A detection system and method for investigating a content of an item to be inspected, comprising an inspection space for receiving said item and a neutron generator for generating a directional beam of energetic neutrons, directed towards said inspection space. A detector is responsive to interaction products coming from said inspection space and impinging substantially along a detection axis upon interaction of said energetic particles with nuclei of material of said item. Said neutron generator is configured to expose said inspection space to a uni-directional beam of energetic neutrons along an interrogation axis through said inspection space. Said directional beam has a smaller cross section than a corresponding cross section of said inspection space and smaller than a corresponding cross section of said item to be inspected. Said detector detects said interaction products along a detection axis upon interaction of said uni-directional beam of energetic neutrons with said item to be inspected.

A system for predicting rare earth elements (REEs) in a feedstock sample includes a measurement instrument that records a measurement for a sample, a processor communicatively coupled to the measuring instrument, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and containing machine readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to correlate the measurement series using a model; and predict a presence of one or more rare earth element based at least in part on the correlation. A method for predicting rare earth elements includes measuring feedstock samples via XRF or PGNAA, to generate a measurements of elements of interest with a lower atomic weight than REEs; correlating the measurements with a model; and predicting a presence of one or more rare earth elements based at least in part on the correlation.

A system for predicting rare earth elements (REEs) in a feedstock sample includes a measurement instrument that records a measurement for a sample, a processor communicatively coupled to the measuring instrument, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and containing machine readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to correlate the measurement series using a model; and predict a presence of one or more rare earth element based at least in part on the correlation. A method for predicting rare earth elements includes measuring feedstock samples via XRF or PGNAA, to generate a measurements of elements of interest with a lower atomic weight than REEs; correlating the measurements with a model; and predicting a presence of one or more rare earth elements based at least in part on the correlation.

This disclosure presents systems and processes to collect elemental composition of target fluid and solid material located downhole of a borehole. Waveguides can be utilized that include capillary optics to deliver emitted high energy into a container or a conduit and then to detect the high energy. A source waveguide can be used to emit the high energy into the target fluid and a detector waveguide can collect resulting measurements. Each waveguide can include a protective sheath and a pressure cap on the end of the capillary optics that are proximate the target fluid, to protect against abrasion and target fluid pressure. In other aspects, a pulsed neutron tool can be utilized in place of the waveguides to collect measurements. The collected measurements can be utilized to generate chemical signature results that can be utilized to determine the elemental composition of the target fluid or of the solid material.

A system includes a neutron source positionable within a wellbore to emit one or more neutrons toward a formation surrounding the wellbore. The system also includes a gamma ray detector positionable within the wellbore to detect gamma rays. Further, the system includes a gamma ray analyzer that can perform operations. The operations can include receiving data indicating detected gamma rays from the gamma ray detector. Additionally, the operations include determining, from the data indicating the detected gamma rays, an amount of activated tracer material present within the wellbore originating from non-radioactive tracer material of drill-in fluid. The operations also include determining, from the amount of activated tracer material, an amount of filtercake buildup in a wellbore, a depth of fluid-loss filtrate into the formation surrounding the wellbore, or a combination thereof.

Provided herein are neutron-based detection systems and methods that provide, for example, high throughput analysis of elemental analysis of scrap materials. Such systems and methods find use for the commercial-scale evaluation of bulk process materials where hazardous or otherwise undesirable materials or high value materials may be interspersed with the primary process material. In certain embodiments, the system is used to detect and potentially remove unexploded ordinance (UXO) from a conveyor of demilitarized shell casings being recycled by detecting the presence of nitrogen and other elements present in the UXO. In other embodiments, the system detects and removes unwanted or highly valuable materials from a stream of scrap material.

Provided herein are neutron-based detection systems and methods that provide, for example, high throughput analysis of elemental analysis of scrap materials. Such systems and methods find use for the commercial-scale evaluation of bulk process materials where hazardous or otherwise undesirable materials or high value materials may be interspersed with the primary process material. In certain embodiments, the system is used to detect and potentially remove unexploded ordinance (UXO) from a conveyor of demilitarized shell casings being recycled by detecting the presence of nitrogen and other elements present in the UXO. In other embodiments, the system detects and removes unwanted or highly valuable materials from a stream of scrap material.

Methods for determining mineral compositions of materials are described. The methods include obtaining elemental data associated with a geologic sample, calculating a measurement correlation matrix of the geologic sample from the elemental data, calculating an artificial correlation matrix, comparing the measurement correlation matrix and the artificial correlation matrix to determine an error value, minimizing the error value by updating the artificial correlation matrix and comparing the measurement correlation matrix to the updated artificial correlation matrix, and determining a mineral composition of the geologic sample based on the minimized measurement correlation matrix.

Methods for determining mineral compositions of materials are described. The methods include obtaining elemental data associated with a geologic sample, calculating a measurement correlation matrix of the geologic sample from the elemental data, calculating an artificial correlation matrix, comparing the measurement correlation matrix and the artificial correlation matrix to determine an error value, minimizing the error value by updating the artificial correlation matrix and comparing the measurement correlation matrix to the updated artificial correlation matrix, and determining a mineral composition of the geologic sample based on the minimized measurement correlation matrix.

A system for analyzing soil content of a field includes a data acquisition unit configured to detect gamma spectra of each of a plurality of soil samples, wherein a surface area of the field is divided into a plurality of portions and the plurality of soil samples comprises at least one soil sample from each of the plurality of portions, a navigation unit configured to detect geographic coordinates of each of the plurality of soil samples, a data analysis unit configured to associate the detected gamma spectra of each of the plurality of soil samples with the geographic coordinates of the soil sample and determine a weight percent of at least one element within each of the soil samples based on the detected gamma spectra, and an element content map unit configured to generate a map indicating concentration of the at least one element within the soil of the field.