Optical Fibre-Based Sensors for Oil and Gas Applications

Abstract

Oil and gas (O&G) explorations moving into deeper zones for enhanced oil and gas recovery are causing serious safety concerns across the world. The sensing of critical multiple parameters like high pressure, high temperature (HPHT), chemicals, etc., are required at longer distances in real-time. Traditional electrical sensors operate less effectively under these extreme environmental conditions and are susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI). Hence, there is a growing demand for improved sensors with enhanced measurement capabilities and also sensors that generates reliable data for enhanced oil and gas production. In addition to enhanced oil and gas recovery, the sensing technology should also be capable of monitoring the well bore integrity and safety. The sensing requirements of the O&G industry for improved sensing in deeper zones include increased transmission length, improved spatial coverage and integration of multiple sensors with multimodal sensing capability. This imposes problems like signal attenuation, crosstalks and cross sensitivities. Optical fibre-based sensors are expected to provide superior sensing capabilities compared to electrical sensors. This review paper covers a detailed review of different fibre-optic sensing technologies to identify a feasible sensing solution for the O&G industry.

High temperature and strain dual-parameters fiber sensing based on intermodal interference and femtosecond laser fabricated fiber Bragg grating

“…Interferometric optical fiber sensors have been widely used in construction [1], medical [2], oil exploration [3], aerospace aircraft [4] and other fields due to the advantages of large amount of data transmission, corrosion resistance, and high sensitivity. As the most familiar and accessible physical quantities in daily life, temperature and strain play an important role in various fields such as aerospace flight devices, national defense, petroleum monitoring, biomedicine, etc Therefore, accurate measurement of temperature [5] and strain [6] becomes particularly necessary.…”

Optical fiber temperature sensor based on the fluorescence intensity ratio of bismuth–erbium co-doped optical fiber

“…However, its production process is faced with the challenges of the natural environment, e.g., in the ocean, desert, the cooling system and exhaust system of gas generators. 1 Temperature monitoring is required at all times to ensure the normal operation of the machine. Temperature is one of the most fundamental physical parameters in many science, biology, chemistry, and industry fields.…”

“…In the green power new energy industry, wind power, solar energy, gas, and other power generations are the main directions. However, its production process is faced with the challenges of the natural environment, e.g., in the ocean, desert, the cooling system and exhaust system of gas generators 1 . Temperature monitoring is required at all times to ensure the normal operation of the machine.…”