Apparatus for inspecting characteristics of medium

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus for inspecting characteristics of a medium, the apparatus comprising: a pipe unit in which a measurement medium is present; a reflector disposed inside the pipe unit; an ultrasonic transceiver for transmitting an ultrasonic signal to the medium in the pipe unit and receiving a return signal of ultrasonic waves reflected from the reflector; and a characteristic determination unit for determining characteristics of the medium by generating a B-mode image from the return signal received by the ultrasonic transceiver.

Description

Medium properties testing device

[0001] The present invention relates to a medium characteristic inspection device that measures the size and dispersion of unpulverized or mutually bonded particles in a medium such as a fluid based on ultrasonic waves.

[0002] In general, diagnosing the presence or absence of large particles that are not crushed or are combined with each other during the process of crushing and mixing multiple components into a certain size or smaller in a mixer is important in various technical fields such as chemistry, biology, pharmacy, and environmental monitoring.

[0003] In particular, carbon, graphite, and other metal components are mixed in the negative or positive electrode materials of secondary batteries, and if there are large particles that are not well mixed, a low-quality battery is produced. Therefore, it is important to diagnose the presence or absence of particles larger than a certain size, but it is not easy to diagnose the presence or absence of particles in an opaque fluid.

[0004] This method of measuring particles in a fluid uses ultrasound to measure the presence and concentration of particles.

[0005] However, when measuring a fluid using conventional ultrasound, the flow rate of the fluid is calculated by estimating the maximum velocity of the fluid by measuring the maximum frequency of the Doppler power spectrum generated by the movement of particles in the fluid, but there is a problem in that the estimation of other related parameters such as the concentration of the fluid component is not accurately performed because there is a limit to accurately estimating the maximum frequency of the Doppler power spectrum.

[0006] Such related technology for measuring the concentration of particles in a fluid is presented in Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2021-0104733 (August 25, 2021).

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a medium characteristic inspection device that can accurately measure the characteristics of a medium using ultrasonic waves.

[0008] The present invention provides a medium characteristic inspection device including a pipe section in which a measurement medium exists, a reflector arranged inside the pipe section, an ultrasonic transceiver section that transmits an ultrasonic signal to the medium inside the pipe section and receives a return signal of the ultrasonic wave reflected from the reflector, and a characteristic determination section that generates a B-mode image from the return signal received from the ultrasonic transceiver section to determine the characteristics of the medium.

[0009] Additionally, the reflector may be protruded from the inner surface opposite to the incident surface through which the ultrasonic signal of the pipe section is transmitted.

[0010] Additionally, the reflector may be provided in multiple numbers on the inside of the pipe section.

[0011] Additionally, a plurality of the above reflectors may be arranged spaced apart from each other within the pipe section.

[0012] Additionally, the plurality of reflectors may be made of different materials.

[0013] Additionally, the plurality of reflectors may be arranged at different distances from the ultrasonic transceiver.

[0014] In addition, the method may further include a reflector adjustment unit that moves the reflector to adjust the distance between the ultrasonic transceiver and the reflector.

[0015] In addition, the characteristic determination unit can determine the sound speed information of the medium from the distance information between the ultrasonic transceiver and the reflector and the transmission / reception time of the ultrasonic wave reflected from the reflector.

[0016] In addition, the characteristic judgment unit can judge the characteristics of the medium while correcting errors in the image information generated based on the size of the reflector specified in advance.

[0017] The medium characteristic test device according to the present invention places a reflector inside a pipe section, and the ultrasonic return signal emitted from the ultrasonic transceiver section and reflected by the reflector is transmitted to the characteristic determination section. Then, the characteristic determination section generates a B-mode image from the return signal, thereby accurately determining medium characteristics such as the dispersion of the medium and the particle size of the particles within the medium.

[0018] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram showing a medium characteristic inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the 'A' portion shown in Figure 1.

[0020] Figure 3 is a partial configuration diagram of a medium characteristic inspection device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Prior to this, it should be noted that the terms and words used in this specification and claims should not be construed as limited to their conventional or dictionary meanings. Based on the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concepts of terms to best explain his or her invention, they should be interpreted in a way that conforms to the technical spirit of the present invention.

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a medium characteristic inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a pipe section (100), a reflector (200), an ultrasonic transceiver section (300), and a characteristic determination section (400). Here, the medium characteristic inspection device may inspect the particle size and dispersion degree of particles in the medium.

[0023] The above-mentioned pipe section (100) may contain a measurement medium. The medium to be measured may be accommodated within the pipe section (100) and guided to flow in one direction, or the medium may be positioned in a stationary state. In one embodiment, the medium present in the pipe section (100) may be a fluid mixed with particles.

[0024] Although the detailed description of the present invention is based on a pipe through which the medium moves, a fluid storage such as a chamber may be used when the medium is measured in a stationary state.

[0025] In addition, the piping unit (100) may be provided with a mixing tank (110) that stores a medium mixed with particles, a circulation line (120) that connects the mixing tank (110) and the piping unit (100) to guide the medium stored in the mixing tank (110) to circulate between the piping unit (100) and the mixing tank (110), and a pump (130) that pumps the medium in one direction of the piping unit (100) through the circulation line (120). An agitator (not shown) may be provided inside the mixing tank (110) to agitate the medium and particles, thereby preventing sedimentation of particles in the medium.

[0026] In addition, the pipe section (100) may be provided with an incident surface (100a) that stably transmits ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transceiver (300) into the interior of the pipe section (100) or stably transmits ultrasonic waves reflected back to the ultrasonic transceiver (300). Here, the incident surface (100a) may be made of a material that stably transmits ultrasonic signals.

[0027] The above reflector (200) can be placed inside the above pipe section (100).

[0028] The reflector (200) reflects the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transceiver (300) to be described later back to the ultrasonic transceiver (300).

[0029] Typically, when measuring the characteristics of a medium moving through a pipe using ultrasound, there is a problem in that it is difficult to measure signals using ultrasound when physical information about the medium or the measurement section is unknown. To address this problem, the present invention can increase the accuracy of signal measurement by installing a reflector (200) with a relatively high acoustic impedance.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 2, the reflector (200) may be placed on the opposite side of the pipe section (100) that faces the incident surface (100a) of the pipe section (100). In one embodiment, the reflector (200) may be placed to protrude from the inner surface of the pipe section (100) by a certain height.

[0031] In one embodiment, the reflector (200) may be provided with a structure in which the inside of the pipe section (100) protrudes, and a separate reflector (200) may be implemented in a form in which it is placed inside the pipe section (100).

[0032] Referring to FIG. 3, the reflectors (200) may be arranged in multiple numbers within the pipe section (100). In addition, the plurality of reflectors (200) may be arranged spaced apart from each other within the pipe section (100). In one embodiment, the plurality of reflectors (200) may be arranged spaced apart from each other at a constant interval in the direction of flow of the medium.

[0033] In addition, the plurality of reflectors (200) may be arranged at different distances from the ultrasonic transceiver (300).

[0034] In this way, when the plurality of reflectors (200) are arranged at different distances from the ultrasonic transceiver (300), the return signal of the ultrasonic wave reflected from the plurality of reflectors (200) is received by the ultrasonic transceiver (300), and when the characteristic determination unit (400) determines the characteristics of the medium, error correction is performed more accurately.

[0035] In addition, the plurality of reflectors (200) may be formed of different materials to improve the signal-to-noise ratio when reflecting ultrasonic waves. Here, the reflectors (200) may be formed of a material having a high ultrasonic reflectivity, more specifically, materials having different acoustic impedances. In one embodiment, the plurality of reflectors (200) may be formed of at least two materials selected from among an alloy, ceramic, and synthetic resin.

[0036] The reflective surface of the above reflector (200), i.e., the surface that reflects the ultrasonic signal emitted from the ultrasonic transceiver (300), may be provided in a flat or curved shape.

[0037] In this way, when a plurality of the above reflectors (200) are made of different materials and are spaced apart from each other, the accuracy of the medium characteristic inspection through automatic correction can be improved when generating a B-mode image using each ultrasonic return signal reflected from each of the above reflectors (200) at different locations.

[0038] The above ultrasonic transceiver (300) can be placed outside the above pipe section (100).

[0039] The ultrasonic transceiver (300) generates an ultrasonic signal, then emits the ultrasonic signal to a medium moving inside the pipe section (100), and receives an ultrasonic return signal reflected from the reflector (200) and particles within the medium.

[0040] The above ultrasonic transceiver (300) is connected to the above characteristic determination unit (400) and transmits the received return signal to the above characteristic determination unit (400).

[0041] In addition, the ultrasonic transceiver (300) can emit an ultrasonic signal emitted to the pipe section (100) in a direction orthogonal to the flow direction of the medium within the pipe section (100).

[0042] The above-mentioned characteristic determination unit (400) may be connected to the ultrasonic transceiver (300) by a wired means such as a cable, or by a wireless means such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or infrared communication. The above-mentioned characteristic determination unit (400) determines the characteristics of the medium flowing through the pipe section (100) from the ultrasonic return signal received from the ultrasonic transceiver (300).

[0043] The above-mentioned characteristic determination unit (400) generates a B-mode image from the return signal of the ultrasonic waves to determine the characteristics of the medium. The ultrasonic B-mode technique is a technique that measures an image and analyzes information using accurate acoustic impedance and sound speed information within the medium.

[0044] Specifically, the above characteristic judgment unit (400) can judge the dispersion of the medium by using the particle size of the particles in the medium and the signal attenuation rate of the return signal from the image information generated from the return signal of the ultrasonic waves.

[0045] Here, the method of determining the characteristics of the medium in the above-mentioned characteristic determination unit (400) will be described. First, the characteristic determination unit (400) determines the sound speed information of the medium flowing in the pipe section (100).

[0046] In the above characteristic determination unit (400), the sound speed information of the medium is determined by setting the distance 'L' between the ultrasonic transceiver (300) and the reflector (200) from the inner diameter 'T' of the pipe (100) and the position 't' of the reflector (200) set in advance from the inner surface opposite the incident surface (100a) of the pipe (100), and determining the sound speed information of the medium flowing through the pipe (100) from the transmission and reception time of the ultrasonic signal emitted from the ultrasonic transceiver (300), reflected from the reflector (200), and then received again. Through the sound speed information determined by the above characteristic determination unit (400), the dispersion of the medium can be determined.

[0047] In addition, the characteristic determination unit (400) determines the characteristics of the medium while correcting the error of the image information generated based on the preset size of the reflector (200). That is, the characteristic determination unit (400) calculates the size of the reflector (200) from the image information generated from the return signal of the ultrasonic wave using a threshold value and a segmentation image processing technique, compares the size information of the reflector (200) calculated from the image information with the preset size of the reflector (200), and then determines an appropriate gain value that compensates for signal attenuation. Through the gain value determined by the characteristic determination unit (400), the particle size of the particles in the medium can be determined.

[0048] In addition, the characteristic determination unit (400) can determine the moisture content of the medium by analyzing the signal received from the reflector (200) based on the fact that signal attenuation varies according to moisture content.

[0049] In addition, the medium characteristic test device of one embodiment may include a reflector adjustment unit (500) that adjusts the distance between the ultrasonic transceiver (300) and the reflector (200).

[0050] The reflector adjustment unit (500) is connected to the reflector (200) and allows the reflector (200) to move between the incident surface (100a) in the pipe section (100) and the inner surface opposite to the incident surface (100a).

[0051] In this way, the above reflector adjustment unit (500) may include a reflector movement means (510) and a movement control unit (520).

[0052] The above reflector moving means (510) can be individually connected to each of the above reflectors (200).

[0053] And, the reflector moving means (510) moves each of the reflectors (200) to adjust the distance between the ultrasonic transceiver (300) and the reflector (200).

[0054] The above movement control unit (520) is connected to the reflector movement means (510) by a wired means such as a cable, or a wireless means such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or infrared communication, and controls the operation of the reflector movement means (510).

[0055] Here, the movement control unit (520) can control the operation of the reflector movement means (510) so that the reflector (200) is placed at an optimal position where the return signal received from the ultrasonic transceiver (300) has a preset value range.

[0056] In this way, when measuring the characteristics of the medium moving through the above-mentioned pipe section (100) using ultrasonic waves, it is sometimes difficult to measure the desired ultrasonic reflection signal if the characteristics of the medium are not accurately known. In particular, when the medium has a high solid content, there is a problem in that the ultrasonic reflection signal cannot be measured.

[0057] In order to solve this problem, the present invention adjusts the position of the reflector (200) by moving the reflector (200) through the reflector adjustment unit (500), thereby enabling the reflector (200) to move until the image of the reflector (200) is detected.

[0058] At this time, as a method of confirming that the reflector (200) is detected, the position of the image of the reflector (200) is measured using the threshold processing of the ultrasonic return signal or the autocorrelation coefficient calculation technique when high sensitivity and S / N ratio are required.

[0059] By adjusting the position of the above reflector (200), an ultrasonic signal that is clearly distinguished from background noise can be obtained.

[0060] At this time, the exact distance between the ultrasonic transceiver (300) and the reflector (200) can be known by using the exact location information of the reflector (200) within the pipe section (100), and the accuracy of the speed of sound in the medium moving through the actual pipe section (100) can be corrected by using the arrival time of the ultrasonic waves.

[0061] In addition, the size of the reflector (200) can be calculated from the acquired reflection signal, and an appropriate gain value for compensating for signal attenuation can be determined using this, and the determined gain value can be used to measure the particle size of the medium.

[0062] The present invention can measure the characteristics (particle size, solid content, etc.) of a medium moving through a pipe section (100) at a deep measurement depth or under a wide range of measurement conditions (ultrasonic frequency, various medium characteristics, etc.) by adjusting the position of a reflector (200) using a reflector adjustment section (500).

[0063] In this way, the medium characteristic inspection device according to one embodiment places a reflector (200) inside the pipe section (100), and an ultrasonic return signal that is emitted from an ultrasonic transceiver section (300) and then reflected through the reflector (200) is transmitted to a characteristic determination section (400). Then, the characteristic determination section (400) generates a B-mode image from the return signal to accurately determine medium characteristics such as the dispersion of the medium and the particle size of particles within the medium.

[0064] While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, these are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and equivalent alternative embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true scope of technical protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A pipe section where a measurement medium exists; A reflector placed on the inside of the above pipe section; An ultrasonic transceiver that transmits an ultrasonic signal to a medium within the pipe section and receives a return signal of the ultrasonic signal reflected from the reflector; A medium characteristic inspection device including a characteristic determination unit that determines the characteristics of the medium by generating a B-mode image from a return signal received from the ultrasonic transceiver.

2. In claim 1, The above reflector is a medium characteristic inspection device that protrudes from the inner surface opposite to the incident surface through which the ultrasonic signal of the above pipe section is transmitted.

3. In claim 1, The above reflector is a medium characteristic inspection device provided in multiple numbers on the inside of the pipe section.

4. In claim 3, A medium characteristic inspection device in which a plurality of the above reflectors are arranged spaced apart from each other within the above pipe section.

5. In claim 3, A medium characteristic inspection device in which a plurality of the above reflectors are made of different materials.

6. In claim 1, A medium characteristic inspection device in which the plurality of reflectors are arranged at different distances from the ultrasonic transceiver.

7. In claim 1 or claim 3, A medium characteristic inspection device further comprising a reflector adjustment unit that moves the reflector to adjust the distance between the ultrasonic transceiver and the reflector.

8. In claim 1, The above-mentioned characteristic determination unit is a medium characteristic inspection device that determines the sound speed information of the medium from the distance information between the ultrasonic transceiver and the reflector and the transmission / reception time of the ultrasonic wave reflected from the reflector.

9. In claim 1, The above-mentioned characteristic judgment unit is a medium characteristic inspection device that judges the characteristics of the medium while correcting errors in image information generated based on the size of the reflector set in advance.

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