Development of a 20 kJ Sparker for High Resolution Ocean Seismic Survey

Abstract

An ocean sparker with a stored energy of 20 kJ was developed for high resolution ocean seismic survey. The sparker is mainly composed of a high voltage high frequency charging supply, energy storage capacitors, a discharging switch and discharging electrodes. The H-bridge inverter and series resonant mode were adopted in the charging supply, and a dry high voltage transformer was used to improve the safety and maintenance, the average charging rate exceeded 4 kJ/s. An optical fiber connected between the high voltage system and the control system was used to isolate high voltage and transmit the high voltage signal. The high voltage electrodes of the discharging electrodes consisted of several hundreds of electrodes. The experimental results show that the sparker can be operated at repetition rates of 12 shots/min, and can meet the expected design requirements. Further field tests will be done in the near future.

Experimental evaluation of methodologies for single transient cavitation bubble generation in liquids

“…Underwater spark discharges are used in various applications, ranging from environmental (Locke 2012;Jiang et al 2014), nanomaterial production (Chen et al 2015), medicine (Sunka et al 2004), high-voltage transformers or switches (Lewis 1994) and bubble dynamics studies (Vokurka 1988;Buogo et al 2009). Due to its simple application, it is a popular method for inducing an impulsive sound source, as a spherical bubble will nicely approximate a zeroth-order acoustic radiator (Buogo et al 2009), making it interesting for deep sea prospecting (Cannelli et al 1990), minesweeping (Fry et al 1999), oceanic seismic exploration (Sun et al 2009). Essentially there are three parts to the process: the pre-breakdown streamer formation (~ ns), the spark discharge (ns to ≤ ms) and the following bubble growth and collapse (µs to ms) (Buogo et al 2009).…”

Acoustic Detection and Characterization of Marine Sediment With Shallow Seismic Technology in Rambat Waters, Bangka Belitung

“…Untuk pengontrolan peledakan sparker dapat menggunakan perangkat lunak Sonar Weis. Perangkat lunak ini dijalankan untuk meledakan sparker dengan Trigger Interval 125 ms dan 250 ms. Sparker dengan energi tinggi dikembangkan untuk survey seismik kelautan beresolusi tinggi Sparker dapat dioperasikan dalam pengulangan kecepatan 12 shots/min dan mempunyai banyak susunan ukuran, ketahanan, dan stabilitas (Sun et al, 2009). …”