector may be disposed near enough to the neutron source to detect a maximum number of neutrons when the porosity of the subterranean formation is greater than 0 p.u.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventor: James L. Thornton
  • Publication number: 20110313668
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for determining the porosity of a subterranean formation with reduced lithology error are provided. In one example, a downhole tool for such purposes may include a neutron source, a plurality of neutron detectors, and data processing circuitry. The neutron source may be configured to emit neutrons into a subterranean formation, and the plurality of neutron detectors may be configured to detect neutrons scattered from the subterranean formation. At least two of the plurality of neutron detectors may be disposed at different respective distances from the neutron source. The data processing circuitry may be configured to determine a porosity of the subterranean formation based at least in part on a weighted combination of the detector responses from each of the at least two of the plurality of neutron detectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: James L. Thornton
  • Publication number: 20110313669
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for matching the lithology effect of a downhole tool having a lower-energy neutron source, such as AmBe, using a downhole tool having a higher-energy neutron source, such as an electronic neutron generator, are provided. One such downhole tool may include a neutron source, first and second neutron detectors, and data processing circuitry. The neutron source may emit neutrons into a subterranean formation, which may scatter off the formation. The first neutron detector may detect neutrons of a relatively lower spectrum of energies than the second neutron detector. From counts of these neutrons, the data processing circuitry may determine a property of the subterranean formation having a lithology effect that substantially matches another lithology effect associated with another downhole tool having a lower-energy neutron source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Inventor: James L. Thornton
  • Publication number: 20110297818
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for determining porosity with high sensitivity are provided. In one example, a downhole tool with such high porosity sensitivity may include a neutron source, a near neutron detector, and a far neutron detector. The neutron source may emit neutrons into the subterranean formation, which may scatter and be detected by the near and far detectors. The near neutron detector may be disposed near enough to the neutron source to detect a maximum number of neutrons when the porosity of the subterranean formation is greater than 0 p.u.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Inventor: James L. Thornton
  • Patent number: 7243027
    Abstract: Techniques for generating deliverable files from well logging data include obtaining the well logging data, wherein the well logging data is associated with a unique identifier; outputting a graphical deliverable file based on the well logging data, one or more templates, and a set of graphical deliverable attributes that specify how the graphical deliverable file is to be generated; and outputting an electronic data file comprising the set of graphical deliverable attributes such that the graphical deliverable file can be regenerated from the electronic data file. The well logging data may include all information necessary to recalculate the computed outputs from the raw data (e.g., computational parameters). Other methods include techniques for uniquely associating data and for making the outputs tamper-proof so that a user can compare two different types of outputs (e.g., digital and graphical deliverables) and be confident whether they are from the same source data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2007
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Peter J. Ireland, James L. Thornton, Gregory H. Wibben, Kamran Waheed, Stephen V. Reski