According to scientists, nowadays we can see newly developed distributed sensing systems that can have many appliances including monitoring of wells’ conditions in the oil and gas industry. Mostly, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is applied in these spheres.
The engineers have an opportunity to make decisions on operational optimization onsite with the usage of the data provided by distributed fiber optic sensors. The fiber optic technology can help in well performance improvement as well as in keeping safety at the well site. And as a result, it optimizes production from oil and gas wells. In comparison with distributed sensing, there is no such method that could provide such quality and extent of detail about physical conditions.
Mostly, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is produced to record fluid and gas flow signals, listen to hydraulic fracturing-related signals, etc. Distributed sensing systems trace changes in acoustic vibrations along the entire length of a fiber optic cable in real-time. In the fiber optic cable, there are thousands of detection points at minimal spatial intervals. Compared to the usual sensing systems, distributed sensing does not rely on discrete sensors at predetermined points. Distributed sensing system uses the whole fiber optics itself as a sensing unit.
Therefore, fiber optic technology is suitable for those who want to apply environmental monitoring in sensitive geologic operations. Thanks to the length of the fiber optic cable and its working ability in severe environmental conditions for long, it is quite popular for such use. The down hole fiber optic sensor application provides for oil and gas wells, flow-back operations, geothermal wells, etc.
The ability of measurement along the complete length of the fiber optic cable can be applied for many other applications like the characterization of contaminated bedrock aquifers and monitoring of geologic carbon sequestration projects. In addition to that, distributed sensing systems can also register the conditions of the near-wellbore area of subsurface rock formations.
DAS system manufacturers always have an aim of making their fiber optic solutions better. For the DAS systems, it is the regulation of acoustic and vibratory noise sensing. The ambient noise is always in sites and should not be measured.
That is why the next scientific goal for DAS technology is the creation of a portable vibration isolation system to maximize the distributed acoustic sensing system’s dynamic range.
Optromix is a DAS system manufacturer that provides top-of-the-line distributed acoustic sensing systems suitable for monitoring commerce networks. If you have any questions or would like to buy a DAS system, please contact us at info@optromix.com