Silixa
Silixa
United Kingdom
Description of the entity:
Silixa manufactures the world’s highest performance distributed fibre optic sensors for temperature and acoustic monitoring. Ultima™ DTS offers the best spatial resolution available on the market for continuous temperature measurements along the FO cable. iDAS™ enables the user to listen in to digital-quality sound at every point along the cable. Both systems have been used successfully in the oil & gas, industrial and environmental sector.
A hybrid cable with more sensitive acoustic detection thresholds than currently commercially available and temperature change detection capability is being developed by Silixa and will be tested at the Sulcis fault laboratory and compared with other commercially available tools (which will be installed at the site through the national programme). This cable detects the arrival of CO2 based on the differing physical properties of the CO2 plume compared with the native groundwater. It utilises advanced silica engineering to optimise the interaction between the acoustic signal with the backscattered light. Through careful tuning of the iCable optoacoustic characteristics, Silixa can achieve a 15dB to 30dB improvement in the acoustic Signal to Noise Ratio compared to the use of standard cable. This breakthrough performance allows the iDAS to detect passive signals orders of magnitude lower than previously possible, or in the case of active seismic mode, to enable the operator to use significantly fewer repeat seismic shots or lower source effort. The seismic survey will provide a better characterization of the faults and leakages into borehole. Moreover Distributed Temperature Sensor measurements during the injection phase will contribute to the leak detection and characterization. TRL of this application will be brought to 7 through testing in wells in the freshwater zone
Contribution to the Work Plan and expertise brought to ENOS:
Silixa will be responsible for the iDAS data acquisition as part of the two 3D seismic surveys, in the Hontomin site.
Silixa will also contribute to groundwater monitoring using innovative tools in the Sulcis site. These tools include an intelligent fibre optic cable (iCable) for enhanced seismic and temperature measurements for a better characterization of the faults and leakages in the Sulcis site.
Silixa will be mainly involved in the definition of the activities in Hontomin and Sulcis areas (WP1 and WP3) and in the definition of the best practices and innovative techniques (WP7).
Silixa is involved in:
WP1 Ensuring safe storage operations
- Task 1.3 Monitoring safe underground storage behaviour (Subtask 1.3.2 Innovative geophysical monitoring)
WP3 Managing leakage risks for protection of the environment and groundwater
- Task 3.1 Groundwater protection: Geochemical monitoring and potential impact of leakage on potable aquifers)
WP7 Spreading innovation for Research integration and Best practices
230 Centennial Ave, Elstree, Borehamwood WD6 3SN, United Kingdom, Borehamwood WD6 3SN
