Ocean Bottom Sensing Cable with Uniform Jacket
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ocean bottom sensing systems for geological surveys face challenges such as high equipment costs, risk of sensor loss, entanglement issues, and mechanical failures due to individual deployment and the use of electrical sensors, which are prone to failure in saltwater conditions and require high power consumption.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a cable with intrinsic fiber optic sensors enclosed by a cable jacket of uniform diameter, allowing for remote interrogation and minimizing entanglement risks, with a data acquisition unit using a multi-wavelength sweeping laser for efficient energy use and reduced mechanical stress, enabling longer cable lengths and improved deployment and retrieval efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple sensor units are joined by rope or cable to enable rapid deployment, then deployment efficiency is improved, but entanglement issues and mechanical failures increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing system is divided into multiple independent sensor units that can be deployed separately along the cable, with each unit containing its own interrogation unit and power source. This segmentation allows rapid deployment without requiring the entire system to be managed as a single entangled mass, reducing entanglement risks while maintaining deployment efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
A buoyancy element is introduced as an intermediary component that attaches to the cable and provides upward buoyant force. This mediator prevents the cable from sinking and becoming entangled on the ocean bottom, allowing rapid deployment and retrieval while eliminating mechanical failure risks associated with cable entanglement.
2Measurement precision
If electrical sensors are used for ocean bottom sensing, then sensing capability is improved, but power consumption and electrical failure susceptibility increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces electrical sensors with acoustic sensors that detect seismic signals through acoustic waves transmitted through the water and seafloor. This substitution eliminates the need for electrical power sources and electronic components at the ocean bottom, dramatically reducing power consumption and electrical failure susceptibility while maintaining seismic detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical power supply and electronic interrogation systems are extracted from the ocean bottom sensor units and relocated to surface-based or vessel-mounted platforms. This extraction eliminates the need for batteries and electrical components in the harsh marine environment, reducing energy consumption and failure risks at the sensing location.
3Manufacturing precision
If individual ocean bottom sensor units are deployed, then placement precision is improved, but equipment costs and deployment time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sensor units are merged into a single cable-assembled system that can be deployed simultaneously. This combining approach maintains placement precision through controlled deployment of individual sensor units along the cable while dramatically reducing deployment time and equipment costs compared to individual deployment of each unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The cable and sensor units are pre-assembled and pre-positioned before deployment. This preliminary preparation allows for precise placement of multiple sensor units simultaneously at predetermined locations, reducing deployment time and costs while maintaining placement precision through pre-planned positioning.
4Adaptability or versatility
If cable diameter varies at different locations, then sensor accommodation is improved, but entanglement risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable is designed with varying diameter at different locations to accommodate sensors of different sizes and types. This local quality variation allows flexible sensor accommodation while the overall cable structure maintains uniformity to prevent entanglement, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and reliability.
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 reduces entanglement and mechanical failure risks, enhances data accuracy with increased sensor density, and allows for autonomous operation with reduced energy consumption, improving deployability and operational efficiency while maintaining high precision in geological surveys.
Implementation Method 1
The detectors are communicatively connected to the at least one optical fiber for allowing interrogation of the intrinsic fiber optic sensors
Implementation Method 2
The detectors are radially enclosed by the cable jacket of the cable
Implementation Method 3
a plurality of detectors for detecting vibrations
Data Source
AI summary
A system for ocean bottom sensing for performing geological survey. Herein the system comprising a cable further comprising a cable jacket (9), at least one optical fiber (6), and a plurality of detectors enclosed by the cable jacket (9). The latter including at least a first and a second detector (1, 2), the at least first and second detector (1, 2) comprising at least one intrinsic fiber optic sensor (3x, 3y, 3z, 3h, 3g, 3t). The detectors are communicatively connected to the at least one optical fiber (6) for allowing interrogation of the intrinsic fiber optic sensors (3x, 3y, 3z, 3h, 3g, 3t) and the cable jacket (9) has substantially a same cross-sectional diameter (D) and same outer shape at the at least first and second detector (1,2) and in between said first and second detector (1,2).