Imaging a subterranean formation through acoustic energy delivered through a liquid
OwnerAlex S. Miller, Robert Clapp +3inventors
InventorsAlex S. Miller, Robert Clapp, Aparajit Raghavan, Artem Goncharuk, Kevin Forsythe Smith
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Abstract
Techniques for imaging a subterranean formation include activating an acoustic energy source that is at least partially submerged in a volume of liquid on or under a terranean surface; based on the activating, producing acoustic wave energy that travels through the volume of liquid and to a subterranean zone below the terranean surface; receiving, at one or more acoustic receivers, reflected acoustic wave energy from the subterranean zone; and generating, with a control system, data associated with the subterranean zone based on the reflected acoustic wave energy.
Claims39
A method, comprising:
- activating an acoustic energy source that is at least partially submerged in a volume of liquid on or under a terranean surface;
- based on the activating, producing acoustic wave energy that travels through the volume of liquid and to a subterranean zone below the terranean surface;
- receiving, at one or more acoustic receivers, reflected acoustic wave energy from the subterranean zone;
- and
- generating, with a control system, data associated with the subterranean zone based on the reflected acoustic wave energy.
A system, comprising:
- an acoustic energy source that is at least partially submerged in a volume of liquid on or under a terranean surface;
- one or more acoustic receivers positioned on or under the terranean surface;
- and
- a control system communicably coupled to the acoustic energy source and the one or more acoustic receivers, the control system configured to perform operations comprising:
- activating the acoustic energy source to produce acoustic wave energy that travels through the volume of liquid and to a subterranean zone below the terranean surface;
- identifying, from the one or more acoustic receivers, reflected acoustic wave energy from the subterranean zone;
- and
- generating data associated with the subterranean zone based on the reflected acoustic wave energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.