KEYWORDS: Signal to noise ratio, Acoustics, Optical fibers, Metals, Single mode fibers, Optical sensing, Ferroelectric materials, Structural health monitoring, Fiber optics sensors, Data acquisition
Pipeline infrastructure monitoring based on distributed fiber-optic acoustic sensing is gaining significant attention aimed at real-time rapid detection of leakages, third-party intrusion, geo-hazards, corrosion, and other structural damages. Typical fibers installations are external to a pipeline, however retrofitting of existing pipelines through internal installation is desirable despite deployment challenges. Highly sensitive distributed acoustic sensing integrated within new pipelines or retrofit in existing pipelines can enable early detection of damage and degradation. In this work, we demonstrate pipeline integrity monitoring using distributed acoustic sensing and the Rayleigh backscattering-enhanced optical fibers deployed internal to the pipeline for high sensitivity detection of acoustic events. More specifically, traditional and backscattering-enhanced optical fibers are interrogated using bench-top phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR). The distributed acoustic sensing characteristics of two types of backscattered-enhanced fibers, Type A and Type B, are experimentally investigated. Our measurement analysis shows that the SNR of the acoustic event detection enhances ~2-fold and ~3-fold using the Type A and Type B fiber, respectively than that of the traditional SMF for pipeline monitoring. The presented investigation is a first validation for in-pipe deployed distributed acoustic sensing with high SNR and provides useful insight for diverse pipeline monitoring applications in the oil and gas distribution industry.
In recent years, optical fiber sensing has emerged as an attractive technology for spatially and temporally distributed monitoring of various types of infrastructure, including pipelines. This technology can provide information such as distributed temperature, corrosion, acoustic, strain, and even vibrations which can be used in real-time monitoring of operational processes or to identify early signatures of impending faults or failures. In this paper, we successfully demonstrate the installation of fiber optic cable inside a pipeline using a long-distance robotic Fiber Optic Deployment Tool (FODT). The FODT is a self-contained semiautonomous robotic device that can propel in a range of pipe diameters to install a fiber optic cable inside the pipeline. It can be controlled remotely, and the current version offers a maximum installation speed of 15 feet/minute. In this demonstration, a distributed fiber cable was installed in a 50’ long, 8.25″ inner diameter steel pipe. The proposed FODT, when combined with distributed sensing, will be an attractive and promising technology for monitoring of oil and gas, water pipelines, and the structural health of pipeline rehabilitation systems.
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