Seismic refraction is an acoustic method primarily used for oil & gas exploration but now routinely used to solve engineering and geotechnical problems.

Sound energy is input into the ground using a hammer or buffalo gun and the resulting sound waves into the soil and along the layer boundaries. A number of geophone receivers record the “echoes” from the source and time their arrival to within 1ms.

This information is then used to ascertain the speed of sound within the medium, whether it be soil, rock or boulder clay and modelled to determine the variation in depth of the various geological layers.

The resulting geophysical data can then be correlated to any borehole logs available along the route as well as any geological information available from previous surveys. After correlation a precise geological model showing thicknesses of the different strata can be produced for the entire pipeline route.

03/09/2010 05:00 AM
High-end vs low cost thin film, which will be the winning approach? img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" width="110" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/assets/logos/first-conferences.jpg" / The industry will be segmented in two main markets by 2015: low cost and high quality thin film. In the run-up to the 2nd Thin Film Solar Summit Europe, Cristian Cavazzuti, General Manger at Pramac Swiss and Lynn Sha, General Manager at QS solar have shared their views on the future of this technology

03/09/2010 05:00 AM
Solar Industry To Hit US $77B in 2015 img hspace="10" vspace="5" align="left" width="110" src="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2010/3/9/1332-solar-industry-to-hit-us-77b-in-2015.jpg" / As the books close on what was a turbulent 2009 for the solar industry, Lux Research said that the solar market will soon see the lopsided supply and demand that characterized much of the last year return to equilibrium. According to the new report Solar's Shakeout: Europe Loses Leadership as China Rises," strong demand growth in Asia and the U.S. will push the market to 9.3 GW in 2010, hitting a dollar value of US $39 billion. Building from there, continuing price reductions for all types of solar technology are expected to open new markets and help the solar industry reach $77 billion in revenue and 26.4 GW in capacity by 2015.

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