Novel MI-based (FracBot) sensor hardware design for monitoring hydraulic fractures and oil reservoirs

Abstract

Monitoring of hydraulic fractures and unconventional oil and gas reservoirs are crucial for determining the rich venue of oil and natural gas reserves. Wireless sensor nodes are a promising technology to collect data from hydraulic fractures and oil reservoirs in real time, such nodes are not available in the market since they need to be designed for this special application to overcome limitations caused by the small size requirement and the environment. To overcome limitations caused by harsh environmental conditions and energy constraints, this paper proposes a novel prototype of magnetic induction (MI)-based wireless sensor node (FracBot) to be used as a platform for a new generation of Wireless Underground Sensor Networks (WUSNs) for monitoring hydraulic fractures, unconventional reservoirs and measuring other wellbore parameters. We design and develop the hardware of the MI-based wireless sensor for short range communication using near field communication (NFC) as a physical layer combined with energy harvesting capability and ultra-low power requirements. We realize theses characteristics using cost-effective and commercial off-the-shelf components. We confirm the performance of our design via theoretical and experimental evaluation. the FracBot can operate perpetually with minimum energy radiated conditions. Also, it can establish the communication link and transmit the data using modulation ASK with the data rate of 1.6 kbit/s.