Shell Oil Comapny

Alexander Michael Van Der Spek

Mark Christopher Haase

Kari-Miko Jääskeläinen

A method of installing a double ended distributed sensing optical fiber assembly within a guide conduit. The optical fiber sensing assembly has a first elongate section with a first proximal end and a first distal end, and a second elongate section with a second proximal end and a second distal end. The method includes providing a nose section having an outer width less than about 1 cm, which interconnects the first proximal end to the second proximal end such that light transmitted along the length of the first elongate section is transmitted via the nose section into the second elongate section, inserting the nose section into the guide conduit such that the nose section moves through the guide conduit ahead of the first elongate section and the second elongate section; and connecting the first distal end and the second distal end to a light transmission and receiving unit.

Method for installing a double ended distributed sensing fiber optical assembly within a guide conduit

A method and system are disclosed for measuring pressure and other physical data, such as the temperature, elongation, torsion and bending at any point along the length of an elongate carrier tube by means of one or more coiled optical fibers that are embedded in the wall the tube such that deformation of the carrier tube induces strain in each optical fiber. In use a pulsed laser light source transmits a sequence of light pulses of a selected wavelength from an upstream end of each fiber into a coiled substantially uniform light guide channel provided by the optical fiber and a light sensor assembly detects any shift in wavelength of the light pulses backscattered from various locations along the length of the light guide channel. A signal processing assembly then calculates a strain pattern along the length of the fiber, and a pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the tube, at various locations along the length of the carrier tube. Preferably several fibers are wound at different pitch angles and in different directions and at different diameters in the wall of the carrier tube and the signal processing assembly calculates bending, torsion and both radial and axial deformation of the carrier tube on the basis of a comparison of the strain patterns induced on different optical fibers.

Coiled optical fiber assembly for measuring pressure and/or other physical data

A method for determining a flow property of a fluid flowing through a conduit provided with a capacitance meter having an upstream and a downstream annular capacitance sensor, wherein each annular capacitance sensor having at least three sensor electrodes, which sensor electrodes are arranged around the circumference of the conduit, the method having selecting, for each annular capacitance sensor a set of measurement capacitors, wherein a measurement capacitor is formed by two measurement electrodes, and wherein a measurement electrode consists either of a single sensor electrode or of at least two interconnected sensor electrodes; measuring at several moments during a time interval a capacitance of each measurement capacitor of each annular capacitance sensor; determining cross correlations between capacitances measured during the time interval at the upstream annular capacitance sensor and capacitances measured during the time interval at the downstream annular capacitance sensor; and determining the flow property from the cross correlations.

Growing community of inventors

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Alexander Michael Van Der Spek