Marine seismic source
AssigneeWesternGeco L.L.C.
InventorJohn Albert Sanchez
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A marine seismic source consists of one or more airguns (1) suspended from a float (2). A supply harness (5) is provided to supply compressed air and electrical control signals to the airguns. The airgun is mounted such that the harness (5) is below the point at which air is emitting from the airgun (1). This means that bubbles of air that rise from the airgun when it is fired do not impact on the harness and so cannot damage the harness.
Claims15
A marine seismic source comprising;
- a float;
- an airgun;
- and a supply harness for supplying air to the airgun;
- wherein, in use, the airgun is suspended from the float at a shallower depth than the supply harness.
A marine seismic source, comprising:
- an airgun having a discharge port for releasing pressurized air;
- a supply harness for delivering pressurized air to the airgun;
- and
- a floatation assembly for supporting the airgun such that its discharge port lies at a first depth and supporting the supply harness at a second depth in a mane environment, the second depth being greater than the first depth, whereby the effect of pressurized air released from the discharge port of the airgun on the supply harness is reduced.
A method of producing a seismic source event in a marine environment, comprising the steps of:
- suspending an airgun such that it releases air at a first depth in the marine environment when actuated;
- suspending a supply harness at a second depth in the marine environment beneath the first depth;
- delivering a volume of pressurized air to the airgun via the supply harness;
- and
- actuating the airgun to release at least a portion of the pressurized air volume from the airgun into the marine environment at the first depth.
A method of producing a plurality of seismic source events in a marine environment, comprising the steps of:
- suspending a plurality of airguns in the marine environment such that each of the airguns releases air substantially at the first depth when actuated;
- suspending a supply harness at a second depth beneath the first depth in the marine environment;
- delivering a volume of pressurized air to the airguns via the supply harness;
- and
- releasing at least a portion of the pressurized air volume from the airguns into the marine environment substantially at the first depth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.