3-D Visualization Lab Revolutionizes the Search for Oil & Gas
New View
By Dawna Greening, M.Eng, P.Eng., Research Laboratory Coordinator I Computing, Simulation and Landmark Visualization Facility & By Dan Vasiliu, MSEE, MSIE, Research Laboratory Coordinator I Computing, Simulation and Landmark Visualization Facility
What would it be like to walk around an oil reservoir hundreds of meters below the sea floor? A visualization lab at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, offers researchers and business people such an extraordinary trip by processing huge amounts of seismic data into three-dimensional, computer-generated models of the underground structures. This approach revolutionizes the way oil and gas reservoirs are studied by minimizing expensive prospect drilling while offering an ideal analysis, simulation and optimization environment. The Landmark Graphics Visualization Laboratory is located in the Earth Sciences Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). A significant increase in offshore oil and gas exploration and production off Newfoundland's coast in recent years has boosted the local economy, provided increased funding for the academic community, and allowed MUN to create this new 3-D facility. Dr. Jeremy Hall, (pictured right) a geophysicist with MUN's Earth Sciences Department, came to Memorial in 1987. "Since that time," he says, "there's been a huge jump in the ability of scientists to gather information about the Earth and generate an image that displays it realistically. At one time, we simply used a moving ship towing behind it an array of hydrophones. These hydrophones collect echoes and, from the signals, we built
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up a two-dimensional profile of the seabed below the ship's track. We would collect those profiles every few kilometres and piece together a three-dimensional picture. The problem, of course, is that there are lots of gaps in between the individual profiles," said Hall. "The big breakthrough has come with what we call 3-D seismic, where a ship will tow not just one hydrophone streamer, but several of them, maybe half a dozen, and this way we can get an image along a swath of the seabed that may be several hundred metres wide, and then by having the ship move up and down across an area of ocean just like you would mow your lawn at home, you can gradually build up a complete three-dimensional picture of the subsurface structure." Indeed, data collection methods and processing power have evolved beyond the most optimistic expectations, leading to a new dilemma: how can we comprehend the large amounts of data now accessible? Because humans use vision to acquire over 90 percent of all their environmental information, Memorial University felt that an effective visualization centre was essential for research and engineering success, in both academic and industrial settings. With generous support, MUN chose to invest in and develop the Computing, Simulation and Landmark Graphics Visualization Facility, a kind of IMAX theatre for scientists.
October 2007
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