Contaminant measurement system and contaminant quantity measurement method

Abstract

To provide a contaminant measurement system and a contaminant quantity measurement method which are capable of calculating an amount of a contaminant.SOLUTION: A contaminant measurement system of an embodiment comprises a metal plate, an imaging device, an image processing section, and a contaminant quantity calculation section. The imaging device captures a surface of the metal plate and generates image data. The image processing section specifies a size of a corrosion area of the metal plate from the image data. The contaminant quantity calculation section calculates an amount of the contaminant from the size of the corrosion area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a pollutant amount measuring system and a pollutant amount measuring method. [Background technology]

[0002] Electric power facilities are important facilities that support social infrastructure, and are required to operate stably for a long time. For stable operation, it is necessary to understand the deterioration state of the power facilities and to carry out maintenance and renewal in a planned manner. The insulating properties of insulating materials used for conductor supports or barriers in power facilities deteriorate due to aging of the materials themselves and adhesion of dust or moisture floating in the installation environment. If the insulating properties deteriorate, discharge or tracking may occur, which may lead to the equipment being shut down. Therefore, the condition of insulating materials can be a barometer for diagnosing the deterioration of power facilities.

[0003] The influence of the installation environment on the deterioration of insulating materials is not limited to the adhesion of dust and moisture. In an environment where there are environmental factors that chemically react with the components of insulating materials, insulating materials may deteriorate at a rate that exceeds normal aging. For example, calcium carbonate is often used as an inorganic filler for insulating materials. When calcium carbonate reacts with chlorine gases or nitrogen oxide gases, calcium chloride or calcium nitrate is formed on the surface of the insulating material. These substances absorb moisture in the air and deliquesce even at low humidity levels of 40% or less, so even under low humidity conditions, condensation may form on the surface of the insulating material, and leakage current may flow through the surface of the insulating material. If this becomes severe, the insulation may be destroyed, and in the worst case, the equipment may be stopped. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5722027 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a pollutant substance measurement system and a pollutant substance amount measurement method that are capable of calculating the amount of pollutant substances. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The contamination substance measurement system of the embodiment includes a metal plate, an imaging device, an image processing unit, and a contamination substance amount calculation unit. The imaging device captures an image of a surface of the metal plate to generate image data. The image processing unit identifies a size of a corroded area on the metal plate from the image data. The contamination substance amount calculation unit calculates the amount of contamination substance from the size of the corroded area. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a pollutant measurement system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 5A to 5C are diagrams showing the observation results of changes in corroded areas of a metal plate according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 6 is a diagram showing the observation results of changes in the area ratio of corroded regions of a metal plate according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the volume of a salt particle and the area of ​​a corroded region according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a pollutant amount calculation device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of image processing according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the salt adhesion rate and the area ratio of a corroded region on a metal plate according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing a method for monitoring a contamination state of an object by the contamination substance amount calculation device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between wavelength and absorbance for CuO, Cu2O, and a mixture of CuO and Cu2O in an embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a pollutant measurement system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a pollutant measurement system according to a modified example of the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, a pollutant amount measuring system and a pollutant amount measuring method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] (First embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a pollutant measurement system 10 according to the first embodiment. The pollutant measurement system 10 includes a pollutant detector 20 and a pollutant amount calculation device 30. In the pollutant measurement system 10 of the first embodiment, the pollutant detector 20 and the pollutant amount calculation device 30 are connected by wire. The pollutant detector 20 and the pollutant amount calculation device 30 may be connected wirelessly or via a network such as the Internet. The pollutant detector 20 is installed near an object O for which the amount of pollutant is to be calculated. The pollutant amount calculation device 30 calculates the amount of salt adhering to the pollutant detector 20. The salt includes ionic components. The salt is an example of a pollutant.

[0010] The contaminant detector 20 according to the first embodiment includes a metal plate 21 and a camera 22. The metal plate 21 is installed so that its thickness direction faces the up-down direction. The camera 22 is installed so that the top surface of the metal plate 21 is captured within the imaging range. The camera 22 according to the first embodiment may be a monochrome camera or an RGB camera.

[0011] The metal plate 21 may be a thin film of copper or a thin film of a copper alloy. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an observation result of a change in a corroded area of ​​the metal plate 21 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, when salt is attached to the surface of the metal plate 21, corrosion of the metal plate 21 progresses from the vicinity of the portion where the salt is attached. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an observation result of a change in the area ratio of the corroded area of ​​the metal plate 21 according to the embodiment. According to an experiment by the inventors, when the metal plate 21 is a thin film of copper or a thin film of a copper alloy, the progress of corrosion shows a tendency to saturate in about several days to about one month as shown in FIG. 3. According to an experiment by the inventors, the larger the salt particles are, the larger the corroded area formed by the progress of corrosion is. In this experiment, the inventors graphed the relationship between the volume of the salt particles immediately after attachment and the area of ​​the corroded area corresponding to the salt particles, and discovered that there is a correlation between the volume of the salt particles and the area of ​​the corroded area. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the volume of the salt particles and the area of ​​the corroded area according to the embodiment. The pollutant amount calculation device 30 calculates the amount of salt by using the relationship shown in FIG. 4 as a calibration curve.

[0012] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a pollutant amount calculation device 30 according to the first embodiment. The pollutant amount calculation device 30 has an image acquisition unit 31, an image processing unit 32, a salt content calculation unit 33, an object diagnosis unit , a sensor diagnosis unit 35, and a notification unit .

[0013] The image acquisition unit 31 acquires image data from the camera 22 . The image processing unit 32 performs image processing on the acquired image data (first image data P1) to identify the area of ​​the corroded region of the metal plate 21. Specifically, the image processing unit 32 identifies the area of ​​the corroded region of the metal plate 21 in the following procedure. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of image processing according to the first embodiment. The image processing unit 32 obtains the second image data P2 by trimming a portion of the first image data P1 in which the metal plate 21 is captured. When the positional relationship between the metal plate 21 and the camera 22 is fixed, the image processing unit 32 may trim a portion previously identified as the area in which the metal plate 21 is captured by pattern matching or the like. When the line of sight of the camera 22 is not perpendicular to the surface of the metal plate 21, the image processing unit 32 corrects the inclination of the second image data P2. The image processing unit 32 binarizes the second image data P2 to obtain the third image data P3. The binarization threshold is preset so that corroded areas are colored black and non-corroded areas are colored white.

[0014] In the corroded area, the brightness of the outline and the central part may appear relatively dark, and the color of the part inside the outline may appear brighter than the outline. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 6, in the third image data P3, the inside of the corroded area may appear white due to binarization. Therefore, the image processing unit 32 fills the white pixels surrounded by black pixels in the third image data P3 with black to obtain the fourth image data P4. In another embodiment, when a binarization threshold can be set so that the inside of the corroded area does not appear white, the image processing unit 32 does not need to fill the white pixels surrounded by black pixels with black. The image processing unit 32 counts the number of black pixels in the fourth image data P4. The number of black pixels corresponds to the area of ​​the corroded area. The image processing unit 32 may output the number of black pixels (pixels) as the area of ​​the corroded area, or may convert the number of black pixels into the area (square millimeters) of the corroded area.

[0015] The salt content calculation unit 33 calculates the salt content based on a predetermined calibration curve function and the area of ​​the corroded region identified by the image processing unit 32. The calibration curve function is a function that indicates the relationship between the area of ​​the corroded region and the salt content, as shown in Fig. 4. The calibration curve function may be a linear function as shown in Fig. 4, or may be another function. The calibration curve function may be a trained machine learning model, or the like. When the use of the contaminant detector 20 is continued after the salt content of the object O is removed, a portion of the metal plate 21 is already corroded when the amount of salt in the object O is zero. In this case, the salt content calculation unit 33 may store the area of ​​the corroded region when the salt content is removed as an offset value (initial area), and calculate the amount of salt by substituting a value obtained by subtracting the offset value from the area of ​​the corroded region output by the image processing unit 32 into the calibration curve function.

[0016] The object diagnosis unit 34 diagnoses the contamination state of the object O based on the amount of salt calculated by the salt amount calculation unit 33. Specifically, the object diagnosis unit 34 determines that the object O is in a clean state when the amount of salt calculated by the salt amount calculation unit 33 is less than a first threshold, determines that the object O is in a lightly contaminated state when the amount of salt is equal to or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, determines that the object O is in a moderately contaminated state when the amount of salt is equal to or greater than the second threshold and less than a third threshold, determines that the object O is in a heavily contaminated state when the amount of salt is equal to or greater than the third threshold and less than a fourth threshold, and determines that the object O is in an extremely heavily contaminated state when the amount of salt is equal to or greater than the third threshold and less than a fourth threshold.

[0017] The sensor diagnostic unit 35 diagnoses the state of the fouling substance detector 20 based on the area of ​​the corroded region calculated by the image processor 32. When the area of ​​the corroded region exceeds a predetermined threshold, the sensor diagnostic unit 35 diagnoses that it is time to replace the fouling substance detector 20. This is because, as the corrosion of the metal plate 21 progresses, the surface of the metal plate 21 is covered with a corrosion product, so that even if new salt is attached, the corrosion reaction is less likely to progress. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the salt adhesion rate to the metal plate 21 and the area rate of the corroded region according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen that the linearity of the calibration curve function is maintained until the corroded region of the metal plate 21 reaches 60%. Therefore, the threshold for determining the time to replace the fouling substance detector 20 may be 60% of the area of ​​the corroded region of the metal plate 21. The threshold may differ depending on the required determination accuracy. For example, when a high measurement accuracy is required, the threshold may be set low, and when a low measurement accuracy is allowed and it is desired to reduce the frequency of replacing the metal plate 21, the threshold may be set high.

[0018] The notification unit 36 ​​outputs the diagnosis results of the object diagnosis unit 34 and the sensor diagnosis unit 35. For example, when the contamination state of the object O diagnosed by the object diagnosis unit 34 is worse than a moderate contamination state, the notification unit 36 ​​outputs a message indicating the contamination state of the object O. Furthermore, when the sensor diagnosis unit 35 diagnoses that it is time to replace the contamination substance detector 20, the notification unit 36 ​​outputs an alarm to prompt the replacement of the contamination substance detector 20. Notification of the diagnosis result, alarm, etc. may be made by output to a display, may be output by voice, or may be made by communication to another terminal.

[0019] 8 is a flowchart showing a method for monitoring the contamination state of the object O by the contamination substance amount calculation device 30 according to the first embodiment. When an operator installs the contamination substance detector 20 near the object O and starts the contamination substance amount calculation device 30, the contamination substance amount calculation device 30 starts monitoring the contamination state of the object O.

[0020] First, the image acquisition unit 31 acquires image data from the camera 22 of the contamination detector 20 at regular time steps during the collection period (step S1). The image processing unit 32 processes the acquired image data and identifies the area of ​​the corroded region of the metal plate 21 (step S2). The salt content calculation unit 33 calculates the amount of salt based on a predetermined calibration curve function and the area of ​​the corroded region identified in step S2 (step S3).

[0021] Next, the object diagnosis unit 34 diagnoses the contamination state of the object O based on the amount of salt calculated by the salt amount calculation unit 33 (step S4). It is determined whether the diagnosis result of the object diagnosis unit 34 is worse than a moderate contamination state (step S5). If the contamination state of the object O diagnosed by the object diagnosis unit 34 is worse than a moderate contamination state (step S5: YES), the notification unit 36 ​​outputs a message indicating the contamination state of the object O (step S6).

[0022] Furthermore, the sensor diagnosis unit 35 determines whether or not it is time to replace the contaminant detector 20 based on the area of ​​the corroded region calculated by the image processing unit 32 (step S7). If it is determined that it is time to replace the contaminant detector 20 (step S7: YES), the notification unit 36 ​​outputs a message prompting the user to replace the contaminant detector 20 (step S8). Then, the contamination substance amount calculation device 30 returns the process to step S1 and continues monitoring the object O.

[0023] As described above, the pollutant measurement system 10 according to the first embodiment includes the metal plate 21, the camera 22, the image processing unit 32, and the salt content calculation unit 33. The camera 22 captures an image of the surface of the metal plate 21 to generate image data in which brightness is the pixel value. The image processing unit 32 identifies the size of the corroded area of ​​the metal plate 21 from the image data. The salt content calculation unit 33 calculates the amount of salt from the size of the corroded area. As shown in FIG. 4, there is a correlation between the size of the corroded area of ​​the metal plate 21 and the amount of salt adhering to the metal plate 21, so that the pollutant measurement system 10 according to the first embodiment can calculate the amount of salt, which is a pollutant, with the above-mentioned configuration.

[0024] Second embodiment The contaminant measuring system 10 according to the first embodiment calculates the area of ​​a corroded region from a brightness image of a metal plate 21. It is known that metal oxides absorb only certain wavelengths. For example, as shown in Figure 9, copper oxide CuO and Cu 2 The absorption wavelengths of CuO and CuO in the embodiment are known. 2 O, CuO and Cu 2 10 is a graph showing the relationship between wavelength and absorbance of a mixture of O and a contaminant substance measurement system 10 according to the second embodiment, based on the wavelength of reflected light from the metal plate 21, to selectively identify an oxide region and identify a corroded region of the metal plate 21.

[0025] The pollutant measurement system 10 according to the second embodiment includes a multispectral camera (hyperspectral camera) as an imaging device. The multispectral camera generates a data cube, which is image data representing the light intensity for each wavelength of each pixel.

[0026] The image processing unit 32 according to the second embodiment compares each pixel of the data cube with the distribution of absorption wavelengths of copper oxide as shown in Fig. 9, and judges whether or not the pixel is a pixel in which copper oxide appears. The image processing unit 32 identifies the area of ​​the corroded region based on the number of pixels in which copper oxide appears.

[0027] As described above, the contamination substance measurement system 10 according to the second embodiment includes the metal plate 21, the multispectral camera, the image processing unit 32, and the salt content calculation unit 33. The camera 22 captures an image of the surface of the multispectral camera to generate a data cube having pixels with intensity distributions for wavelengths. The image processing unit 32 identifies the size of the corroded area of ​​the metal plate 21 from the data cube. The salt content calculation unit 33 calculates the amount of salt from the size of the corroded area. By using the multispectral camera, the image processing unit 32 can distinguish whether a discolored area on the surface of the metal plate 21 is a corroded area or an area where dust or the like that does not contain ionic components is attached. As a result, the contamination substance measurement system 10 according to the second embodiment can measure the amount of contamination substances more accurately than the first embodiment.

[0028] (Third embodiment) It is known that the magnetic properties of metals change due to corrosion. The contaminant measurement system 10 according to the third embodiment utilizes this phenomenon to detect corroded areas from changes in the polarization of light caused by the magneto-optical effect.

[0029] FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a pollutant measurement system 10 according to the third embodiment. The pollutant detector 20 of the third embodiment comprises a light-emitting element 41, a first lens 42, a first polarizer 43, a metal plate 44, a second polarizer 45, a second lens 46, a light-receiving element 47, a coil 48, an application unit 49, a first housing 51, and a second housing 52.

[0030] The light-emitting element 41 outputs light. Examples of the light-emitting element 41 include an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and a laser element. The first lens 42 is provided on the optical path of the light output by the light-emitting element 41. The first lens 42 generates parallel light from the light output by the light-emitting element 41. That is, the light-emitting element 41 is provided at the focal point of the first lens 42. The first polarizer 43 generates linearly polarized light by passing only a predetermined amplitude component from the parallel light that has passed through the first lens 42. Hereinafter, the polarization plane of the light output from the first polarizer 43 is referred to as the first polarization plane.

[0031] The metal plate 44 is provided on the optical path of the light output from the first polarizer 43 so that the traveling direction of the light output from the first polarizer 43 coincides with the thickness direction. The metal plate 44 is a thin film having a thickness that allows light to pass through. For example, the thickness of the metal plate 44 may be about 40 nm. When light incident from a direction parallel to the magnetic field passes through the magnetized metal plate 44, the polarization plane of the light changes. Hereinafter, the polarization plane of the light rotated by the magnetized metal plate 44 is referred to as the second polarization plane.

[0032] The second polarizer 45 passes only the amplitude component orthogonal to the second polarization plane from the light that has passed through the metal plate 44. As a result, the second polarizer 45 blocks the light that has passed through the non-corroded parts of the metal plate 44 and passes the light that has passed through the corroded areas of the metal plate 44. The second lens 46 focuses the light that has passed through the second polarizer 45 to a focal point. The light receiving element 47 is provided at the focal point of the second lens 46 and converts the intensity of the received light into an electrical signal. Examples of the light receiving element 47 include a photodiode, a phototransistor, and a phototube.

[0033] Coil 48 is provided so that its axial direction coincides with the thickness direction of metal plate 44. In other words, coil 48 is provided so that its axial direction coincides with the traveling direction of light. Coil 48 is provided so as to surround metal plate 44. Thus, by applying a voltage to coil 48, coil 48 forms a magnetic field oriented in the thickness direction of metal plate 44. Application unit 49 applies a voltage to coil 48 in accordance with an instruction from contamination substance amount calculation device 30. Application unit 49 is composed of, for example, a power supply and a switching element.

[0034] With this configuration, the light receiving element 47, which is an imaging device, can generate image data in which the intensity of light having a predetermined polarization angle is used as a pixel value.

[0035] FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a pollutant measurement system 10 according to a modified example of the third embodiment. The contamination measuring system 10 according to the third embodiment uses transmitted light to identify the area of ​​the corroded region, but is not limited thereto. For example, the contamination measuring system 10 according to other embodiments may be used for a magneto-optical effect using scattered light. The contamination detector 20 according to the modified example shown in FIG. 11 has a different positional relationship of components from that of the third embodiment. The metal plate 44 according to the modified example is installed so that the thickness direction faces the vertical direction of the contamination detector 20. The light emitting element 41 is installed at a position and inclination such that light is irradiated onto the metal plate 44 at an angle that is not perpendicular to the surface of the metal plate 44. The first lens 42 and the first polarizer 43 are provided on the optical path of the light emitted by the light emitting element 41. The second lens 46, the second polarizer 45, and the light receiving element 47 are provided on the optical path of the light reflected by the metal plate 44. No components of the contamination detector 20 are located directly above the metal plate 44 according to the modified example. In other words, there is no obstruction above the metal plate 44. This allows a large area for the falling contamination to adhere to.

[0036] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, the contamination substance measurement system has the following configuration. That is, the contamination substance measurement system has a metal plate, an imaging device, an image processing unit, and a contamination substance amount calculation unit. The imaging device images the surface of the metal plate to generate image data. The image processing unit identifies the size of the corroded area on the metal plate from the image data. The contamination substance amount calculation unit calculates the amount of contamination substance from the size of the corroded area. In this way, the contamination substance measurement system can calculate the amount of contamination substance.

[0037] The contaminant amount calculation device 30 includes a processor, memory, auxiliary storage device, etc., which are connected via a bus, and by executing a program, functions as a device including an image acquisition unit 31, an image processing unit 32, a salt content calculation unit 33, an object diagnosis unit 34, a sensor diagnosis unit 35, and a notification unit 36. Examples of the processor include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), and a microprocessor. The program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a storage device such as a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc. The program may be transmitted via a telecommunication line. All or part of the functions of the pollution substance amount calculation device 30 may be realized using a custom LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or a PLD (Programmable Logic Device). Examples of PLDs include PAL (Programmable Array Logic), GAL (Generic Array Logic), CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Such integrated circuits are also included in the scope of the processor.

[0038] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims, as well as in the scope and spirit of the invention.

[0039] For example, the pollutant measurement system 10 according to the embodiment described above estimates the amount of salt from the area of ​​the corroded region using one calibration function, but is not limited to this. For example, the size of the corroded region and the corrosion rate depend on humidity as well as the amount of salt. Even with the same amount of salt, the higher the humidity, the faster the corrosion progresses, and the area of ​​the corroded region when the corrosion rate is saturated may also be larger. Therefore, the pollutant detector 20 according to another embodiment may include a humidity sensor, and the pollutant amount calculation device 30 may specify the area of ​​the corroded region using a calibration function according to humidity. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 10... Pollutant substance measurement system 20... Pollutant substance detector 21... Metal plate 22... Camera 30... Pollutant substance amount calculation device 31... Image acquisition section 32... Image processing section 33... Salt content calculation section 34... Object diagnosis section 35... Sensor diagnosis section 36... Notification section 41... Light emitting element 42... First lens 43... First polarizer 44... Metal plate 45... Second polarizer 46... Second lens 47... Light receiving element 48... Coil 49... Application section O... Object

Claims

1. A metal plate; an imaging device for imaging a surface of the metal plate and generating image data; an image processing unit that identifies a size of a corroded area of ​​the metal plate from the image data; a pollution substance amount calculation unit that calculates the amount of pollution substances from the size of the corroded area; A pollutant measurement system comprising:

2. The fouling material includes an ionic component. The pollutant measurement system according to claim 1 .

3. The metal plate is made of copper or a copper alloy. The pollutant measurement system according to claim 1 .

4. The pixels of the image data represent the amount of light reflected by or transmitted through the metal plate, the amount of light relating to the brightness, wavelength or polarization. The pollutant measurement system according to claim 1 .

5. a notification unit that notifies information related to the amount of the polluting substance The pollutant measurement system according to claim 1 .

6. A method for measuring the amount of contaminants using a metal plate and an imaging device that captures an image of a surface of the metal plate to generate image data, comprising: determining a size of a corroded area of ​​the metal plate from the image data; calculating the amount of contaminants from the size of the corroded area; A method for measuring the amount of polluting substances comprising the steps of:

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