An introduction to fibre optic Intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensing (iDAS) technology for power industry applications

This paper provides an explanation of the general principles of operation of the Intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensing technology and focuses on the current areas of interest and applications of this technology within the industry. Currently the technology is mainly used for perimeter monitoring of utility assets and third party intervention monitoring on buried pipelines. In the oil & gas sector distributed acoustic measurements are used in vertical seismic profiling and flow allocation measurements. The paper explores some of current applications of this technology. This paper also explores and provides information that will enable the potential for future applications.