Monitoring & Sensors

Fraunhofer IEG is increasingly developing and using innovative fiber optic sensor technology for process monitoring above and below ground. Fiber optic cables can be installed in a variety of ways and are flexible, e.g., in boreholes, storage facilities, or in/on pipelines, where coupled light scatters in the fiber and allows conclusions to be drawn about environmental conditions such as temperature, strain, vibration, or pressure with high spatial and temporal resolution. When the fiber optic cable is installed appropriately, these scattered signals also provide information about drilling operations, cementation, and the properties of a geothermal reservoir during development and operation. The development and use of fiber optics as distributed sensors or point sensors is continuously increasing in geotechnical applications. In particular, the introduction of distributed temperature sensing (DTS), distributed strain sensing (DSS), and distributed acoustic and seismic sensing (DAS/DVS) enables continuous spatial and temporal monitoring of (geo)technical facilities and installations. Methods for distributed detection of chemical components or distributed pressure profiling (DPS) have been demonstrated in test environments. In contrast, point sensors offer advantages for high-resolution monitoring of individual system components.

Fraunhofer IEG adapts fiber optic technologies to your specific technical and geotechnical application requirements, whether these are new implementations or further developments. Efficient, effective, and continuous monitoring is a key component of safe plant operation.

Our experts at Fraunhofer IEG use AI-based applications and methods to analyze large data sets and extract features across numerous fields of energy infrastructures and subsystems. To this end, sensors are developed and applied that use automatic pattern recognition and anomaly detection with a focus on the development of analysis methods for analyzing large data sets, feature extraction, automatic pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics.

In addition, multisensory process analysis systems (MoUSE) can be used as complete measurement systems for the active and passive recording, transmission, and analysis of multisensor systems, e.g., during the sinking of boreholes. One focus here is on acoustic emission testing for component testing, instrument wear, leak detection, and efficiency in the drilling process. We offer you customized development and implementation of integrated sensory and analytical systems for condition monitoring, maintenance, pattern recognition, and intelligent signal processing tailored to your project.

Our geophysicists offer a wide range of services related to the seismological monitoring of reservoirs and the seismic characterization of the subsurface. Our modern software enables the precise simulation of seismic wave propagation in three-dimensional heterogeneous media. Our experience ranges from digital rock physics for the characterization of representative reservoir rocks to the optimization of acoustic and ultrasonic tools for boreholes and pipelines to deterministic hazard assessments throughout the entire reservoir.

In addition, we offer consulting services based on the latest research in seismic hazard and risk assessment, seismic monitoring network planning, and alarm protocol setup. With our ten broadband seismometers, we can also measure the passive seismic wave field flexibly and independently. We offer state-of-the-art evaluation methods for determining seismic velocities in the subsurface using seismic noise, for determining hypocenters and source mechanisms of microseismic events using innovative simulation-based methods, and for determining changes in the continuous wavefield that may indicate temporal changes in the stress state in the reservoir.

Our AwSV expert inspects and evaluates your near-surface geothermal systems with regard to the Ordinance on Installations for Handling Substances Hazardous to Water and prepares corresponding AwSV reports.