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High-Temperature Oscillator and Digital Clock--Linear Measurements, Inc., 4174 Sorento Valley Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121-1483; 619-535-2172
Mr. Harper J. Whitehouse, Principal Investigator
Mr. Robert Hatch, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82812
Amount: $97,762
The Department of Energy and the renewable energy industry need electronic devices and sensors to control and optimize the drilling of geothermal wells. This project will develop a high-temperature oscillator and digital clock to provide the precision timing required to control other components and subsystems in such high temperature systems as measurement-while-drilling (MWD), logging-while-drilling (LWD), and data telemetry. The frequency of these instruments will be accurate to +/! 500 ppm between 1-12 MHz at temperatures from 20oC to greater than 300oC. The high-temperature oscillator and digital clock will utilize a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device in which a pair of metal transducers operates on a piezoelectric crystal substrate. An electronic amplifier connected to one transducer generates an acoustic surface wave that propagates along the surface to the second transducer where the acoustic wave is converted into an electrical signal and fed back to first transducer. The analog electrical signal from the surface acoustic wave oscillator will be electronically converted to a digital clock signal. In Phase I, different crystals will be analyzed to determine their suitability for use as high-temperature SAW substrates. Experimental SAW crystal oscillators and digital clock circuits will be constructed and tested to determine how well they meet the accuracy requirements for temperature and frequency.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: In addition to geothermal well drilling and logging, the high-temperature digital clock should have applications in the petroleum, automotive, nuclear power plant, and aerospace industries. Applications include aircraft piston, jet engine, and automobile engine control, as well as nuclear power plant safety.