Russian Federation Will Create Its Own Complex With Hybrid Telemetry for Seismic Exploration
Geophysical TNG-Group intends to develop and bring to market a hardware and software modular recording complex with hybrid telemetry. The development is designed to solve the needs of the oil exploration industry for high-quality domestic equipment, wireless technologies and unification of systems. This was announced by Denis KISLER, Deputy General Director of the company for marketing (an interview with him was published on the website of TagraS-Holding).
An agreement with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on the provision of a subsidy for the implementation of this project was signed in April 2022. This is one of the joint projects with MIPT, now it is at the R&D stage. It is planned to get a prototype in 2-3 years.
“Introduction of our AIC with hybrid telemetry into production will provide Russian seismic exploration with independence from Western equipment,” Kisler believes. – The most important effect is to increase the effectiveness of prospecting and exploration of minerals and the growth rate of the mineral resource base by increasing the reliability of the information received about the structure of the geological environment.
The key task of field exploration, as the deputy general director of TNG-Group explained, is to register seismic vibrations reflected from the rock contained in the bowels. For this, specialized equipment is used – telemetry systems.
The problem is that all telemetry systems currently used in Russia are imported: French, American and Chinese. Against the backdrop of the withdrawal of a number of foreign companies and technologies from the Russian Federation, a request for high-quality domestic analogues appeared.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the existing registration systems on the market are designed for filming either on land or in water areas. The work is carried out separately, which leads to the problem of subsequent crosslinking of materials that differ in frequency and dynamic range.
This complicates further processing and interpretation of materials, and, as a result, reduces the quality of the obtained geological information.
The advantage of modular recording equipment is the possibility of using HSC in the form of autonomous ground nodes, ground and bottom streamers, autonomous bottom stations. You can also use their combinations within a single project for versatility.
Hybrid telemetry provides guaranteed collection of high-quality seismic data in any areas and conditions due to the capabilities of wireless communication with linear repeaters embedded in the recording nodes. APC can work as part of a cable braid, or function autonomously with data reading after the survey is completed.
The development combines the advantages of cable and cableless systems within one surveillance system and even one receiving line. This will allow for seamless surveys without gaps and reflection reduction when crossing freshwater areas such as swamps, lakes and rivers, as well as when working in land-sea areas.
The new equipment is subject to scalability and reconfigurability, it has a high degree of unification, which will greatly facilitate the process of training personnel to work with the agro-industrial complex.
The main thing is the use of such a complex in seismic exploration – it is a guaranteed receipt of information due to the hybrid architecture of telemetry and data buffering: in the event of an emergency, each unit can either write information to internal memory or transmit it via backup channels – both wired and wireless.
The power supply of relaying systems is carried out via optical fiber. This increases the life of the equipment. The cost of operation is reduced, since the costs of transportation, battery charging and so on are eliminated.
The recording system can be selected according to the conditions of a specific task of the customer.
Kiesler called the technological potential of this development 2D, 3D and 4D seismic surveys of any level of complexity with any design of the recording array. Work can be carried out in hard-to-reach places, and in places with a high density of infrastructure, where, for example, it is extremely difficult to deploy wired telemetry.
Secondly, seismic data is recorded in real time with the ability to control the noise level and data quality. This is the main criterion for customers when using wireless technologies.
The Deputy General Director noted the possibility of using artificial intelligence, first of all, to control the quality of the received material, as well as compatibility with the vast majority of analog seismic receivers common in the industry.
Also, among the effects, the deputy general director of TNG-Group named an increase in labor productivity in seismic parties, the elimination of data losses due to a cable break.
It is also important to reduce the negative impact on the environment during seismic surveys. It will be possible to carry out “green” seismic observations where it was previously inaccessible or associated with various kinds of difficulties and consequences – in agricultural areas during the harvest season, forest lands without cutting down plantings, in urban parks and densely built-up areas, places with difficult terrain, restricted areas and so on.
The Devon news agency previously reported that thanks to the cooperation between TNG-Group and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, an import-substituting software package for petrophysical modeling was developed. It is designed to improve the efficiency of prospecting, exploration and development of hydrocarbon deposits. found out in the press service of the petrogeophysical company.
