I-Corps: Instant Sediment Grain Size Measurements

I-Corps：即时沉积物粒度测量

• 批准号: 2313667
• 负责人: Evan Goldstein
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina Greensboro
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-15 至 2024-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2313667&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Instant; Sediment; Grain; Size

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technology to determine grain size quickly allowing for designing, performing, and assessing engineering works, for example climate adaptations (i.e., beach nourishment), sand and gravel mining, coastal and river engineering, and river restoration. Four commercial applications will be explored. First, coastal engineering firms are required to match local grain size during beach restorations, necessitating grain size analysis at the site and all nearby sand resources (onshore and offshore). Engineering works of this nature are expected to increase in frequency and magnitude as climate changes. Second, recent work suggests that carbon dioxide drawdown can occur during beach nourishment if crushed olivine (a naturally occurring mineral) is used instead of beach sand. The measurement and verification of carbon dioxide removal requires monitoring the time evolution of olivine grain size. This can be done quickly using this technology. Third, preliminary work has focused on coastal applications, but river restorations also must match a target grain size to make sure that the sediment does not immediately wash away in flood conditions, and that new sediment is suitable for habitat for flora and fauna. Fourth, this device is potentially useful for classifying sand and gravel for mining aggregates.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a handheld camera-based measurement system that uses on-device machine learning, does not require calibration, and provides accurate in-the-field measurements within 1 second. Much of the earth is covered with a veneer of mobile sediment. The size of this sediment determines under what conditions it will move; larger sediment requires larger forces to move. Grain size is a first order measurement for geologic, engineering, and other earthmoving activities. The standard techniques for measuring sediment grain size are time consuming and performed exclusively in laboratory settings, not in the field. Bringing samples back to the lab to be analyzed can take up to 6 months, even as surface grain size can change on the timescale of seconds to minutes. This innovation is focused on the continued development of an existing device that can analyze grain size instantaneously.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发快速确定粒度的技术，允许设计，执行和评估工程工作，例如气候适应（即，海滩养护）、砂石开采、海岸和河流工程以及河流恢复。将探索四种商业应用。首先，要求海岸工程公司在海滩开采期间匹配当地的粒度，这就需要在现场和所有附近的沙资源（陆上和海上）进行粒度分析。随着气候的变化，这种性质的工程预计将增加频率和规模。其次，最近的研究表明，如果使用压碎的橄榄石（一种天然存在的矿物）代替海滩砂，则在海滩营养期间可能发生二氧化碳下降。二氧化碳去除的测量和验证需要监测橄榄石粒度的时间演化。使用这项技术可以快速完成。第三，前期工作集中在沿海应用，但河流沉积物也必须符合目标粒度，以确保沉积物不会在洪水条件下立即冲走，并且新的沉积物适合植物群和动物群的栖息地。第四，该设备可用于对砂石进行分类，用于采矿骨料。I-Corps的这个项目是基于开发基于手持摄像头的测量系统，该系统使用设备上的机器学习，不需要校准，并在1秒内提供准确的现场测量。地球的大部分地区都覆盖着一层移动的沉积物。这种沉积物的大小决定了它在什么条件下会移动;较大的沉积物需要较大的力来移动。粒度是地质、工程和其他土方工程活动的一级测量。测量沉积物粒度的标准技术很费时，而且只能在实验室环境中进行，不能在实地进行。将样品带回实验室进行分析可能需要长达6个月的时间，即使表面晶粒大小可能在几秒到几分钟的时间尺度上变化。这项创新的重点是继续开发现有的设备，可以分析晶粒尺寸瞬间。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。