Sniffing out rust in critical industrial areas (Sensors and Instrumentation Engineering)

腐蚀是许多行业面临的问题，维修成本非常高。英国的气候，潮湿的气候，道路上盐的使用和温和的天气，加速了铁锈的形成。这给包括核能、石油和天然气以及加工工业在内的行业带来了重大问题，这些行业需要使用强大的传感器进行远程检测，以检测油漆和绝缘下隐藏的锈迹。因此，现实世界需要一种便携式腐蚀检测系统，可以作为工业用途的快速腐蚀诊断技术。有趣的是，人类总是把锈和“金属”气味联系在一起。事实上，铁锈是无味的，但铁锈本身就像催化剂一样分解其表面的有机物，从而产生这种气味。尽管人们多年前就知道了这一点，但对其中的气味却没有真正的了解。我们的目标是开发一种传感器，可以通过识别这些“锈迹标记”来“嗅”出这种锈迹。这将导致传感器和仪器的发展，这些传感器和仪器可以被训练来检测释放到周围空气中的这些标记物。然后，该系统将在各种工业环境中进行测试，其中涂漆和绝缘表面可用于检查。

Corrosion is an issue faced by many industries, with very high costs in terms of repairs. The climate of the UK, combining a wet climate, the use of salt on the roads and temperate weather, accelerates the formation of rust. This causes significant issues to industries including the nuclear, oil and gas and process industries, where there is a need for remote detection with robust sensors to detect hidden rust under paint and insulation. Thus, there is a real-world need for a portable corrosion detection system that can act as a rapid corrosion diagnostic technique for industrial use.Anecdotally, humans have always associated rust with a "metallic" odour. In fact, rust is odourless, but the rust itself behaves as a catalyst to break down organic matter located on its surface, which results in this odour. Though this has been known for many years, there is no real understanding of the odours involved. We aim to develop a sensor that can "sniff" this rust signature by identifying these "rust markers". This will lead to the development of sensors and instruments that can be trained to detect these markers emitted into the surrounding air. This system will then be tested in various industrial settings, where painted and insulated surfaces are available for inspection.