It is now some 95 years since what is recognised as the first geophysical borehole log was recorded in Pechelbronn, France, 160km as the crow flies from the base of LIM Logging in Luxembourg. Over the intervening years, many new methods have been developed and continuing technological progress has opened up the use of these techniques beyond the hydrocarbon sector into the slimhole context for, amongst others, mining exploration and development, groundwater resource investigations and geotechnical studies.
While originally a geophysical logging service provider, LIM Logging has become a major player in the slimhole geophysical logging equipment development and supply sector since the LIM group acquired the business of Electromind in January 2017.
Since that time, building on a foundation consisting of Electromind's technically advanced and well-respected range of probes, surface acquisition module and software, major efforts have been made to enlarge the range of products offered, while maintaining the technical quality and reliability levels that are expected by the leaders in the worldwide logging services industry and appreciated by end-users in general.
Hands-on experience
Furthermore, thanks to the many years of hands-on operational experience acquired in the field by key personnel and collaborators within LIM Logging, the change in ownership has also led to a more collaborative dialogue with end-users and a clearer understanding of their requirements. Another important building block has been a new commercial dynamic aimed at expanding the client base throughout the various industry sectors and into new geographical locations.
One concrete result of this progression is that, at this point, the range of downhole probes offered consists of 21 different products. In most cases, the probes are pressure and temperature rated to 200 bar/70 degrees, respectively. As standard, LIM Logging probes can adapt automatically for use on mono cable/coax or four-conductor wireline cable by a simple configuration change in their respective software interfaces.
Naturally, all the major probe families are represented: electric and electromagnetic, nuclear, borehole imaging, borehole geometry and trajectory and probes for fluid logging. With this range, a complete offer is available covering the entire spectrum of applications where borehole geophysical data is an integral part of the investigation and decision-making process.
In-house solutions
Certain probes that were previously outsourced have been replaced with 100% in-house solutions. These include the 3AC38 three-arm calliper, ELG46 (LN/SN resistivity/SP/SPR) and 4AC60 four-arm calliper/deviation probes.
A new magnetic susceptibility probe, the MAG38, is currently under development and will be field trialled over the forthcoming weeks. With this probe, particular care has been taken during the conception phase to ensure the separation of measured susceptibility and conductivity components. It will feature software-modifiable gain values to ensure an optimum combination of measuring range and resolution in different use cases. A calibration set-up simulating real geological formations is being put in place on our site as part of this development.
With specific reference to borehole imaging, the industry benchmark BHTV42 and OPTV52 acoustic and optical imaging probes have been complemented by the 38mm diameter OPTV38 which, together with a new slimhole centraliser option, makes optical imaging in a borehole as little as 60mm in diameter a realistic possibility. The probe's dimensions may well have been reduced, but image data quality remains at the unsurpassed standard of the OPTV52.
For probe deployment, the LIM Logging range of winches is in the process of being extended with two new products to offer increased depth possibilities of 600 and 1200m, respectively. These new products will integrate features such as automatic spooling and speed regulation, thereby reducing operator workload.
Developments
Other developments in the pipeline include a borehole logging application for LIM's PocketLIM6G drilling parameters recorder which, thanks to its connectivity possibilities, can provide direct data transmission from site and cloud-based document formatting without the need to return the unit to the office. This application will be leveraged by a ruggedised version of the eMINDLogger acquisition module to facilitate operations in harsh environments.
This desire to progress and innovate will continue to drive us forward in the future towards new technical and commercial challenges. Whatever the future will bring, Lim Logging's guiding philosophy will continue to be based on providing market-leading customer satisfaction.
Got a story? Email: duncan.moore@aspermont.com
