DEVICE FOR DETECTING CHANGE IN UNDERGROUND MEDIUM

• US 20160146760A1
• Filed: 11/23/2015
• Published: 05/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: HWANG, Gunn, LEE, Sung Q, YOUM, WooSub
• Granted Patent: US 10,078,069 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/107 using acoustic means
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/113 using electrical indications; using light radiations
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 2201/30 Detecting leaks
• CPC Class Codes: F17D 5/06 using electric or acoustic means
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 3/24 using infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/011 Velocity or travel time
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/024 by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/07 by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves

Abstract

The inventive concept relates to a device that detects a leak of a liquid leaked from a sinkhole, water pipe or oil pipeline under the ground. In the detection device of the inventive concept, a plurality of reception devices disposed on the surface of the earth simultaneously receive an ultrasonic signal transmitted from a transmission device under the ground and a radio frequency (RF) signal synchronized with the ultrasonic signal. Also, by measuring an arrival time of the ultrasonic signal by using the wireless signal received by each reception device as a triggering signal, a leak range of a liquid leaked from a sinkhole, water pipe or oil pipeline on a signal path between the transmission device and the reception device is detected.

Claims

1. A medium change detection device comprising:

an ultrasonic/wireless transmission device disposed under an underground target and configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal and a radio frequency (RF) signal toward a surface of earth; and

at least one ultrasonic/wireless reception device disposed on a surface of earth over the underground target and configured to receive the ultrasonic signal and the RF signal transmitted from the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device,

wherein the medium change detection device uses the RF signal as a triggering signal and measures an arrival time of the ultrasonic signal received by the ultrasonic/wireless reception device to detect a size of an underground soil component on a reception path of the ultrasonic signal based on a size of a sound speed that varies depending on a component of a medium on the reception path.

2. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless reception device is disposed in plurality at constant intervals on the surface of the earth to 3-dimensionally detect the size of the underground soil component.

3. The medium change detection device of claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic signal is a signal of a pulse wave form or sine wave form, and measurement of the arrival time is obtained by using a difference between the pulses of the ultrasonic signal and the RF signal or a difference between phases.

4. The medium change detection device of claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless reception devices are disposed on a concentric circle in a radial direction or disposed in a polygon comprising a quadrilateral, such as a checker board.

5. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein an arrival time of an ultrasonic signal measured immediately after the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device and the ultrasonic/wireless reception device are installed is set as a criterion, and an arrival time of the ultrasonic signal measured after a certain time is compared with the set criterion to detect a change in medium between the underground target and the surface of the earth on a signal path.

6. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein by measuring a speed difference relative to a change in underground medium after calculating an ultrasonic speed in the medium between the underground target and the surface of the earth through mathematical modeling, a water leak, sinkhole (cavity) or pollution of the underground target is detected.

7. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein the RF signal increases or decreases in frequency according to an attenuation level on the surface of the earth, and is a signal of a pulse wave form or sine wave form.

8. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device has a structure in which power is provided from a primary battery and thus there is no need for an external power supply, a structure in which power is received through a power cable extended from the surface of the earth, or a structure in which a secondary battery is included and charging is performed wirelessly through a magnetic field or ultrasonic wave provided from the surface of the earth.

9. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless reception devices are capable of performing wired and wireless communication between reception devices and one of them is connected to an external communication network through a sensor gateway to be capable of obtaining operation and measurement data on a transmission and reception device remotely.

10. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless reception device is configured to communicate with the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device wirelessly or by using an ultrasonic wave and remotely change the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device to a sleep mode or operating mode.

11. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless reception device is configured to communicate with the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device wirelessly or by using an ultrasonic wave, change the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device from a sleep mode to an operating mode to perform periodic measurement, and then remotely change the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device to the sleep mode.

12. The medium change detection device of claim 10, wherein the ultrasonic/wireless reception device and the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device are configured to be automatically changed to the sleep mode when being in a non-operating mode for a certain time.

13. The medium change detection device of claim 12, wherein when there is one or more ultrasonic/wireless transmission devices, transmission times are different from each other to identify an ultrasonic signal transmitted from each transmission device or the number of name of each transmission device is identified by a header signal of the signal to transmit the ultrasonic signal.

14. The medium change detection device of claim 1, wherein when there is one or more ultrasonic/wireless transmission devices, there is also one or more ultrasonic/wireless reception devices and the ultrasonic/wireless transmission devices and the ultrasonic/wireless reception devices are combined each other to detect a change in medium in the underground target.

15. A medium change detection device comprising:

an ultrasonic/wireless transmission device disposed under a water pipe and configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal and an RF signal toward a surface of earth; and

two or more ultrasonic/wireless reception devices disposed on a surface of earth over the water pipe and configured to receive the ultrasonic signal and the RF signal transmitted from the ultrasonic/wireless transmission device,

wherein a size of a water leak of the water pipe on a reception path of the ultrasonic signal is detected by measuring an arrival time of the ultrasonic signal received by the ultrasonic/wireless reception device from when the RF signal is received.