Variable buoyancy control and recovery system for seismic data acquisition
AssigneeION Geophysical Corporation
InventorAndré W. Olivier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seismic apparatus includes one or more seismic cable systems configured to acquire seismic data, each seismic cable system having one or more of a cable jacket, a reservoir for a ballast fluid or other ballast medium, and an actuator or other transfer mechanism configured to transfer the ballast fluid between the reservoir and the seismic cable system during acquisition of the seismic data, e.g., where the ballast fluid is transferred to the seismic cable system within the cable jacket. A controller can be configured to adjust a buoyancy of the seismic cable system responsive to the transfer of the ballast fluid, e.g., where the internal volume expands or contract based on the fluid transfer.
Claims18
A ballast module comprising:
- a housing adapted for mounting coaxially over an outer jacket of a seismic cable system configured for acquiring seismic data;
- a reservoir disposed within the housing, the reservoir configured to transfer a ballast medium between the reservoir and a volume defined within the outer jacket of the seismic cable system;
- and
- a controller configured to selectively operate the reservoir to control buoyancy of the seismic cable system, wherein the buoyancy is responsive to changes in the volume based on the transfer of the ballast medium during acquisition of the seismic data by the seismic cable system.
A seismic data acquisition system comprising:
- a seismic cable configured for acquiring seismic data;
- and
- a ballast module disposed along the seismic cable, wherein the ballast module comprises:
- a housing comprising axial couplings for removably mounting the ballast module between two adjacent sections of the seismic cable;
- a reservoir disposed within the housing, the reservoir containing a ballast fluid;
- and
- a transfer mechanism coupled to the reservoir, the transfer mechanism configured to transfer the ballast fluid from the reservoir, through at least one of the axial couplings, and to a volume defined within a cable jacket of at least one of the two adjacent sections of the seismic cable,
- wherein buoyancy along a length of the seismic cable is controlled by changes in the volume defined within the cable jacket, responsive to the transfer of the ballast fluid.
A method comprising:
- deploying a seismic cable to a seismic medium;
- acquiring seismic data with the seismic cable;
- operating a ballast module to transfer a ballast medium between a reservoir of the ballast module and a cable jacket of a core of one or both of two adjacent sections of the seismic cable, wherein the reservoir is disposed within a housing of the ballast module, wherein the housing comprises axial couplings that removably mount the ballast module in-line between the two adjacent sections of the seismic cable;
- and
- controlling a buoyancy of the seismic cable, wherein the buoyancy is responsive to the transfer of the ballast medium from the reservoir to a volume defined within the cable jacket of one or both of the two adjacent sections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.