Detecting oil under ice

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9719978-B2
Application number	US-201615214608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2016
Priority date	Sep 17, 2015
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for detecting oil proximate to a body of ice is disclosed herein. An example system includes an energy emitter disposed proximate to a first surface of a body of ice. An energy detector is disposed proximate to a second surface of the body of ice. The energy detector is used to map a distribution of oil proximate to the body of ice based, at least in part, on differences in energy transmitted through the body of ice.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system operable to detect oil proximate to a body of ice, comprising:
an energy emitter disposed proximate to a first surface of the body of ice; and
an energy detector disposed proximate to a second surface of the body of ice, wherein a distribution of oil proximate to the body of ice is mapped based, at least in part, on differences in energy transmitted through the body of ice.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the body of ice comprises a plurality of layers and oil is trapped between at least two layers of ice.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the energy emitter comprises a light source; and
the energy detector comprises a light detector, wherein the light detector measures an absorbance of light transmitted through the body of ice from the light source.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the energy emitter comprises an acoustic emitter; and
the energy detector comprises an acoustic detector, wherein the acoustic detector measures a sound transmitted through the body of ice from the acoustic emitter.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the energy emitter comprises a high-powered strobe light.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the energy emitter comprises a laser system.

7. The system of claim 1 , comprising:
an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) comprising the energy emitter; and
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising the energy detector.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the AUV comprises:
a UAV communication system operable to communicate with the UAV;
the energy emitter comprising a strobe light;
a navigation system;
a propulsion system; and
a control system that uses the UAV communication system, the navigation system and the propulsion system to coordinate a position of the AUV with a position of the UAV.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the UAV comprises:
an AUV communication system operable to communicate with the AUV;
a data communications system for communicating with a base station;
the energy detector comprising a multispectral camera;
a navigation system comprising a global positioning system;
a propulsion system; and
a control system that uses the AUV communication system, the navigation system and the propulsion system to coordinate a position of the UAV with a position of the AUV.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the data communications system is operable to accept commands from the base station and transmit images to the base station.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the global positioning system georeferences images.

12. A method for detecting oil proximate to a body of ice, comprising:
disposing an energy emitter proximate to a first surface of the body of ice;
disposing an energy detector proximate to a second surface of the body of ice; and
mapping a distribution of oil proximate to the body of ice based, at least in part, on differences in energy transmitted through the body of ice.

13. The method of claim 12 , comprising determining an amount of oil based, at least in part, on an absorbance measurement.

14. The method of claim 12 , comprising determining an amount of oil based, at least in part, on a measurement of sound waves transmitted through the body of ice.

15. The method of claim 12 , comprising:
disposing a light source on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) as the energy emitter;
disposing a light detector on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as the energy detector;
moving the UAV over the AUV; and
detecting light from the light source at the light detector.

16. The method of claim 15 , comprising:
using a first technique to locate a region of oil contamination; and
deploying the UAV and AUV to create the map of the distribution of the oil contamination.

17. A method for detecting oil trapped in or under ice in a marine environment with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:
deploying the AUV under an ice surface and the UAV above the ice surface at a location suspected of having trapped oil under, within, or on the ice, wherein the AUV comprises an energy emitter to transmit energy through water, sea ice, snow, air, and any combinations thereof; and
measuring the intensity of the transmitted energy using an energy detector on the UAV to identify locations wherein oil is potentially trapped under the ice, within the ice, on the ice, and any combinations thereof.

18. The method of claim 17 , comprising:
coupling the AUV with the UAV for synchronized energy emission and detection;
controlling movements of the AUV and UAV so that the UAV is substantially above the AUV;
moving the UAV under the ice surface and the AUV above the ice surface with the energy emitter on and the energy detector measuring the intensity of the transmitted energy; and
creating images that map a distribution of the trapped oil.

19. The method of claim 18 , comprising using a global position system (GPS) on the UAV to georeference the images.

20. The method of claim 19 , comprising sending the images from the UAV to a base station.

Assignees

• Nedwed Timothy J
• Zhang Changyong
• Palandro David A
• Exxonmobil Upstream Res Co

Inventors

• Nedwed Timothy J
• Zhang Changyong
• Palandro David A

Classifications

• G01N21/31 Primary

  Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry {(G01N21/72 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G01N21/59

  Transmissivity (G01N21/25 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01N33/2823 Primary

  Raw oil, drilling fluid or polyphasic mixtures · CPC title

• G01N2201/0218

  Submersible, submarine · CPC title

• G01N2021/0118

  Apparatus with remote processing · CPC title