SPEC_SENSE: Fast Spectroscopic Sensing and Measurement Products for Characterisation of Industrial Processes

我们在日常生活中直接或间接地使用各种产品。这些产品包括从汤到喂养我们的婴儿食品;提供坚固结构材料的油漆和涂料产品;制造许多产品的塑料和复合材料;以及对抗疾病的药物。它们有着相似的制造方法，即通过物理或化学方法将原材料（或试剂）组合在一起，称为“过程”。这发生在一个"处理容器"，这往往是密封的，在压力和高温下。这些工艺的关键方面是效率、产品质量、能源使用和排放影响。该项目的核心目标是刺激新的传感产品，可以提高这些方面，并通过许可证开拓其市场。该项目建立在我们的背景科学和实验技术，这是一个估计的内部（无形）分布的过程材料。这些创新利用了两个原理：光谱学-识别特定材料;以及断层扫描-识别过程容器内成分的分布（类似于用于医疗诊断的"查看"人体内部的方法）。使用"压缩宽带"的电能，既可以提供"频谱"覆盖范围，又可以提供快速响应，以适应动态过程。该项目旨在为特定的试验应用提供示范水平;为许可证持有者提供一条明确的道路，以便进一步开发两种产品形式："点传感器"形式，以识别其附近的材料;以及"区域传感器"形式，以识别特定材料的分布。知识的增加使设计和/或控制能够为过程最终用户带来重大利益：提高生产力和产品质量，减少排放和废物，减少能源需求和由此产生的碳影响。在说明中，我们可以考虑两个产品示例中提供的优点。药物化合物是使用结晶工艺生产的，该工艺具有高度可变性并且可能具有较差的产率，使得一些批次可能不符合严格的产品规格。这导致能源、原材料的浪费，以及无用的不合格产品的昂贵处理。在这里，Spec_zone传感器可以转换"工艺知识"，以实现"更智能的控制"，并大幅提高"符合规格"的产量，从而获得明显的重大优势。这些都是非常高价值的产品，因此金融业务节省可以很大。食品的生产遵循传统的配方：例如混合和烹饪天然成分，如切碎的蔬菜在水中。产品中不需要的物体，例如秸秆和大种子等天然材料，以及小金属或塑料片等非天然材料都是可能的。虽然这些可能是不愉快的成人产品，如汤（但仍然提出了一个严重的'品牌'质量问题的制造商），他们可能是危险的，如果存在于婴儿食品。在管道上使用X射线探测器很容易找到金属，但要找到小物体就困难得多了，例如可以通过"宽带" Spec_point传感器检测到的小塑料或木材。总之，估计特定材料的存在和浓度及其分布的能力为有效的过程管理提供了主要优势。该项目将提供演示和概念细节，使许可证持有人能够根据Spec_point和Spec_zone概念开发未来的产品。它将包括详细的应用部门研究，以突出潜在的早期采用者。它得到了两个仪器供应商的支持，这两个供应商对评估表示了浓厚的兴趣，并且都有可能参与评估的不同市场和客户。

We use a vast range of products directly or indirectly in everyday life. These range from soups to baby-foods to feed us; paints and coating products to provide robust structural materials; plastics and composites to create many products; and pharmaceutical drugs to fight disease. They share a similar manufacturing method in which raw materials (or reagents) are combined through physical or chemical means, and known as a 'process'. This takes place in a 'process vessel', which is often sealed, under pressure and at elevated temperature. Critical aspects of such processes are efficiency, product quality, energy use and emissions impact. The core aim of this project is to stimulate new sensing products that can enhance these aspects and exploit their markets through licences.The project builds upon our background science and experimental technology, which an estimation of the internal (invisible) distribution of process materials. These innovations harness two principles: spectroscopy - the identification of specific materials; and, tomography - the identification of the distribution of components within the process vessel (similar to methods to 'see inside' human bodies for medical diagnosis). Electrical energy using a 'compressed wide-band' is used, both to give the 'spectral' coverage and to provide fast response to suit dynamic processes. The project aims to provide a demonstration level for specific trial applications; to offer licensees a clear path for onward development into the two product forms: a 'point sensor' form, to identify materials in its immediate vicinity; and a 'zone sensor' form, to identify the distribution of specific materials. Increased knowledge empowers design and/or control to deliver major benefits to process end users: increased productivity and product quality, reductions in emissions and waste products, reduced energy demand and resulting carbon impacts. In illustration we can consider the advantages offered in two product examples. Pharmaceutical compounds are produced using crystallisation processes which are highly variable and can have poor yields such that some batches may not meet tight product specifications. This results in waste of energy, raw materials, and in the costly disposal of the useless out-of specification product. Here a Spec_zone sensor can transform 'process-knowledge' to allow 'smarter control, and gain a major increase in 'on-specification' yield, gaining obvious major benefits. These are very high value products and hence financial business savings can be large. The manufacture of foodstuffs follows a conventional recipe: such as mixing and cooking natural ingredients such as chopped vegetables in water. Unwanted objects in the product such as natural materials such as stalks and large seeds, and unnatural materials such as small pieces of metal or plastic are a possibility. Although these may be unpleasant for adults in products such as soups (but still present a serious 'brand' quality issue for the manufacturer) they may be dangerous if present in baby-foods. It is easy to find metals, using x-ray detectors on a pipeline, but much more difficult to find small objects, such small pieces of plastic or wood which can be detected by the 'wide-band' Spec_point sensor.In conclusion the ability to estimate the presence and concentration of specific materials and their distribution offers major benefits in effective process management. The project will provide demonstrations and concept details to enable licensees to develop future products, based on the Spec_point and Spec_zone concepts. It will include detailed application sectors studies to highlight potential early adopters. It is supported by two instrumentation suppliers who have expressed a keen interest in evaluation, and both have diverse markets and customers who are likely to be involved in evaluations.