Triad National Security, LLC

Los Alamos National Security, LLC

Chevron U.s.a. Inc.

U.S. Department of Energy

Cristian Pantea

Dipen N Sinha

Cung Khac Vu

Denis P Schmitt

Kurt Nihei

Christopher Hugh Skelt

Vamshi Krishna Chillara

Anirban Chaudhuri

Eric Davis

Blake T Sturtevant

Rollin Lakis

Curtis F Osterhoudt

Ann Junghans

Vlad Henzl

Alan Lyman Graham

Christopher Nobuo Hakoda

Chirstopher Skelt

Kurt T Nihei

John James Greenhall

Fermentation product monitoring systems and associated methods. A fermentation product monitoring system comprises an ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit a transmitted ultrasonic signal through a fluid; an ultrasonic receiver configured to receive a received ultrasonic signal; an automated valve configured to regulate a flow of the fluid; and a signal generation and analysis assembly configured to actuate the automated valve responsive to detecting a transition from a first fluid comprising a slurry to a second fluid comprising a non-slurry. A method of using a fermentation product monitoring system comprises transmitting a transmitted ultrasonic signal through a fluid; receiving a received ultrasonic signal; processing a received electrical signal; and actuating an automated valve to regulate a flow of the fluid responsive to a detecting that the fluid within the primary ultrasonic signal path has transitioned from a first fluid comprising a slurry to a second fluid comprising a non-slurry.

Fermentation product monitoring systems and associated methods

Provided are acoustic quick response codes and piezoelectric quick response (PQR) codes. Examples of the disclosure leverage acoustics and vibrations for information storage and retrieval. Applications of examples of the disclosure may include the development of embedded product tags, tamper-evident seals and/or tags, and/or an additional layer of information storage used in conjunction with other existing information storage technologies. Examples further provide for the use of acoustic quick response codes or piezoelectric quick response codes as embedded sensors for damage detection and/or monitoring.

Piezoelectric and acoustic quick response codes

A method of and system for producing a Bessel-like collimated sound beam frequencies below 1 MHz, and a device for sound (acoustic) imaging. A flat disk piezoelectric transducer having a large diameter/thickness ratio may be configured to exhibit radial vibration modes in the desired frequency range according to one or more parameters, including the diameter/thickness ratio, materials, electrode coverage, etc. The transducer may be driven by a waveform generator at one or more radial mode excitation frequencies.

Simple bessel-like collimated sound beam generator

A method of sample collection includes collecting an analyte from a sampling surface using a rapidly curable liquid gel comprising one or more metal particles; co-aggregating the one or more metal particles from the rapidly curable liquid gel and the analyte from the sampling surface; and rapidly curing the rapidly curable liquid gel. The composition and sample preparation conditions may facilitate improved collection efficiency of analytes during environmental and forensic evidence sampling. In addition, the composition and sample preparation conditions may facilitate enhanced detection and identification of the analyte using e.g., Surface Enhanced Raman Spectrometry (SERS).

High efficiency active environmental sampling of chemical traces

Techniques are provided for detecting wafer defects. Example techniques include exciting a wafer using an acoustic signal to cause the wafer to exhibit vibrations, measuring one or more of linear frequency response metrics or nonlinear frequency responses metrics associated with the vibrations, and identifying any defects in the wafer based at least in part on one or more of the linear frequency response metrics or nonlinear frequency responses metrics. In embodiments, the wafer includes bismuth telluride (BiTe).

Acoustics-based noninvasive wafer defect detection

Described are an apparatus, computer program product, and associated methods for shaped waveform acoustic interrogation of substances and materials to determine one or more properties of the materials or substances. In some embodiments, a shaped waveform is formed by summing two or more different waveforms and an acoustic wave is generated according to the shaped waveform. The acoustic wave is transmitted by one or more transmitting transducers through the substance or material and received by one or more receiving transducers. The shaped waveform acoustic wave can have a duration or a period that is less than about 20 &#x3bc;s and can comprise predetermined frequency content. Characteristics of the shaped waveform acoustic wave, as received at the receiving transducer(s), including characteristics such as amplitude, frequency, time of flight, etc., can be associated with said one or more properties of the substance or material to provide for real-time monitoring of these properties.

Apparatus and method for shaped waveform interrogation

Methods for noninvasive determination of acoustical properties of flowing in pipes having a large ratio (&#x3e;10) of pipe diameter to wall thickness, and in highly attenuating fluids are described. When vibrations are excited on the outer surface of the wall of a pipe, the resulting vibrations propagate directly through the wall in a normal direction and through the pipe wall as guided waves, appearing on the opposite side of the pipe. This dual path propagation through pipes, where guided waves take the circumferential path in the wall of the pipe and may interfere with the time of-flight measurement obtained from the direct path through the fluid, is at least in part resolved by subtracting the signal from the guided wave from the combined signal, thereby permitting improved observation of the direct path propagation through the fluid.

Noninvasive acoustical property measurement of fluids

Apparatus and methods for the measurement of gas volume fraction of produced oil are described. A first method measures the response of a pipe containing the produced oil excited by a source of vibration in the form of an acoustic frequency chirp containing a linearly varying range of frequencies in the tens of kilohertz range encompassing at least one resonant mode of the pipe. As the gas volume fraction increases, the location of the peak maximum of the measured frequency spectrum responsive to the excitation increases in frequency, and the height of the peak maximum increases, thereby permitting a linear calibration curve to be obtained. A second method measures the response of a pipe containing the produced oil to excitation by a continuous source of vibration having a chosen frequency above those which excite flexural vibrations in the pipe and simultaneously excite acoustic waves in the fluid contained in the pipe, known as the coincidence frequency. Gas present in the fluid will interrupt sound propagation or reverberation, thereby generating fluctuations in the amplitude of the measured vibrations of the pipe. The amplitude fluctuation level provides a measure of the gas volume present inside the pipe. A third method measures the response of a pipe containing the produced oil to excitation by a high-bandwidth, short pulse having a chosen center frequency above the coincidence frequency. Gas present in the fluid will interrupt pulse propagation, thereby generating fluctuations in the amplitude of the measured vibrations of the pipe.

Acoustic gas volume fraction measurement in a multiphase flowing liquid

Acoustic signal sources include acoustic resonators that include acoustic nonlinear materials. Acoustic signals at higher frequencies are mixed in the nonlinear materials to produce a lower frequency acoustic signal. Resonance provides increased efficiency in producing acoustic signals at difference frequencies corresponding to resonance frequencies. Higher frequency acoustic signals used in nonlinear mixing are preferably at frequencies corresponding to resonance frequencies as well.

Resonance-enhanced compact nonlinear acoustic source of low frequency collimated beam for imaging applications in highly attenuating media

An apparatus and method for the separation of an oil-water mixture into its components are described. An acoustic radiation force moves oil droplets to the nodes of an acoustic standing wave generated in a vertical column containing the oil-water mixture. Once the droplets are sufficiently close together, attractive forces become dominant and the droplets may coalesce to form larger droplets, which have greater buoyancy, and separation of the mixture into a layer of oil and a layer of water occurs, not possible by simple gravitational separation. Acoustically-driven oil-water separation may be used for water-cut measurements in oil production wells, since separation of the oil from the water permits accurate sound speed measurements to be made for both the oil and the water, thereby allowing frequent in situ calibrations of the apparatus to determine whether sound speed measurements on the mixture are accurate in the event that one or both of the mixture constituents is changing.

Ultrasonic in-situ water-cut measurement using ultrasonic oil-water separation for affecting sound speed calibration

An apparatus and method for real-time visualization of particulate matter suspended in a static or flowing fluid and fluid flow patterns in a pipe, tube, conduit, or other container, are described. Ultrasonic scanning and detection of scattered sound from the particles in the fluid create a real-time image of the particles, or of flow patterns in the liquid. A mechanical wobbler directs a piezoelectric transducer over a chosen angle in an oscillatory manner. The transducer is operated in a pulse-echo mode wherein the same transducer detects the return signal from the target region through which particles are passing and/or a flow is present. The pulse-echo measurements are made rapidly and continuously during a single sweep of the transducer over the chosen angle. Received signals are processed in the ultrasound scanner electronics module and displayed as an image in real-time.

Apparatus and method for visualization of particles suspended in a fluid and fluid flow patterns using ultrasound

A pressure sensor and a method of measuring pressure with the pressure sensor, based on measuring the effect of pressure loads on the acoustic resonance mode frequencies of a spherical core (e.g., a hollow sphere). The pressure sensor includes a transmitter configured to transmit vibrational signals to a sphere, and a receiver on the opposite side of the spherical core that is configured to receive vibrational signals from the spherical core. According to the method of measuring pressure with this sensor, the spherical core exhibits a pressure-dependent resonance response that can be monitored utilizing a frequency response technique. Peak shifts observed under an unknown pressure load can be compared to a calibration of the spherical core under a series of known pressure loads to thereby determine the unknown pressure. The pressure sensor and method may be operated in real-time at very high temperatures and pressure, and may be used in borehole applications and in aggressive media.

High-pressure, high-temperature hollow sphere acoustic pressure sensor

A compact, rugged and portable measurement cell design for the determination of sound speed in fluids at temperatures up to 250&#xb0; C. and pressures up to 3,000 psi is described. Swept Frequency Acoustic Interferometry measurement for liquid sound speed determinations in liquids up to 250&#xb0; C. is of both fundamental interest, as in the case of basic equations of state, and applied interest, such as for characterizing geothermal or petroleum down hole environments. Representative sound speeds for water, as a function of temperature and pressure, are in agreement with an internationally accepted standard for the sound speed of water.

High-temperature, high pressure acoustic resonance cell

The present invention is a method and an apparatus that can image objects immersed in optically opaque fluids using ultrasound in a confined space and in a harsh environment. If the fluid is not highly attenuating at frequencies above 1 MHz, where commercial ultrasound scanners are available, such scanners can be adapted for imaging in these fluids. In the case of highly attenuating fluids, such as drilling mud, then a low frequency collimated sound source is used.

Growing community of inventors

Los Alamos, NM, United States of America

Cristian Pantea