SBIR Phase II: Structural Imaging of High Temperature Furnace Walls

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目旨在开发用于玻璃工业的高温熔炉的3D成像传感器原型。这些炉子还用于许多其他行业，包括水泥、焦炭、钢铁和纸浆造纸行业。这种3-D成像传感器可以创建炉墙的内部图像，以便维护人员能够识别炉壁侵蚀以及通过墙缝泄漏的任何熔融材料。第二阶段的目标是开发一种原型传感器系统，可以对炉墙和熔融玻璃之间的界面形成3D图像。为了实现这一目标，将开发高性能的传感器硬件和相应的成像软件。整个原型系统将在高温炉墙上使用内部窑炉进行测试，然后在运行中的玻璃熔炉中进行测试。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，它将使维护计划能够基于真实的炉子条件。这将使高温炉的使用寿命更长，并能够在不造成生产重大中断的情况下进行知情的本地维护。这为玻璃制造行业节省了大量资金，并提高了安全性，因为熔炉泄漏的玻璃熔体已经发生了几起灾难性事故。传感器技术还提供了一个平台，可以在其上构建许多其他应用程序，包括微波医学成像、考古勘探和制造过程中耐火材料内部的缺陷检测。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop a prototype 3-D imaging sensor for high temperature furnaces used in the glass industry. These furnaces are also used in many other industries, including cement, coke, iron & steel, and pulp & paper industries. This 3-D imaging sensor creates an interior image of the furnace wall so that maintenance personnel can identify wall erosion, and any molten material leaking through the wall joints. The objective in Phase II is to develop a prototype sensor system that can form 3-D images of the interface between the furnace wall and molten glass. To achieve this, a high performance sensor hardware and corresponding imaging software will be developed. The entire prototyped system will be tested on high temperature furnace walls using in-house kilns followed by tests at an operational glass furnace. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it will enable maintenance programs based upon real furnace conditions. This will allow longer life span of high temperature furnaces and the ability to make informed local maintenance without a major interruption in production. This translates to significant financial savings for the glass manufacturing industry and improved safety, as several catastrophic accidents have occurred due to molten glass leaking from the furnaces. The sensor technology also offers a platform on which many other applications can be built, including microwave medical imaging, archaeology explorations, and defect detection inside refractories during manufacturing.