Status: AWARD END DATE: 08/01/2024

Background:

Development of Self-powered Distributed Sensors/Reporters for Integrated Offshore Asset and Local Environment Monitoring

Triboelectric effect has been known to human beings for thousands of years. It is responsible for the charging of clouds and subsequent lighting, as well as for the charged amber and fur after rubbing. However, only recently has the electricity from triboelectric effect been harvested and used to power external circuits. Immobile charges at two interfaces are transferred to external electrodes through static induction and relative motion of the interfaces, such devices are called triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs).

Since the electricity is harvested from the environment, more electricity can be harvested by deploying more generators, and electricity can be conveniently collected with a capacitor, thus besides LEDs, triboelectric generators can power up more devices. In fact, many various sensors have been integrated with the generators to provide local information such as temperature, humidity, pressure, etc. This network of distributed generators and sensors forms an Internet of Things (IoT) for reliable and efficient monitoring and management. Compared to a typical environment, ocean waves and subsea currents can provide far more energy and thus are a perfect environment to generate distributed powers.

Fig. 1 below illustrates how these self-powered blinkers are deployed to monitor the asset in shallow and deep sea.

Practical Implementation of Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) for Subsea Detection

Pipeline leaks are costly, dangerous, and detrimental to the environment. While Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems can detect leaks, methods for earlier leak detection can help reduce the negative impacts of leaks and enable a faster response. In our previous work supported by the SSI, we demonstrated that sensors based on organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) can potentially be used for rapid detection of hydrocarbons and petrochemical derivatives in the subsea environment. Specifically, we developed sensor devices that rapidly responded to various alcohols and organics in seawater. The sensors functioned successfully in both synthetic and real seawater (Galveston), displaying a characteristic transfer curve which represents a systematic modulation of the source-drain current.

Industry Impact

Development of Self-powered Distributed Sensors/Reporters for Integrated Offshore Asset and Local Environment Monitoring

The monitoring of floating and subsea offshore asset and their surrounding environment is essential to the oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico. An ideal solution is to deploy distributed sensors/reporters that can sense local conditions and then report to the control center. A major challenge to this approach is the electrical power supply in the remote deep sea, especially the distributed power to individual sensors. This issue becomes more severe when there is a power outage due to manmade or natural emergency or disaster. The goal of this project is to design, manufacture and test the self-powered blinkers that are made of triboelectric generators and light-emitting diodes. These blinkers will emit flashing light without external power and allow them to be detected and tracked 24/7 in any environmental conditions. They function as a transponder of a plane or a ship, are the simplest forms of sensors/reporters. Since sufficient electricity can be stored or expanded through a network of triboelectric generators, important parameters such as temperature, pressure and salinity can be measured by integrated sensors, more sophisticated communication through light or sound can be added, thus an integrated monitoring and tracking of offshore asset can be realized in the future. Such technique of self-powered sensors/reporters will provide a reliable and long-term solution for safe operation of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as many other areas around the world.

Practical Implementation of Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) for Subsea Detection

The proposed sensors have much broader applications beyond leak detections and therefore will be of interest to companies in oil and gas, water and wastewater treatment, and biomedical industries. We actively seek out firms that have a potential need for chemical sensor systems for subsea applications.

Project Objectives

Development of self-powered distributed sensors/reporters for integrated offshore assets and local environment monitoring.

SSI, looks to develop self-powered distributed sensors/reporters for integrated offshore assets and local environmental monitoring by:

1. Developing self-powered sustainable reporters/sensors that can be attached and deployed to assets of an offshore platform for integrated asset monitoring and management;
2. Designing self-powered blinkers that can emit flashing lights as a reporter. Using the triboelectric effect, these sensors, reporters will harvest energy from ocean waves or marine currents.

Practical Implementation of Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) for Subsea Detection

SSI, will research the practical implementation of OECT by:

1. Evaluating OECT sensor sensitivity and performance under realistic subsea conditions;
2. Improving the specificity and sensitivity of MIPs by implementing machine learning (ML) to optimize the chemistry of MIPs.

Tasks:

Task 1: Development of self-powered distributed sensors/reporters for integrated offshore asset and local environment monitoring

• Goal 1: Design of highly efficient buoyant triboelectric blinkers (70% complete)
• Goal 2: Fabrication and characterization of buoyant triboelectric blinkers (60% complete)
• Goal 3: Test of buoyant triboelectric blinkers in the tank and Galveston Bay (0% complete)
• Goal 4: Design of subsea triboelectric blinkers (0% complete)
• Goal 5: New Technology Qualification (NTQ) and third-party verification (0% complete)

Task 2: Practical Implementation of Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) for Subsea Detection

• Goal 6: Evaluate the effect of subsea conditions on OECT performance (25% complete)
• Goal 7: Improve the specificity and sensitivity of MIPs (35% complete)
• Goal 8: Test a multiplexed array of sensors capable of operating simultaneously to either detect multiple, different contaminants and/or spatially localize the source of a leak (35% complete)
• Goal 9: Quantify the lifetime and stability of OECTs in subsea conditions (25% complete)

Gantt Chart: