Seismic source firing control system
AssigneeExxon Production Research Company
InventorDewey R. Young, II
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A firing system for marine seismic sources 14 grouped and fired in subarrays 18. Each source 14 is provided with a firing circuit 30 including an energy storage device, such as a storage capacitor 32, adapted to pass firing current through the source actuator 24 in response to receiving a low power trigger signal from a source control system 28 located on the ship 16 from which the seismic survey is conducted. The firing circuit 30 corresponding to each source 14 is situated proximate the source 14. An umbilical 20 extends between the control system 28 and each subarray 18. The umbilical 20 includes a trigger signal conductor corresponding to each source, a charging conductor to which the storage capacitors of each firing circuit 30 are connected in parallel and a ground conductor.
Claims18
A seismic survey system, comprising:
- a plurality of seismic sources, each adapted to fire in response to receiving an electrical firing command signal;
- a firing sensor positioned proximate each of said seismic sources, said firing sensor being adapted to generate an electrical firing detection signal in response to the corresponding seismic source being fired;
- a firing circuit associated with and proximate to each of said seismic sources, each firing circuit being adapted to provide a firing command signal to the corresponding seismic source in response to receiving an electrical trigger signal;
- a control unit adapted to receive said firing detection signals, to calculate an appropriate firing time for each of said seismic sources, and to apply an electrical trigger signal to each of said firing circuits to fire the corresponding seismic source at the appropriate instant, said control unit being positioned a spaced distance from said seismic sources;
- and,
- an umbilical extending from said central control unit to said plurality of seismic sources and firing circuits, said umbilical being adapted to transmit trigger signals from said control unit to said firing circuits and to transmit firing detection signals from said firing sensors to said control unit.
A marine seismic survey system, comprising:
- a ship;
- at least one subarray of seismic sources adapted to be towed behind said ship, each of said sources within said subarray being adapted to fire a plurality of times in the course of a seismic survey, each firing of each source being in response to said source receiving an electrical firing command signal;
- a capacitive discharge firing circuit associated with and adjacent to each of said sources, each of said firing circuits being provided with a storage capacitor, said firing circuits being adapted to discharge said storage capacitor through the corresponding seismic source in response to said firing circuit receiving an electrical trigger signal, the discharge of said storage capacitor establishing said electrical firing command signal;
- a control unit on said ship, said control unit being adapted to generate said trigger signals;
- and,
- an electrical umbilical extending between said control unit and said seismic source subarray, said umbilical including a plurality of trigger signal conductors each corresponding to one of said firing circuits, said umbilical also including a charging conductor to which the storage capacitor of each firing circuit is connected in parallel.
A marine seismic survey system, comprising:
- a ship;
- a plurality of marine seismic sources adapted to be towed by said ship, each source being adapted to fire in response to receiving an electrical firing command pulse;
- at least one capacitive discharge firing circuit, said firing circuit including a storage capacitor adapted to discharge to provide said firing command pulse to a corresponding at least one of said seismic sources in response to said capacitive discharge firing circuit receiving an electrical trigger signal;
- a firing sensor positioned proximate each of said seismic sources, said firing sensor being adapted to generate an electrical firing detection signal in response to the corresponding seismic source being fired;
- a control unit adapted to apply an electrical trigger signal to said at least one firing circuit and to receive said firing detection signals, said control unit being positioned on said ship;
- and
- an umbilical extending between said control unit and said at least one firing circuit, said umbilical being adapted to transmit trigger signals from said control unit to said at least one firing circuit and to transmit firing detection signals from said firing sensors to said control unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.