In the oil industry, the acoustic sounding method is a well-known
technique for taking the depth measurements of particular attributes of
an oil well or borehole. The method involves sending a short, sharp,
clear, loud bang sound down a borehole, normally between the inside wall
of the borehole casing, commonly referred to as the annulus and the
outside of the production tubing string, and recording the echoes
generated. One device for generating the sound needed in the acoustic
sounding method is an air or gas pressurized chamber which is discharged
at or near the wellhead of the borehole. The sound being generated by
this device, commonly known as an acoustic generator, comes from the
energy released by the equilibration of the different gas pressures. The
current invention is an acoustic generator and its control unit that uses
several new and novel features to improve the quality of the sound
generated and echoes detected in the acoustic sounding method such as a
firing mechanism that is not dependent on the force created by the gas
pressure difference between the pressure chamber and the wellhead.