Remote Detection of Chemicals by Millimeter-Wave Spectroscopy

This paper discusses the development and field testing of a remote chemical detection system that is based on millimeter-wave (mm-wave) spectroscopy. The mm-wave system is a monostatic swept-frequency radar that consists of a mm-wave sweeper, a hot-electron-bolometer detector, and a trihedral reflector. The chemical plume to be detected is situated between the transmitter/detector and the reflector. Millimeter-wave absorption spectra of chemicals in the plume are determined by measuring the swept-frequency radar return signals with and without the plume in the beam path. The problem of pressure broadening, which hampered open-path spectroscopy in the past, has been mitigated in this work by designing a fast sweeping source over a broad frequency range. The heart of the system is a Russian backward-wave oscillator (BWO) tube that can be tuned over 225--315 GHz. A mm-wave sweeper that includes the BWO tube was built to sweep the entire frequency range within 10 ms. The radar system was field-tested at the DOE Nevada Test Site at a standoff distance of 60 m. Methyl chloride was released from a wind tunnel that produced a 2-m diameter plume at its exit point. The mm-wave system detected methyl chloride plumes down to a concentration of 12 ppm. The measurement results agree well with model-fitted data. Remote or standoff sensing of airborne chemicals is gaining importance for arms control and treaty verification, intelligence collection, and environmental monitoring

Near-field millimeter - wave imaging of nonmetallic materials

A near-field millimeter-wave (mm-wave) imaging system has been designed and built in the 94-GHz range for on-line inspection of nonmetallic (dielectric) materials. The imaging system consists of a transceiver block coupled to an antenna that scans the material to be imaged; a reflector plate is placed behind the material. A quadrature IF mixer in the transceiver block enables measurement of in-phase and quadrature-phase components of reflected signals with respect to the transmitted signal. All transceiver components, with the exception of the Gunn-diode oscillator and antenna, were fabricated in uniform blocks and integrated and packaged into a compact unit (12.7 x 10.2 x 2.5 cm). The objective of this work is to test the applicability of a near-field compact mm-wave sensor for on-line inspection of sheetlike materials such as paper, fabrics, and plastics. This paper presents initial near-field mm-wave images of paper and fabric samples containing known artifacts

Open-path millimeter-wave spectroscopy in the 225--315 GHz range

This paper discusses the development of an open-path millimeter-wave (mm-wave) spectroscopy system in the 225--315 GHz atmospheric window. The new system is primarily a monostatic swept-frequency radar consisting of a mm-wave sweeper, hot-electron-bolometer or Schottky detector, and trihedral reflector. The heart of the system is a Russian backward-wave oscillator (BWO) tube that is tunable over 225--350 GHz. A mm-wave sweeper has been built with the BWO tube to sweep the entire frequency range within 1 s. The chemical plume to be detected is situated between the transmitter/receiver and the reflector. Millimeter-wave absorption spectra of chemicals in the plume are determined by measuring swept-frequency radar signals with and without the plume in the beam path. Because of power supply noise and thermal instabilities within the BWO structure over time, the BWO frequencies fluctuate between sweeps and thus cause errors in baseline subtraction. To reduce this frequency-jitter problem, a quasi-optical Fabry-Perot cavity is used in conjunction with the radar for on-line calibration of sweep traces, allowing excellent baseline subtraction and signal averaging. Initial results of the new system are given for open-path detection of chemicals

Determining bonding quality in polymer composites with a millimeter wave sensor

Microwave nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques offer alternative solutions to other conventional NDT methods. Microwave/millimeter wave (determined roughly to cover 0.3 to 300 GHz) techniques are particularly useful for examination of dielectric composite materials that their low dielectric losses provide good depth of penetration of electromagnetic radiation in this band. Limitations associated with conventional NDT techniques such as high frequency ultrasonic testing (UT), namely, large variations in elastic properties of low density composite materials cause interpretation of complex UT signals difficult. Further, criticality of coupling of transducer to the sample surface limits the use of such techniques for on-line applications. High frequency microwave (millimeter waves, 30--300 GHz) systems compared to their low frequency counterparts offer higher resolution and sensitivity to variations in dielectric properties of low-loss composites. Further, higher frequencies render utilization of more compact systems which are often important for practical applications. A millimeter wave sensor is described in this work which can be utilized for non-contact NDT of a wide range of thin-sheet dielectric composite materials either as a laboratory-based instrument or for on-line quality control applications. Experimental results are presented on noncontact measurement of bonding quality in polyethylene/carbon composite samples. The w-band monostatic sensor operates based on measurement of the reflection properties of the material under test, which are then used to determine the volumetric uniformity of the joint area. Preliminary experimental results indicate the potential for the use of this sensor in fabrication process control of low-loss dielectric composite materials

An application of wavelet transforms and neural networks for decomposition of millimeter-wave spectroscopic signals

This paper reports on wavelet-based decomposition methods and neural networks for remote monitoring of airborne chemicals using millimeter wave spectroscopy. Because of instrumentation noise and the presence of untargeted chemicals, direct decomposition of the spectra requires a large number of training data and yields low accuracy. A neural network trained with features obtained from a discrete wavelet transform is demonstrated to have better decomposition with faster training time. Results based on simulated and experimental spectra are presented to show the efficacy of the wavelet-based methods

Waveguide-Based Ultrasonic and Far-Field Electromagnetic Sensors for Downhole Reservoir Characterization.

This report summarizes the first year research and development effort leading to development of high-temperature sensors for enhanced geothermal systems. It covers evaluation of ultrasonic and electromagnetic (EM) techniques applied to temperature measurement and flow characterization. On temperature measurement, we have evaluated both microwave radiometry and ultrasonic techniques for temperature gradient and profile measurements. Different antenna designs are evaluated and array loop antenna design is selected for further development. We have also evaluated ultrasonic techniques for total flow characterization, which includes using speed of sound to determine flow temperature, measuring acoustic impedance to estimate fluid density, and using cross-correlation technique to determine the mass flow rate. Method to estimate the flow enthalpy is briefly discussed. At end, the need and proposed techniques to characterize the porosity and permeability of a hot dry rock resource are presented

Relationship between C-telopeptide pyridinoline cross-links (ICTP) and putative periodontal pathogens in periodontitis

Crevicular fluid pyridinoline cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (ICTP) is predictive for future alveolar bone loss in experimental periodontitis in dogs. The present study sought to relate ICTP to a panel of subgingival species in subjects exhibiting various clinical presentations such as health ( n = 7), gingivitis ( n = 8) and periodontitis (n=21), 28 subgingival plaque and GCF samples were taken from mesiobuccal sites m each of 36 subjects. The presence and levels of 40 subgtngivai taxa were determined in plaque samples using whole genomic DNA probes and checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization. GCF ICTP levels were quantified using radioimmunoassay (RIA). Clinical assessments made at the same sites included: BOP, gingival redness, plaque, pocket depth, and attachment level. Differences among ICTP levels in the 3 subject groups were sought using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Relationships between ICTP levels and clinical parameters as well as subgingival species were determined by regression analysis. The results demonstrated significant differences among disease categories for GCF ICTP levels for healthy (1.1+0.6 pg/site (mean±SEM)) gingivitis (14.8±6.6 pg/site) and penodontitts subjects (30.3 + 5.7 pg/site) ( p = 0.0017). ICTP levels related modestly to several clinical parameters. Regression analysis indicated that ICTP levels correlated strongly with mean subject levels of several periodontal pathogens including B. forsythus, P. gingivitis, P. intermedia, P. nigrescens and T. dentcola ( p < 0.01). The data indicate that there is a positive relationship between the putative bone resorptive marker ICTP and periodontal pathogens.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74809/1/j.1600-051X.1998.tb02383.x.pd

Development of a millimeter-wave sensor for environmental monitoring

A millimeter-wave (mm-wave) sensor in the frequency range of 225-315 GHz is being developed for continuous emission monitoring of airborne effluents from industrial sites for environmental compliance monitoring and process control. Detection of chemical species is based on measuring the molecular rotational energy transitions at mm-wave frequencies. The mm-wave technique offers better transmission properties compared to optics in harsh industrial environments with smoke, dust, aerosols, and steam, as well as in adverse atmospheric conditions. The laboratory measurements indicate that polar molecules can be measured with a sensitivity of tens of parts-per-million-meter using this technology. Proof of principle of the open-path system was tested by releasing and detecting innocuous chemicals in the open air. It uses a monostatic radar configuration with transmitter and receiver on one side and a comer cube on tire other side of the plume to be measured. A wide-band swept frequency mm-wave signal is transmitted through the plume and return signal from the comer cube is detected by a hot-electron-bolometer. Absorption spectra of plume gases are measured by comparing the return signals with and without the plume in the beam path. Using signal processing based on deconvolution, high specificity of detection has been shown for resolving individual chemicals from a mixture. This technology is applicable for real-time measurement of a suite of airborne gases/vapors emitted from vents and stacks of process industries. A prototype sensor is being developed for wide-area monitoring of industrial sites and in-place monitoring of stack gases

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

In the gelcasting process, a slurry of ceramic powder in a solution of organic monomers is cast in a mold. The process is different from injection molding in that it separates mold-filling from setting during conversion of the ceramic slurry to a formed green part. In this work, NMR spectroscopy and imaging have been conducted for in-situ monitoring of the gelation process and for mapping the polymerization. ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra have been obtained during polymerization of a premix of soluble reactive methacrylamide (monomer) and N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (cross-linking molecules). The premix was polymerized by adding ammonium persulfate (initiator) and tetramethyl-ethylene-diamine (accelerator) to form long-chain, cross-linked polymers. The time-varying spin-lattice relaxation times T₁ during polymerization have been studied at 25 and 35 C, and the variation of spectra and T₁ with respect to extent of polymerization has been determined. To verify homogeneous polymerization, multidimensional NMR imaging was utilized for in-situ monitoring of the process. The intensities from the images are modeled and the correspondence shows a direct extraction of T₁ data from the images