INDUSTRIAL PROCESS MONITORING AND IMAGING
First Claim
1. A system for imaging material contained inside an enclosure, comprising:
- a plurality of synchronized acoustic sensors positioned at a periphery of an inner volume of the enclosure to sense acoustic energy emanating from the material in the enclosure during an industrial process; and
a processor that combines an output of each of the acoustic sensor to identify at least one ambient noise source generating a noise field that illuminates the inner volume of the enclosure and to produce image data of the material by temporal and spatial coherent processing of the transmission and reflection of the noise field generated by the noise source.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
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.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for imaging material contained inside an enclosure, comprising:
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a plurality of synchronized acoustic sensors positioned at a periphery of an inner volume of the enclosure to sense acoustic energy emanating from the material in the enclosure during an industrial process; and a processor that combines an output of each of the acoustic sensor to identify at least one ambient noise source generating a noise field that illuminates the inner volume of the enclosure and to produce image data of the material by temporal and spatial coherent processing of the transmission and reflection of the noise field generated by the noise source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of imaging material in an inner volume of an enclosure, comprising:
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detecting acoustic signals generated by an industrial process through a plurality of synchronized sensors positioned at a periphery of the inner volume of the enclosure; identifying at least one ambient noise source generating a noise field that illuminates the inner volume of the enclosure; and generating an acoustic image of material illuminated by the noise field through temporal and spatial coherent processing of the transmission and reflection of the noise field generated by the at least one ambient noise source. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of level detection in a an enclosure, comprising:
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detecting characteristic acoustic signals of an industrial process through a plurality of time-synchronized sensors disposed about an axis of the enclosure; measuring a time of flight of one of the detected acoustic signals at each one of the plurality of sensors; and analyzing the time of flight of the measured acoustic signals at each one of the plurality of sensors to determine a fluid level in the enclosure.
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20. A method of detecting an object in an enclosure, comprising:
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detecting characteristic acoustic signals of an industrial process acting on a material within the enclosure through a plurality of time-synchronized sensors disposed about a periphery of an inner volume of the enclosure; measuring a time of flight of one of the detected acoustic signals at each one of the plurality of sensors; and analyzing the time of flight of the measured acoustic signals each of the plurality of sensors to determine a size and location of an object in the material acted on by the industrial process in the enclosure.
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21. A computer readable medium containing a program which when compiled on a computer causes the computer to execute a process of imaging material in an inner volume of an enclosure of an industrial process, the method comprising:
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synchronizing acoustic signals of a plurality of sensors disposed at a periphery of the inner volume of the enclosure; generating a plurality of two-dimensional images of the inner volume of the enclosure based on the synchronized acoustic signals; associating the synchronized acoustic signals with characteristics of the material in the industrial process; identifying at least one source of the synchronized signals in the enclosure; and stacking the plurality of two-dimensional images to generate a three-dimensional image of the inner volume of the enclosure.
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Specification