Patent classifications
G01D5/268
APPARATUS, FIBER OPTIC SENSOR ASSEMBLY AND SENSOR HOUSING ASSEMBLY UTILIZING VISCOUS MATERIAL COMPOSITION TO MITIGATE SIGNAL ATTENUATION
Embodiments of the present invention provide a unique new approach to generating operating condition information used for assessing flow assurance and structural integrity. More specifically, apparatuses, systems and sensor housing assemblies configured in accordance with embodiments of the present invention utilize fiber optic sensors for enabling monitoring of operating condition information within one or more elongated tubular members within a subsea environment. To this end, such fiber optic sensors connected by lengths of optical fiber are strategically placed at a plurality of locations along a length of each elongated tubular member thereby allowing critical operating conditions such as strain, temperature and pressure of the elongated tubular member and/or a fluid therein to be monitored. A viscous media is used for mitigating attenuation associated with exposure of optical fiber exposed to forces generated by pressure within the subsea environment.
Systems and methods for imaging a proppant in a hydraulically-fractured oil reservoir
A method for determining a location of a proppant in a subterranean formation includes obtaining a first set of data in a wellbore using a downhole tool. The proppant is pumped into the wellbore after the first set of data is obtained. The proppant is pumped while or after the subterranean formation is fractured. A second set of data is obtained in the wellbore using the downhole tool after the proppant is pumped into the wellbore. The first set of data and the second set of data include a gravitational field measurement. The first and second sets of data are compared, and in response to the comparison, the location of the proppant in the subterranean formation is determined.
OPTICAL FIBRE SENSOR
A fiber optic sensor for detecting an excitation in proximity to a fiber optic assembly, the excitation inducing a modulation of the phase of an optical signal propagating in the fiber optic assembly, the sensor comprises: a laser assembly emitting at least one laser beam; a fiber optic assembly; an optical system configured to: inject at least one portion of the laser beam; generate at least one laser signal beam issued from the laser beam injected into and propagated in the fiber assembly; generate at least one reference beam from the laser beam or the signal beam; produce at least one interference zone corresponding to the interference between a portion of the reference beam and a portion of the interference signal beam corresponding to the interference between a portion of the reference beam and a portion of the signal beam; a digital holography assembly comprising: a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator; a video camera configured to receive the interference zone and to transcribe it electrically to the liquid-crystal spatial light modulator in order to create thereon a phase hologram corresponding thereto; at least one optical detector configured to detect an output optical signal beam.
Fiber-optic equipment enclosure sensors
Fiber-optic equipment is often deployed in various locations, and performance of fiber-optic transmissions may be monitored as a gauge of equipment status to prevent costly and inconvenient communication outages. Events that damage equipment that eventually result in outage and may be desirable to address proactively, but the occurrence of such events may be difficult to detect only through equipment performance Presented herein are techniques for monitoring and maintaining fiber-optic equipment performance via enclosure sensors that measure physical properties within a fiber-optic equipment enclosure, such as temperature, pressure, light, motion, vibration, and moisture, which are often diagnostic and predictive of causes of eventual communication outages, such as temperature-induced cable loss (TICL), incomplete flash-testing during installation, exposure to hazardous environmental conditions, and tampering. An enclosure sensor package transmits the physical measurements to a monitoring station, and automatic determination of enclosure-related events may enable triaging and transmission of repair alerts to maintenance personnel.
Apparatus for Determining the Temperature of At Least One Fluid
Provided is an apparatus for determining the temperature of at least one fluid. The apparatus includes an optical fiber. A first end of the optical fiber is connected to at least one fiber tip, and a first additional reflector is introduced into the at least one fiber tip at a first predetermined distance from an outer end of the at least one fiber tip. A second end of the optical fiber is connected to a processing apparatus. The processing apparatus includes an optical source. The optical source is configured to launch an optical signal into the optical fiber, and a coherent detector. The coherent detector is configured to determine the temperature of at least one fluid by receiving a first light signal that corresponds to parts of the optical signal that are reflected at the outer end of the at least one fiber tip when the at least one fiber tip is inserted into the at least one fluid and a second light signal that corresponds to parts of the optical signal that are reflected at the first additional reflector when the at least one fiber tip is inserted into the at least one fluid, determining a difference of the optical phases of the first light signal and the second light signal, and determining the temperature of the at least one fluid based on the difference of the optical phases of the first light signal and the second light signal.
MULTISENSOR MEMS AND/OR NEMS MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
A MEMs and/or NEMs measurement system includes a resonant assembly comprising: an input and an output, a plurality of N optical resonators Ri indexed i each having a resonance wavelength λr,i, at least one waveguide to which the optical resonators are coupled, at least one element coupled to each resonator Ri, an emission device, a modulation device, an injection device configured to superpose the N light beams to form an input beam and to inject the beam as input to the resonant assembly, at least one detector configured to detect a light beam arising from the beam at the output of the resonant assembly and to generate an output signal, a demodulation device comprising at least N synchronous-detection demodulation modules.
Multi-sensor component for bioprocess control
A multi-sensor component for the installation of at least two sensors at an individual port of a container for culturing biological material is provided. The multi-sensor component has a housing that can be introduced by a front housing segment into an uptake opening extending through the port of the container so that the front housing segment is facing the inside of the container. The multi-sensor component has a first sensor unit or a mount for a first sensor unit arranged on the front housing segment and has a second sensor unit or a mount for a second sensor unit arranged on the front housing segment.
Metal-embedded optical fibers for monitoring pressure or corrosion at high temperatures
A fiber optic sensor and a related method of manufacture are provided. The fiber optic sensor includes an embedded optical fiber contained within a metal diaphragm assembly, where the terminal end of the optical fiber is positioned opposite a diaphragm. The method includes forming a metal-embedded optical fiber by ultrasonic additive manufacturing and securing the metal-embedded optical fiber to a housing having a diaphragm that is opposite of the terminal end of the optical fiber. The sensor can provide extremely accurate pressure measurement at high temperatures and in highly corrosive media. An optical fiber-based pressure sensing system is also provided.
DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COUPLING ARBITRARY SENSORS TO FIBER OPTIC CABLES
A device for coupling a sensor to a fiber optic cable including at least one optical fiber, the device may include an activation unit couplable to a known coupling location along the fiber optic cable and configured to: receive an analog sensor output signal from the sensor and change one or more properties of at least one of: one or more optical wave propagating through the at least one optical fiber and the at least one optical fiber, with respect to the analog output signal, while maintaining at least a portion of a spectral content of the analog sensor output signal during at least a portion of time.
Optical monitoring to detect corrosion of power grid components
A corrosion monitoring system includes one or more objects coupled to respective portions of a transformer tank. The one or more objects are configured to corrode before the respective portions of the transformer tank. At least one optical sensor is coupled to each of the objects. The at least one optical sensor has an optical output that changes in response to strain of the object. An analyzer is coupled to the at least one optical sensor. The analyzer is configured to perform one or more of detecting and predicting corrosion of the transformer tank based on the output of the at least one optical sensor.