US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Dan Y Eng

John H Ballard

Philip Garcin Malone

William N Brabston

Bobby E Reed

John C Morgan

Ernesto R Cespedes

Bryan A Register

Cameron L Young

Fred E Causey

The present invention pertains to a direct push small diameter fluorescence ased penetrometer system for performing in situ spectral analysis on subsurface liquid or gaseous samples. The invention is configured to collect liquid or gaseous analyte samples within the penetrometer's sample chamber through a port that is juxtaposed to a heating element that accelerates the separation of volatile chemical materials from the soil matrix. Fiber optic cables are linked to surface mounted real-time data acquisition/processing equipment from the sample chamber. The penetrometer sampling device is also equipped with a standard penetrometer electric cone sensor module containing cone and sleeve strain sensors that are used to calculate soil classification/layering in real-time during penetration. The invention integrates soil classification/layering data with spectral signature data of suspect subsurface liquid or gaseous fluids for assessing whether the subsurface soil and ground water regions are contaminated without the requirement of transporting the sample and/or analyte to the surface for analysis. Moreover, the system integrates a means for grouting the bore hole upon retrieval of the penetrometer.

Penetrometer sampler system for subsurface spectral analysis of

A penetrometer sensor probe and system with a detachable sleeve section which performs radiation measurements in subsurface formations. The penetrometer sensor probe measures radiation particularly gamma radiation in real time as the sensor probe is retrieved from a subsurface formation following an initial penetrometer push operation. A sacrificial sleeve surrounding the sensor probe's radiation detector is separated from the penetrometer after an initial push operation at a particular subsurface depth. During a retraction process, a sleeve section containing the radiation detector is detached from the sacrificial sleeve of the penetrometer. The sleeve provides both strength to the penetrometer and protects the probe's radiation detector from damage. Additionally, the detachable sleeve results in significantly reduced bremsstrauling scattering radiation attributed to gamma radiation that otherwise would strike a steel casing adjacent to the radiation detector. The penetrometer sensor probe and system allow for a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio for detecting gamma radiation in subsurface media.

Subsurface penetrometer radiaton sensor probe and system

A molding apparatus for hardening, finishing and shaping reactive cement te by utilizing electrolysis and electrophoresis. The molding apparatus confines a reactive paste in a porous mold, out of direct contact with electrodes. The electrodes are immersed in chambers filled with an electrolyte and are separated from the mold by a filter and perforated support. When a current is applied to the electrodes, the electrolyte decomposes forming a reactive solution that will harden the paste after contact. The filter on the perimeter of the mold, prevents particulates or bubbles, coming from the electrodes, from passing through to the porous mold distorting the hardening paste. In order to uniformly harden a solid or asymmetric shaped section, the movement of the reactive solution through the paste requires that a set of electrodes surrounding the solid or asymmetric section be energized, in pairs, with two electrodes on opposite sides of the configuration, constituting a pair. Each pair receives a direct current for a specific period of time, when the required time is completed, the direction of the current is reversed using a polarity-reversing switch. Upon hardening, the mold imparts the shape and the finish of the inside of the mold onto the reactive paste.

Separated electrode system in electrolytically setting or hardening

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Vicksburg, MS, United States of America

Dan Y Eng