Crude oil remote sensing, characterization, and cleaning with continuous wave and pulsed lasers

Abstract

We demonstrate a successful combination of several optical methods of remote sensing (coherent fringe projection illumination (CFP), holographic in-line interferometry (HILI), laser induced fluorescence,) for detection, identification, and characterization of crude oil. These methods enable the three-dimensional characterization of oil spills that is important for practical applications. Combined methods of CFP and HILI are described in the frame of coherent superposition of partial interference patterns. We show that in addition to detection/identification of oil, laser illumination in the green-blue region can also degrade oil slicks. We tested these methods on differentsurfaces contaminated by oil , which include: oil on water, oil on flat solid surfaces, and oil on curved surfaces of. We use coherent fiber bundles for the detection and monitoring of the laser-induced oil degradation in pipes.. Both continuouswave (CW) and pulsed lasers are tested using pump-probe schemes. This finding allows us to suggest that properly structured laser clean-up can be an alternative environmental-friendly method of decontamination and cleaning, which can be an alternative to chemical methods, which are dangerous to environmentApplication of holographic amplifier with phase conjugation will allow to increase sensitivity, reduce aberrations from atmospheric distortions and to focus back-reflected amplified beam on the contaminated area thus accelerating laser cleaning.