Sophisticated eBird Streamer Control System
Kongsberg Seatex, Kongsberg Maritime’s specialist in position reference systems, and attitude determination has redefined lateral steering with the introduction of eBird to the marine seismic acquisition market at The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) annual meeting in Houston, 25-30th October.
eBird is a novel bird concept for lateral, vertical and roll streamer control in marine seismic acquisition that enables fault tolerant and efficient multi streamer steering by employing a wide range of innovative and patented technological solutions. The eBird technology is developed in close cooperation with the industry, which has also facilitated extensive tests and trials.
“Kongsberg has managed to develop a sophisticated bird for combined depth and lateral control of streamers that has high potential. During the development, PGS has worked closely with Kongsberg’s engineering team to ensure the eBird design meets PGS’s full set of demanding future operational requirements. We are currently performing qualifying tests of the eBird and are very pleased with what we have seen so far. Our intention is to standardize on eBird as the primary system for steering our GeoStreamer 3D and 4D spreads,” says Nils Lunde, Head of Marine Streamer Acquisition Technology at Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS).
The in-line eBird body is produced in titanium for maximum tensile strength as well as extraordinary corrosion resistance. The smart design and construction ensures very low acoustic noise, and can be adapted to all types of streamer cables. The innovative implementation utilizing connector-less power and signal transfer between body and wings makes eBird robust for all operational conditions.
eBird complements the wide range of solutions provided to the seismic industry by Kongsberg Seatex including Seatrack and RADius, tail-buoy and gun-float tracking, Seapath advanced positioning and precise heading solutions, MRU and VMM attitude determination systems, HMS 100 helideck monitoring and AIS 200 Automatic Identification System. Further, Kongsberg Maritime provides a range of solutions for advanced vessel navigation and control together with AUVs and acoustic systems.
“With the increasing demand for streamer steering for more efficient maritime seismic operations and for emerging concepts such as 4D seismic we are proud to introduce the very capable eBirdR concept to the market,” says Gard Ueland, President of Kongsberg Seatex AS.