Acoustic Imaging of Industrial Vessel Interiors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional acoustic monitoring systems for industrial processes, such as coking operations, are limited in their ability to image the internal volume of vessels and detect physical and chemical features within, due to thick outer walls and high background noise, which prevents effective detection of anomalies like hot-spots.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing synchronized acoustic sensors positioned around the periphery of the vessel to detect and process ambient noise, employing seismic daylight imaging and interferometry techniques to generate images of the internal volume, reducing surface acoustic effects and measuring acoustic energy to locate and identify objects within the vessel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional acoustic sensors are placed on the outside wall of the vessel, then acoustic emissions can be detected, but the ability to image the internal volume of the vessel is limited due to thick outer walls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary substance (acoustic coupling agent or gel) between the external acoustic sensors and the vessel wall to improve acoustic energy transmission. This intermediary medium bridges the acoustic impedance mismatch between air and the thick vessel wall, enabling better penetration of acoustic waves into the internal volume for improved imaging capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional contact-based acoustic sensors with non-contact acoustic imaging techniques such as ultrasonic imaging or acoustic radiation force imaging. This substitution eliminates the need for direct mechanical contact through the thick wall, allowing internal volume imaging without being constrained by wall thickness.
2Reliability
If acoustic sensors are used to monitor industrial processes, then acoustic emissions can be processed to detect anomalies, but image generation is constrained by environmental and structural characteristics including high background noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the harmful background noise from the acoustic signals through digital signal processing techniques. By separating the desired acoustic emissions from the noisy environment, the system can generate clear images of the internal volume while maintaining reliable anomaly detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful high background noise environment into a beneficial imaging condition by using noise reduction algorithms and signal processing techniques. The system identifies and enhances the useful acoustic signals while suppressing the noise, effectively transforming the noisy industrial environment into a suitable medium for acoustic imaging.
3Measurement precision
If a distributed acoustic sensor with many sensing elements on optical fiber is used, then acoustic energy can be measured along the fiber, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses optical fiber that serves multiple functions: it acts as both the transmission medium for light and the sensing element for acoustic detection. The same optical fiber structure is used for both guiding light and detecting acoustic waves through Brillouin or Rayleigh scattering, eliminating the need for separate sensing elements and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the functions of light transmission and acoustic sensing into a single optical fiber system. By combining these two functions into one component, the system achieves distributed acoustic measurement capability without the complexity of separate sensor arrays, simplifying the overall device architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time imaging and detection of objects and anomalies within the vessel, such as hot-spots, by processing ambient noise to produce accurate two- and three-dimensional images, overcoming the limitations of previous systems in noisy and optically opaque environments.
Implementation Method 1
detect acoustic energy generated by an industrial process
Implementation Method 2
acoustic energy generated by an industrial process acting on a material within the enclosure
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary embodiments include an apparatus for imaging a volume of material contained inside a vessel. The apparatus includes a plurality of synchronized acoustic sensors positioned at a periphery of an inner volume of the vessel. A processor combines the outputs of the acoustic sensors to identify at least one ambient noise source of the industrial process generating a noise field that illuminates an internal volume of the vessel and to provide an image of the material by temporal and spatial coherent processing of the transmission and reflection of the noise field generated by the noise source.