Patent ID: 8681582

Claim:
A method for estimating porosity of a formation, comprising: determining a plot of a plurality of porosity values versus attenuation attributes of sonic compression waves for a plurality of reservoir rocks with a plurality of porosities; applying a curve fitting algorithm to said plot to establish an empirical relationship between only the attenuation attribute of compression and porosity, wherein the empirical relationship is represented by an empirical model; and monitoring a sonic waveform signal of compression using a borehole logging while drilling system, the monitoring comprising: measuring attenuation attributes of compression waves in real time by a logging while drilling process utilizing the borehole logging while drilling system; and predicting the porosity of a formation from the established empirical relationship of the attenuation attribute of compression versus porosity by applying the logging while drilling measured compressional wave attenuation values to the empirical model to predict porosity of a formation on a real time basis.