FOSA presents innovation awards to Hifi and VIAVI Solutions

The award presentations were made in Washington, D.C. (USA) at the association’s annual member meeting in December.

VIAVI Solutions received accolades as runner-up for its innovative approach invoking Brillouin frequency shift and the Landau-Paczek ratio to simultaneously measure temperature and strain in a single optical fibre using the VIAVI Solutions Brillouin-Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR). Measurements were conducted over the past few years and were post-processed to demonstrate the methodology and capability of the instrument to precisely tune and calibrate for use on field-installed fibre optic sensor cables. Special attention was paid to development, for field use, of methods to accurately determine calibration coefficients, offsets, and cross-sensitivity compensation to clear hurdles to commercial adoption of this approach.

Jon Beckman, Director of Business Operations, added, “VIAVI is delighted to be recognised by FOSA for this innovation. We trust that the method, applied to VIAVI Solutions Brillouin-OTDR, will greatly simplify the task of setting up fibre sensing field installations for strain and temperature monitoring, enabling many industries to reap the benefits of distributed sensing technologies.”

Hifi was recognised as the winner for its innovation and proof-of-concept combining Chevron Lay Flat Frac Line Monitoring (LFFL) products integrated with the Hifi High Fidelity Distributed Sensing (HDS™) system. Lay Flat Frac Lines (LFFL) carry recycled produced water from hydraulic fracturing operations in 8 to 14 in. diameter expandable lines. These lines are set up and commissioned on a portable basis and therefore are not buried, but instead lay on the ground in between fracking pumps.

Hifi was tasked by Chevron to customise their HDS technology and provide a distributed monitoring alternative to Chevron’s traditional approach. Hifi successfully delivered a unique solution accommodating all installation and performance challenges, in turn minimising need for manual inspections. Hifi’s technology was able to detect an extremely low-level water leak (less than one litre per minute) on one LFFL that escaped detection by all other means, enabling Chevron to quickly find and address the issue.

John Hull, Founder and CTO of Hifi, commented, “The Hifi team are thrilled to receive this prestigious award from FOSA for a second year. Chevron, our client in this field-trial, were terrific to work with, providing strong guidance and real-world hurdles to clear. This field-trial demonstrates how distributed sensing can be integrated within traditional asset frameworks to add value while improving both safety and performance for end-users.”

“As FOSA’s Chairman and the Dura-Line Director of Business Development, I can add that it’s great to see longtime business associates receive this recognition, and to share news of how these companies work ceaselessly to improve their respective technologies through value-added engineering and development,” said Dr. Paul Dickinson.

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