I-Corps: Autonomous electronic sentinel microsensors for monitoring and logging harsh environments

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为石油和天然气行业开发微传感器技术，包括监测生产压力和温度、管道/水泥完整性和废弃威尔斯井。 与其他监测系统和基础设施相比，微传感器可以在操作和维护的成本和后勤方面提供数量级的减少。 此外，大规模监测自然和/或工程环境创造了一个几乎即时的机会，在结构的预期寿命内以低成本对损坏或灾难做出响应。 所提出的技术的其他应用包括国防、基础设施、运输和其他行业，并且有可能创建用于监视操作的安全网络，例如辐射、入侵或损坏。 该技术还可以提供用于监测应力/应变、腐蚀、化学检测、声学裂纹检测、负载和振动的廉价装置，以允许维护和维修优化。 这些设备设计用于漂浮在溪流、河流、下水道、城市供水、废水、管道和海流中，以监测系统完整性、污染和其他所需变量。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发小型化自主电子微传感器和系统，用于监测和记录目前尺寸排除，无线和有线拒绝环境的恶劣环境。 所提出的技术已被用于测量石油、天然气、钻井泥浆、油井水泥和水力压裂液等恶劣环境中的温度和压力。 测量结果存储在板载存储器中，并带有持续运行的时钟的时间戳。 当返回到表面时，这些设备被无线读取。 目前的原型直径为9 mm，可在高达125 C和10 k psi的温度下工作，并封装在两个聚合物层中。第一层聚合物层设计用于密封保护，第二层用于在油气流体中的浮力以及从地面产生的流体中回收。迄今为止的研究表明，它们可以在实验室测试和井下现场测试中幸存下来。 这些微型传感器基于集成的井下功能系统（传感器、高温电池、通信、存储器、微控制器和恶劣环境保护包装），创建了谨慎、无线、自主和毫米级数据记录器。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of microsensor technologies for the oil and gas industry including monitoring pressure and temperature of production, pipeline/cement integrity, and abandoned wells. Microsensors may provide an order of magnitude reduction in the cost and logistics of operations and maintenance as compared with other monitoring systems and infrastructure. In addition, monitoring natural and/or engineered environments at scale creates a near instantaneous opportunity to respond to damage or disaster at low cost for the expected lifetime of the structure. Other applications of the proposed technology include defense, infrastructure, transportation, and other industries, and it may be possible to create secure networks for monitoring operations such as for radiation, intrusion, or damage. This technology also may provide inexpensive devices for monitoring stress/strain, corrosion, chemical detection, acoustic crack detection, loading, and vibration to allow maintenance and repair optimization. The devices are designed to float in streams, rivers, sewers, city water supply, wastewater, pipelines, and sea currents to monitor system integrity, pollution, and other needed variables. This I-Corps project is based on the development of miniaturized autonomous electronic microsensors and systems for monitoring and logging harsh environments that are currently size excluded, wireless, and wire-denied environments. The proposed technology has been used to measure temperature and pressure in harsh environments such as oil, gas, drilling mud, well cement, and hydraulic fracturing fluid. Measurements are stored in onboard memory and timestamped with a continuously running clock. Upon return to the surface, the devices are read out wirelessly. Current prototypes are 9mm in diameter, may function up to 125C and 10k psi, and are packaged in two polymer layers. The first polymer layer is designed for hermetic protection, and the second for buoyancy in oil and gas fluids and recovery from fluids produced at the surface. Research to date has shown that they survive lab testing and field testing downhole. These microsensors are based on integration of downhole capable systems (sensors, high temperature battery, communications, memory, microcontroller, and harsh environmental protective packaging) creating discreet, wireless, autonomous, and millimeter-scale data loggers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.