SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTED INTERFEROMETRIC ACOUSTIC MONITORING
First Claim
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1. A method for acoustically monitoring a wellbore, a reservoir or a pipeline, comprising:
- transmitting a monitoring signal through a fiber optic cable, wherein the monitoring signal comprises a coherent beam of electromagnetic radiation and the fiber optic cable is disposed along or is disposed appurtenant to at least a section of the wellbore, the reservoir or the pipeline;
detecting coherent Raleigh noise generated by the transmission of the coherent beam of radiation through the fiber optic; and
processing the detected coherent Raleigh noise to identify an acoustic occurrence in the section of the wellbore, the reservoir or the pipeline.
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Abstract
This disclosure relates in general to a method and system for monitoring a conduit, a wellbore or a reservoir associated with hydrocarbon production or transportation and/or carbon dioxide sequestration. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, embodiments of the present invention provide for using an optical fiber as a distributed interferometer that may be used to monitor the conduit, wellbore or reservoir. In certain aspects, the distributed interferometric monitoring provides
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for acoustically monitoring a wellbore, a reservoir or a pipeline, comprising:
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transmitting a monitoring signal through a fiber optic cable, wherein the monitoring signal comprises a coherent beam of electromagnetic radiation and the fiber optic cable is disposed along or is disposed appurtenant to at least a section of the wellbore, the reservoir or the pipeline; detecting coherent Raleigh noise generated by the transmission of the coherent beam of radiation through the fiber optic; and processing the detected coherent Raleigh noise to identify an acoustic occurrence in the section of the wellbore, the reservoir or the pipeline. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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15. A system for acoustically monitoring a wellbore or a pipeline, comprising:
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a fiber optic coupled with or disposed adjacent to a section of the wellbore or the pipeline; a source of coherent electromagnetic radiation coupled with the fiber optic and configured to inject a pulse of the coherent electromagnetic radiation into the fiber optic; a detector coupled with the fiber optic and configured to detect coherent Rayleigh noise generated in the fiber optic by the pulse of coherent electromagnetic radiation; and a processor coupled with the detector and configured to process an output from the detector to identify acoustic events in the wellbore or pipeline.
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23. A method for acoustically monitoring a wellbore, a reservoir or a pipeline, comprising:
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transmitting a monitoring signal through a fiber optic cable, wherein the monitoring signal comprises a pair of mutually coherent beams of electromagnetic radiation and the fiber optic cable is disposed along or is disposed appurtenant to at least a section of the wellbore, the reservoir or the pipeline, and wherein a first frequency of a first beam of the pair of mutually coherent beams is not equal to a second frequency of a second beam of the pair of mutually coherent beams; detecting coherent Raleigh noise generated by the transmission of the pair of mutually coherent beams through the fiber optic; and processing the detected coherent Raleigh noise to identify an acoustic occurrence in the section of the wellbore, the reservoir or the pipeline.
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Specification