Multi-depth Hydrocarbon Sensor Arrays for Microseep Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing difficulty in locating and accessing hydrocarbon accumulations, particularly due to the rarity of visible oil seeps, necessitates improved methods for detecting invisible microseeps to enhance hydrocarbon exploration efficiency and reduce risks.
Innovation Solution
A multi-depth geochemical method involving the placement of hydrocarbon sensors at various depths and the use of gas sampling probes to detect hydrocarbon seepage, combined with spatio-temporal mapping and analysis, to determine hydrocarbon seepage patterns and characteristics, including the differentiation between active and passive seepage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If macroseeps are used for hydrocarbon detection, then detection is easier and more reliable, but macroseeps are becoming increasingly rare and harder to locate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from surface-level macroseep detection to multi-depth subsurface detection by deploying sensors at multiple depths (e.g., 0.5m, 1.0m, 2.0m, 5.0m below surface). This dimensional expansion into the subsurface allows detection of microseeps that are invisible at the surface, resolving the contradiction between detection reliability and location difficulty.
2Device complexity
If single-depth sampling is used, then sampling process is simpler, but spatio-temporal variability of hydrocarbon seepage is not accounted for
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the subsurface into multiple depth layers and deploys separate sensor arrays at each depth level. This segmentation allows independent measurement of hydrocarbon concentrations at different depths, capturing the vertical spatio-temporal variability of seepage that single-depth sampling would miss, thereby improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds the depth dimension to the sampling process, transforming single-point surface sampling into multi-depth three-dimensional sampling. This dimensional expansion enables characterization of vertical seepage gradients and improves detection accuracy by accounting for spatio-temporal variability.
3Measurement precision
If multiple depths are sampled, then spatio-temporal variability is captured and detection accuracy improves, but sampling and sensor positioning complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs universal sensor platforms that can be deployed at multiple depths using the same basic equipment and methodology. Each depth level uses identical sensor arrays and sampling procedures, making the system multi-functional across different depths while standardizing the process to manage complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses self-contained sensor units that can be independently positioned and operated at each depth level. Each sensor package is self-sufficient, requiring minimal external support during deployment and operation, which simplifies the overall positioning complexity despite multiple depths being sampled.
4Productivity
If hydrocarbon seepage is detected without reference to known seepage, then detection process is faster, but reliability and risk reduction are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates feedback by comparing detected hydrocarbon seepage signals against known reference seepage data from previously identified accumulations. This feedback mechanism validates detection results, confirms the presence of hydrocarbons, and reduces exploration risks by providing independent verification, thereby improving reliability without significantly impacting detection speed.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting seepage of hydrocarbons in subterranean zones. In one aspect, a method includes detecting hydrocarbon seepage at multiple different sampling depths from a surface in a surveyed geographic region, comparing each of the hydrocarbon seepage at the multiple different sampling depths, wherein hydrocarbon seepage at a reference depth is known, and determining hydrocarbon seepage through the surveyed geographic region based on a result of the comparison.