New sensor supports oil exploration
Sensor Systems claim to have made a the first advancement in almost 50 years in seismic sensors.
The new device, an all-optical, fiber-optic omnidirectional geophone, requires no in-situ electronics, copper conductors, or electrical power. It incorporates a self-contained optical interrogation unit (using an optical time division multiplexing methodology) with integrated laser sources; all of the system electronics reside in the optical interrogator. Receiver electronics demodulate the optical signals from the geophones, translating them into digital electronic signals. A fiber optic telemetry cable provides the data path to and from the individual geophones. A single optical interrogator can address up to 128 individual geophones.
I have worked with marine gravity systems which improved by replacing the old gyros with fiber-optic gyros and this also increased the life of the gyros at the same time so this could easily be a major advance. The graph below shows a marked improvement in signal to noise ratio.
If the results really are as shown in real-world situations it should mean much better data and that is rally something to look forward to.
If anybody has more information on these new sensors please let us know in the comments below.
Small Times – New sensor supports oil exploration
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