Microwave System Development for Wireless Communications Inside Oil and Gas Well Pipelines

• Published in: IEEE journal of microwaves Vol. 3; no. 2; pp. 553 - 569
• Main Authors: Kossenas, Konstantinos, Podilchak, Symon K., Beveridge, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.04.2023
• Subjects: Circular waveguide; digitized image; live stream video; mandrel; Microwave antennas; Microwave communication; Microwave imaging; Microwave propagation; Microwave theory and techniques; OFDM; oil and gas well; Oils; Pipelines; sensory data; transmission path loss; Yagi-Uda PCB-based antenna
• ISSN: 2692-8388; 2692-8388
• DOI: 10.1109/JMW.2022.3232032

The modelling and design of a full wireless microwave communication system is examined, where the signal propagates within an overmoded circular metallic pipeline. Applications include the oil and gas industry. A specific link budget equation was also developed for the S-band transmission system and measured successfully using a 36-meter carbon steel pipeline, which can be easily extended to more than 150 meters. Also, based on the measured system data, the receiver sensitivity was determined to be −77 dBm and 15 dB in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Additionally, some digitized images, sensory information such as temperature and pressure, and live stream videos were successfully transmitted and monitored in real-time, using N210 universal software radio peripheral (USRP) modems by National Instruments and coded in Matlab/Simulink and LabVIEW. To the best knowledge of the authors, no similar microwave communication system has been developed with supporting theory, full wave simulations, and measurements for propagation within for oil and gas industry wells.