FIBER OPTIC SENSING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SENSING PARAMETERS INVOLVING DIFFERENT PARAMETER MODALITIES

• US 20150049981A1
• Filed: 08/16/2013
• Published: 02/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baker Hughes, a GE Company, LLC (Baker Hughes Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Koste, Glen Peter, Rubinsztajn, Slawomir, Dekate, Sachin Narahari, Balasubramaniam, Mahadevan NMN, Vejjupalle Subramanyam, Anurag Kasyap, Soni, Sunilkumar Onkarnath
• Granted Patent: US 9,151,924 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/13
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/3537 Optical fibre sensor using a particular arrangement of the optical fibre itself
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/35383 using multiple sensor devices using multiplexing techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 11/3206 at discrete locations in the fibre, e.g. using Bragg scattering
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/242 the material being an optical fibre
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 8/16 using optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/10 Optical coatings produced by application to, or surface treatment of, optical elements G02B1/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/502 Installation methods in fluid conducts, e.g. pipelines
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49885 with coating before or during assembling

Abstract

An optical-based sensing apparatus and method are provided. A sensing apparatus (10) may include a tube (30). An optical fiber (12) may be encased in the tube. A buffering layer (14) may be interposed between the optical fiber and the tube. The buffering layer and/or the tube may be selectively configured to form along a length of the apparatus a plurality of optical sensing zones (16, 18, 20) spatially arranged to sense parameters involving different parameter modalities.

Claims

1. In an optical-based sensing apparatus, a method comprising:

providing an optical fiber;

disposing a buffering layer around the optical fiber; and

selectively configuring the buffering layer to form a plurality of optical sensing zones spatially arranged along a length of the optical sensing apparatus to sense parameters comprising different parameter modalities.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuring of the buffering layer comprises varying along the length of the optical sensing apparatus at least one property of the buffering layer to tune a sensitivity of a respective sensing zone to a respective parameter.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one property of the buffering layer is selected from the group consisting of a property of a buffering layer material, a geometry of the buffering layer, and a combination of said properties.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the buffering layer comprises a gel or resin, and the method further comprises irradiating the gel or resin to meet a desired value for said at least one property.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the disposing of the buffering layer comprises selectively injecting at least one resin to form at least one of the plurality of optical sensing zones.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the injecting of the at least one resin comprises injecting at least two reactive resins to form the at least one optical sensing zone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the disposing of the buffering layer comprises depositing a dilatant material around the fiber to form the buffering layer.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising a tube to encase the buffering layer and the optical fiber therein, and the method further comprises selectively configuring the tube along the length of the optical sensing apparatus to further tune the sensitivity of the respective sensing zone to the respective parameter.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the configuring of the tube comprises crimping at least one segment of the tube.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the configuring of the tube comprises varying along the length of the optical sensing apparatus at least one property of the tube, wherein the at least one property of the tube is selected from the group consisting of a property of a tube material, a geometry of the tube, and a combination of said properties.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameters are selected from the group consisting of strain, temperature, pressure, dynamic strain, dynamic pressure and an acoustic signal.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying along the length of the sensing apparatus the optical sensing zones.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifying comprises applying a stimulus to the sensing apparatus and sensing a response indicative of the optical sensing zones.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the applied stimulus is selected from the group consisting of temperature, strain, tension, sound and combinations of said stimuli.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising marking an outward surface of the sensing apparatus in response to the sensed response, wherein the marking is arranged to identify the optical sensing zones along the length of the sensing apparatus.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising affixing the sensing apparatus to a structural asset.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the structural asset is selected from the group consisting of a subsea umbilical, a riser and a flowline.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising arranging in the optical fiber at least two sites having a respective fiber grating.

19. An optical-based sensing apparatus comprising:

a tube;

an optical fiber encased in the tube; and

a buffering layer interposed between the optical fiber and the tube, the buffering layer and/or the tube selectively configured to form along a length of the apparatus a plurality of optical sensing zones spatially arranged to sense parameters comprising different parameter modalities.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein at least one respective property of the buffering layer and/or at least one respective property of the tube is varied along the length of the optical sensing apparatus to tune a sensitivity of a respective sensing zone to a respective parameter.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one respective property of the buffering layer is selected from the group consisting of a property of a buffering layer material, a geometry of the buffering layer, and a combination of said properties.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the buffering layer comprises a gel or resin configured to meet a desired value for said at least one property of the buffering layer.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the buffering layer comprises at least one resin injected to form at least one of the plurality of optical sensing zones.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one resin comprises at least two reactive resins, which react to form the at least one optical sensing zone.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the buffering layer comprises a dilatant material.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the respective at least one property of the tube is selected from the group consisting of a property of a tube material, a geometry of the tube, and a combination of said properties.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for identifying along the length of the apparatus the optical sensing zones.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for identifying comprises at least one heater element disposed along the length of the apparatus, the at least one heater element configured to induce a thermal response indicative of the optical sensing zones.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for identifying comprises a spooling device arranged to receive the apparatus and induce a change in a strain response indicative of the optical sensing zones.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for identifying comprises a tensioner arranged to apply a known level of tension to at least a portion of the sensing apparatus, and further comprises instrumentation arranged to sense a response to the applied tension indicative of the optical sensing zones.

31. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a device arranged to apply a stimulus to the sensing apparatus, and further comprising instrumentation to sense a response to the applied stimulus, the response being indicative of respective locations of the sensing zones along the length of the sensing apparatus.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising a device arranged to mark an outward surface of the sensing apparatus in response to the sensed response, wherein respective marks are arranged to identify the respective locations of the sensing zones along the length of the sensing apparatus.

33. A structural asset comprising the apparatus of claim 19.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the structural asset is selected from the group consisting of a subsea umbilical, a riser and a flowline.

35. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the optical fiber comprises at least two sites having a respective fiber grating.