With the launch of its fifth generation of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) product, AP Sensing makes strides in asset monitoring technology with a system that, unlike traditional point sensors, provides gapless monitoring of valuable infrastructures such as pipelines, power cables and railways.
The future of technology is here: standard fibre optic cables used as continuous sensors for asset protection and monitoring. The new DAS uses acoustic vibrations along the fibre optic cable to detect and precisely locate events in real-time, such as pipeline leaks, high voltage power cable faults, third-party interference (TPI) activities, or other abnormal events. The fifth generation is built for rapid adaptation to the asset environment, operation in harsh conditions and installation in remote environments. It uses advanced detection algorithms to identify and locate critical events with improved detection sensitivity and reliability.
“Our R&D teams in both the UK and Germany spent years developing our DAS technology and software,” says Dr Gareth Lees, CTO at AP Sensing. “The resulting product we have today shows a mature technology that can really be used to make a difference in protecting people and critical infrastructure everywhere.”
The DAS uses coherent optical time domain reflectometry (C-OTDR) and Rayleigh backscattering to detect micro-vibrations and capture acoustic signals over long distances up to 100km. In combination with smart classification algorithms, this technology can detect and locate events such as intentional or unintentional excavation above critical assets, or a pipeline leak within a few metres.
