Modeling and Research on Power System of Distributed Sensor Networks for Long Streamers in Marine Seismic Exploration

Abstract

The electric power system plays an important role in sensor networks. In the marine seismic exploration streamer system (MSESS), an underwater power system transmits high-voltage direct current to all nodes in the streamer through a daisy chain structure. As offshore oil exploration develops toward deep water, it is necessary to study long streamers with large-scale sensor networks for deep water exploration. When the length of a streamer is increased to a certain value, the output current of the power supply increases sharply. This results in the activation of the overcurrent protection and the power supply shuts down. This paper puts forward an accurate model for an underwater power system applied to MSESS. Using the Newton iteration algorithm and a reverse algorithm, equations established by the model are solved and laboratory test results are used to verify the accuracy of the model. Based on simulation and analysis of the model, we explain why the power system crashes when the streamer is too long. Software that can quickly calculate the maximum number of nodes (the maximum length with which the system works normally) is developed and it is significant for the design of MSESS. The method of research could also be applied to relevant work such as large-scale sensor networks with daisy-chaining power supply in land seismic exploration.