Carbon nanotubes fibres/aluminium-NiZnFe2O4 based electromagnetic transmitter for improved magnitude versus offset (MVO) in a scaled marine environment

In seabed logging the magnitude of electromagnetic (EM) waves for the detection of a hydrocarbon reservoir in the marine environment is very important. Having a strong EM source for exploration target 4000 m below the sea floor is a very challenging task. A new carbon nanotubes (CNT) fibres/aluminium based EM transmitter is developed and NiZn ferrite as magnetic feeders was used in a scaled tank to evaluate the presence of oil. Resistive scaled tank experiments with a scale factor of 2000 were carried out. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were done to characterize the synthesized magnetic feeders. Single phase Ni0.76Mg0.04Zn0.2Fe2O4, obtained by the sol-gel method and sintered at 700 degrees C in air, has a [311] major peak. FESEM results show nanoparticles with average diameters of 17-45 nm. Samples which have a high Q-factor (approximately 50) was used as magnetic feeders for the EM transmitter. The magnitude of the EM waves of this new EM transmitter increases up to 400%. A curve fitting method using MATLAB software was done to evaluate the performance of the new EM transmitter. The correlation value with CNT fibres/aluminium-NiZnFe2O4 base transmitter shows a 152.5% increase of the magnetic field strength in the presence of oil. Modelling of the scale tank which replicates the marine environment was done using the Finite Element Method (FEM). In conclusion, FEM was able to delineate the presence of oil with greater magnitude of E-field (16.89%) and the B field (4.20%) due to the new EM transmitter.