Hifi Technology

Fiber Optic Sensing & Data Networks for Smarter, Safer Pipelines, Linear Assets and Community Infrastructure

OVERVIEW

A key challenge with traditional monitoring technologies is that they don’t provide adequate coverage to ensure detection. Point sensors such as flow meters for pipelines and vibration sensors or strain gauges for geotechnical monitoring typically have full coverage in time, but have limited spatial coverage. Periodic surveys such as drones or manual inspection offer improved spatial coverage, but may not be in the right place at the right time. The ability to cover the entire asset, 100% of the time significantly improves safety and performance.

Originally invented for transmitting huge amounts of telecom data over long distances, fiber optics can also be used as a continuous linear sensor, providing a solution to the challenge of achieving 100% coverage. When installed along the length of a new or existing asset such as a pipeline, fiber optic sensors can monitor every centimeter of the pipeline 24/7/365 – adding layers of safety and performance.

Hifi’s fiber can sense three distinct forms of dynamic energy anomalies: acoustics, strain and temperature. The ability to sense all three simultaneously not only improves performance for the detection of various events and alarms, but also opens the door to monitoring for other performance and safety-based applications. Relevant examples when considering pipeline assets include flow anomalies, pig tracking and analysis, third party interference (malicious or accidental), and batch tracking, among others.

Fidelity: Humans experience fidelity every day through sight, smell, hearing and taste in the way we understand our surroundings intelligently. As with any sensor the fidelity is only as good as the input data. Fidelity can be defined as ‘the ability to recreate an input signal’. The level of fidelity dictates the intelligence and performance of sensors. Fiber optic sensors are available in varying levels of fidelity, whereas high fidelity translates to clearer signals and greater performance.

Hifi's Fiber Optic Sensing Solutions


Interrogation	Reflection (mechanism)	Fiber Type	Maximum Suggested Distance	Acoustic Fidelity	Strain Fidelity	Temperature Fidelity	Minimum Spatial Resolution	Calibrated
Rayleigh	Backscatter (due to impurities)	Telecom	40km	Standard	Not Recommended	Not Recommended	2 – 10m	No
Enhanced Rayleigh	Backscatter (due to FBG)	Sensing	4km	High	Standard	Standard	2 – 10m	No
HDS	Controlled (due to FBG)	Sensing	400km	High	High	High	10	Possilble

Monitoring Software

Hifi’s fiber optic sensing can be installed on both new and existing assets such as pipelines

Hifi has developed an elegant, high performance, web-based platform that seamlessly integrates our high fidelity fiber optic sensing with customized artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning data algorithms.

Our monitoring software provides Hifi’s customers with advanced control room visualizations, enhanced decision support capabilities, as well as alarms & notifications. This integrated technology suite will eliminate false positives, improve detection of all events, optimize response times and alarm confidence, and help to prioritize preventive actions.

Hifi provides 24/7 technical support from our own control room environment for a full, turnkey service offering for all of our partners’ requirements.