San Diego Union-Tribune: Quasar develops sensitive sea surveying equipment

The QMax EM3 underwater electromagnetic receiver looks like a trash can.

And while few industries are more unpopular today than deep-water oil exploration, a San Diego company, Quasar Geophysical Technologies, is pushing ahead with electromagnetic sensor technology that it says provides a better way to find oil deposits deep below the ocean surface.

Company officials believe increased regulation that will likely be enacted after the gulf spill may require additional seafloor surveying before drilling — in part to better determine whether it’s safe to drill.

The company, a unit of Quasar Federal Systems, took an underwater sensor system it developed for the U.S. Navy and adapted it to ocean-bottom surveying with its QMax EM3 underwater electromagnetic receiver.

The device, which looks like a thick trash can, was among R&D Magazine’s 100 most significant technology products introduced in 2010, the publication announced this week.

Privately held Quasar Federal has been working on electromagnetic sensor technology for more than a decade. The company has developed sensors that can be embedded in helmets to detect when soldiers are being overwhelmed with too much information. It also has sensors that can locate lightning strikes.

Quasar is relatively new to the underwater sensing field. There are other electromagnetic systems in use, but Quasar’s device is smaller and contains technology that is more rugged and requires less care than existing electromagnetic systems in use today, according to the company.

“It’s easier to use,” said George Eiskamp, chief executive of Quasar Geophyscial. “It’s faster to prepare, deploy and recover. And based on our initial tests, we think the data quality is better, as well.”

The petroleum industry uses seismic systems — or acoustics — to find liquid under the seafloor. But in many cases, it’s salt water, not oil.

Electromagnetic surveys can help determine if the liquid is oil. The equipment is sensitive enough to detect low-frequency electrical currents flowing through the seabed. Seawater is conductive; oil is resistive. Quasar’s sensors can tell the difference.

Pinpointing oil deposits under the seafloor is only part of the puzzle, however. It’s also important to know what substances are near the oil. One important thing to look for is gas hydrate — which are ice-like solids that form under pressure at fairly cold temperatures where methane is abundant, said Steven Constable of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD, which pioneered seafloor electromagnetic survey systems.

Hydrate is found in deep underwater canyons and in the Gulf of Mexico. They have created problems in BP’s efforts to contain the oil spill.

Electromagnetic sensor technology could be used to look for gas hydrate in the sea floor before drilling.

Quasar thinks it can become a supplier to the companies now doing seafloor survey work for oil companies. Drilling deep-water wells is expensive, and the success rate is low. So using advanced sensors to help make sure it’s done safety and to improve the success rate is critical, according to Quasar.

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