Depth Trigger Buoyancy Control for Marine Sensor Streamer Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Marine geophysical survey systems face challenges with sensor streamers becoming disconnected or severed, leading to potential loss due to buoyancy issues, especially when filled with alcohol or oil, and existing retrieval methods may not effectively address these issues.
Innovation Solution
A retriever system incorporating a lifting bag system with a depth trigger mechanism and a ballast weight system that compensates for buoyancy changes and selectively deploys or jettisons ballast weights when a predetermined depth is reached, ensuring the sensor streamer can be retrieved safely.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensor streamers are filled with alcohol or oil for buoyancy, then they can float on the water surface, but they become negatively buoyant and sink when disconnected or severed
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the buoyancy characteristics of the sensor streamer by deploying an inflatable balloon system when disconnection is detected. The balloon transitions from a deflated state (neutral buoyancy during survey) to an inflated state (positive buoyancy for recovery), allowing the system to adapt to different operational conditions and ensure the streamer surfaces after disconnection.
Solution Approach 2:
The retriever system includes a depth trigger mechanism that is pre-configured to activate the balloon inflation system at a predetermined depth. This preliminary setup ensures that when disconnection occurs, the system automatically responds by inflating the balloon to bring the streamer to the surface, preventing loss without requiring immediate manual intervention.
2Reliability
If an inflatable balloon system is deployed to trigger surfacing, then the sensor streamer can be retrieved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retriever system is designed to be self-activating through the depth trigger mechanism. When the sensor streamer reaches the predetermined depth or experiences disconnection, the system automatically inflates the balloon without requiring external control or additional complexity in the operational procedure. This self-service approach maintains reliability while minimizing the need for complex external control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The inflatable balloon system is nested within the sensor streamer structure, with the balloon collapsed inside the streamer during normal operation and expanding outward when activated. This nesting approach minimizes the space required and reduces the overall system complexity while maintaining the retrieval function.
3Measurement precision
If ballast weights are used to compensate for buoyancy changes, then depth control is improved, but the system becomes more complex and requires selective deployment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The ballast weight system incorporates a depth trigger mechanism that dynamically controls the deployment of ballast weights based on the predetermined depth setting. This allows precise depth control during the survey operation while automatically adjusting the buoyancy compensation when the trigger depth is reached, improving measurement precision without requiring continuous manual adjustment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively retrieves disconnected sensor streamers by adjusting buoyancy and deploying lifting bags or shedding ballast weights, preventing loss and ensuring data integrity during marine surveys.
Implementation Method 1
an inflatable balloon system may trigger (i.e., a retriever system), which causes the sensor streamer to surface
Implementation Method 2
A retriever system incorporating a lifting bag system with a depth trigger mechanism
Data Source
AI summary
Depth triggers for marine geophysical survey cable retriever systems. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including causing a submerged geophysical survey cable to surface. The cause may include: moving a piston within a cylinder of a housing coupled to the geophysical survey cable, the moving of the piston responsive to pressure exerted on a face of the piston as the geophysical survey cable reaches or exceeds a predetermined depth, wherein the movement of the piston overcomes a force created by interaction between two materials, the force latches the piston in place at depths above the predetermined depth; and responsive to the piston overcoming the force that latches the piston deploying a mechanism that makes the geophysical survey cable more positively buoyant, the deploying responsive to movement of the piston.