Status: AWARD END DATE: 8/31/2019

Background:

This work will produce a new, stress wave based communication method using piezoelectric transducers to be used for subsea communication. Utilizing specially designed sensor nodes, data will be gathered, encoded, and transmitted through subsea pipelines. The scientific impact of this work centers on the installation of sensor nodes as a way to propagate the entire system of subsea pipelines as a web of pathways for stress wave based communication along the network of sensor nodes.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) contains a major infrastructure of pipelines and subsea facilities supporting exploration and production activities. GOM operators will benefit from more robust communications resulting in improved real time monitoring capability and a significant reduction in costs related to subsea data transmission. Industry support will be provided by OneSubsea, APS Technology and Halliburton.