PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Scientific highlights

A1.1. ECT system improvement and upgrade to incorporate ERT measurementsThe first task of Dr STYRA was to carry on the work started by Dr HE concerning the fabrication of a 32 channel AC-based ECT system (fig A1.1.1a). Together with Drs LIU and WAJMAN, they have improved the system and obtained a tomograph with a higher stability and robustness, better calibration and flexibility, which makes it suitable to control the rotatable sensor described in section A2.1 and carry out 3D measurements.His work has also focused in upgrading the ECT tomograph to allow the switch with Electrical Resistance Tomography to be made, resulting in a more versatile system. This is a major improvement that is of great importance for dual modality system presented in task A2.2. In parallel, special sensor that can both accommodate capacitance and resistance measurements was designed (fig A1.1.1b).Dr STYRA has also devoted a significant time on simulation of rotating field (fig A1.1.2). The possibility to design an Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) hardware based on this method could be a major breakthrough in the field of electrical tomography.

A1.2. Effect of stray capacitances in Electrical tomographyElectrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is a frequently used technique to determine the permittivity distribution of materials in a mixture, measuring capacitances between electrodes, placed around the mixture. The study, carried out by Dr STYRA and Prof. HAMMER at TUL aimed to analyse the effect of stray capacitances in ECT using two different operational amplifiers and different switches. Solutions were proposed to select the right parameters to increase sensitivity and stray capacitance immunity in capacitance tomography systems. Theoretical analysis, based on control theory, explained the working principle of stray capacitance immunity. The comparison between simulated and experimental results gives promising good agreements. A paper was submitted following this useful study.

A1.3. 3D/4D ECT - image reconstruction algorithms and sensor designDr BANASIAK continued his collaboration with Dr SOLEIMANI at UoBa on the 3D and 4D ECT visualization. A new nonlinear 3D image reconstruction algorithm which takes into consideration the electric field behavior inside a 3D ECT sensor interior during the reconstruction process was developed. The conception was verified using special phantom and 32 channel-3D ECT system (Fig A1.3.1). This work proved the effectiveness of the proposed idea and resulted in both good three-dimensional images (Fig A1.3.2) and well-running image reconstruction convergence that proved its fully non-linear approach.Simultaneously they continued to develop new 3D ECT sensor structures. This work resulted in the novel 3D ECT sensor numerical model in which the complete shielding structure has been taken into consideration during a forward and inverse solution computation. The complete 3D ECT sensor model has been validated with experimental data (Fig A1.3.3).Finally a new two-stage shape reconstruction algorithm based on narrowband level set technique was proposed and developed. The use of the level set method allows to model topological changes of sample boundaries (Fig A1.3.4).Their current collaboration will now focus on the concept of virtual 3D capacitance tomography system using LabView measurement card.

A2.1. conception and design of a new ECT sensor to improve image accuracyDr LIU has continued his work on a rotatable sensor to improve the image accuracy from ECT measurements. He verified that Signal-Noise Ratio (SNR) is not greatly affected or diminished when measurements are executed while keeping the stepper motor stationary and shown that image quality is substantially improved using the rotatable sensor on static sample (Fig A2.1.1). Dynamic measurements using cylindrical shape phantom have also been carried out and shows that the rotatable sensor can obtain very good quality image as shown in Fig A2.1.2. A new sensor with 12 external electrodes have also been fabricated and mounted on a pneumatic conveying facility (Fig A2.1.3). Result shows that good quality image can be as well obtained after rotating the sensor at 4 positions (Fig A2.1.4). Comparisons with classical sensor are under investigation.To verify if the rotatable structure can work on a 3D sensor and improve images using the method described in task A1.3, a rotatable 3D sensor has been recently designed (see Fig A2.1.5).

A2.2. Conception and design of dual modality tomograph: γ-ray+EITProf. HAMMER has proposed a new multiphase instrument during his stay at TUL (fig A2.2.1). The instrument is based on EIT in combination with a simple gamma absorption system. The impedance tomograph uses non insulated electrodes so they can be applied both as capacitance electrodes in non conductive fluids and as resistance electrodes in conductive fluids. The reconstructed image of the pipe cross section is based on data fusion of the measurement results from gamma-ray and EIT. The sensor structure was checked by Dr MOSOROV to be radiation-safe using MCNP5 simulation (fig A2.2.2). Such combination has never been tried before to analyse flow regimes occurring in horizontal three phase flows. This has a potential interest for oil industry. The sensor is currently under construction during secondment period of Dr NOWAKOWSKI at UiB.

A3.1. Study of silo discharging combining X-ray tomography and ECTThe work carried out by Dr GRUDZIEN at INSA in collaboration with Drs MAIRE and ADRIEN has concerned the application of X-ray tomography system to visualize the changes of solid concentration during the silo discharging process. Two models of silo that can be mounted in the X-ray tomograph were fabricated to measure two different kinds of the gravitational flow: mass and funnel flow (fig a3.1.1). The obtained results (2D X-ray radiographs and 3D X-ray tomographs) were very helpful to better visualize and understand the physical phenomena of gravitational silo flow process since:

• series of 2D radiographs give the possibility to investigate the volume changes of solid concentration during the flow process;

• 3D images allows to get knowledge about the structure of packing density in initial stage before discharging process;

• In situ discharging, controlled by the opening/closing of the silo outlet allows the movement of the particle tracers in the mixture to be investigated in 3D (fig 3.1.2).

The X-ray CT results also serves as calibration values to estimate the measurement error for ECT system applied for the same investigation using the same model of silo. All data analysis will take place during the reintegration phase.

A3.2. Hole filling in 3D objectDuring this reintegration phase of Dr JANASZEWSKI, scientific projects on 3D image analysis using knowledge gained during the training period at ESIEE has been carried on, involving 7 researchers. The projects are:

• Hole filling in 3D volumetric objects – applications to Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) analysis in stainless steel based on 3D micro-tomography images (fig. A3.2.1).

• 3D modelling of bronchial tubes based on 3D chest tomograms (fig. A3.2.2).The first project is one of the current tasks that Dr BABOUT is working on during his newly started training period at UoM-MSC. After validation of the method in TUL, the main aim is automatically correlate data sets obtained using X-ray CT and Diffraction Computed Tomography (e.g. morphological and crystallographic properties of bridge ligaments in stainless steel during SCC) using an updated version of the hole filling algorithm.In the second project we have developed and tested a new, very fast bronchial tree segmentation algorithm, for clinical applications, which is accepted by medical doctors. One step of the method is based on hole filling algorithm. This project is also a new cooperation with ESIEE (co-supervised PhD).

2. Teaching and training activities During this third reporting year, the recruitment of new incoming researchers and the occurrence of several reintegration periods allowed to organise seminars in different fields of research which are connected to the project. For instance, the stay of Prof. HAMMER was a unique opportunity to organise a series of seminars dealing with process tomography.

The transfer of knowledge associated to each task mentioned in the previous sections has been the following:A1.1: Dr STYRA has spent most of his working hours upgrading the new ECT/ERT tomograph, leaving small room for teaching activities. However, he has presented the different electronic concept and ideas that were used for the tomograph to the other staff members during group meeting. It is worth mentioning that, together with Prof. HAMMER, he was invited to give a lecture on "Improvement of Electronics for ECT" during an Open Seminar at the Institute of Radioelectronics of the Technical University of Warsaw organized in March 2009. During the next reporting year, he plans to organise training untitled "FEM simulation for ERT and ECT step-by-step".

A1.2: Prof. HAMMER, during the 2 first months of his stay at TUL, organised a series of weekly seminars on the following topics linked with process tomography:

• Capacitance transducers – Basic principle (60 min)• The principle of resistance measurements in multiphase flows using non-insulated capacitance

electrodes based on Maxwell equations (60 min)• The basic principle of gamma-ray measurements (60 min)• The spatial filtering effect (60 min)• The basic principle of multiphase flow measurements (60 min)• Mass flow measurements (60 min)• The venturimeter used as gas fraction meter (60 min)• The simplicity of data fusion in dual process tomography (60 min)• The three phase flowmeter (30 min)

This is during the discussions following the seminar that the idea of the work with Dr STYRA on the effect of stray capacitances has arisen from.

A1.3: During his training period, Dr Banasiak did take part in a one-day National Instruments (NI) Labview training. During this training activity he got the knowledge about basic use of Labview software with National Instruments multichannel measurements cards. The training let Dr Banasiak to improve his knowledge about programming and will be useful for starting the idea of Virtual 3D capacitance tomography system using NI Labview software and hardware. A series of seminars dealing

with 3D image reconstruction and simulation of sensor will be organized during the next reporting year despite they are not really set during his own reintegration period.

A2.1: Dr LIU has spent most of his working hours on designing and managing the fabrication of different rotatable sensor for 2D and 3D measurements, leaving small room for organising training courses on SolidEdge, as initially planned. However, several researchers from TUL are very familiar with the software, which made his teaching duty with less priority. He has also strongly collaborated with Drs WAJMAN and BANASIAK on the integration of data acquisition from the rotatable sensors and image reconstruction to the software controlling the ECT system developed by Dr STYRA. During the last month of his contract (that is to say the first month of the 4th reporting year), he has been training co-workers on the use of the rotatable sensors and related image reconstruction routines.

A2.2: During his reintegration period, Dr MOSOROV organized several seminars at TUL for the benefit of the staff members involved in the DENIDIA project. The main goal of these presentations was transfer of knowledge regarding gamma-ray tomography. Seminars concentrated on the following topics:

• Gamma ray tomography-Introductory Class (90 min),• Modeling and simulation of gamma-ray tomography (60 min),• MCNP code of an 85 channel UiB speed gamma-ray tomograph (60 min).

The context of workshops included neutron/photon/electron physics, gamma-ray tomography background, modeling and simulation of radioisotope gauges, statistical analysis, MCNP code v.5. In general, the researches of Department had little or no experience with gamma-ray tomography, and these workshops enable to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. The fellow was also invited in Octobre 2008 to the Computer Graphics Institute of the Technical University of Warsaw where he presented his scientific activities on an Open Seminar.

A3.1: During the training period of Dr GRUDZIEN, he was trained on the use of laboratory X-ray tomography system (v|tome|x Phoenix X-ray company). This course allowed him to get familiar with the control parameters of the X-ray source, detectors and rotating stage. This knowledge enables to find the possibilities and limitations of the X-ray system with cone beam X-ray source. He also got the opportunity to visit the ID19 beamline at the ESRF (Grenoble, France) which is one of the most well-known beamline devoted to synchrotron X-ray microtomography.

A3.2: The three last months of the reintegration period of Dr JANASZEWSKI were mainly spent on preparation of lectures given at TUL, in order to transfer knowledge gained at ESIEE. Three seminars were organised on the following topics:

• Hole filling algorithm in 3D volumetric images (45 min) • Introduction to digital topology: part 1(120 min)• Introduction to digital topology: part 2 (90 min)

Moreover the transfer of knowledge was realised during many meetings and informal talks with researchers involved in projects described in the previous section.

No special networking meeting with partners was organized during this reporting year. However, it is worth mentioning that we organized a 2-days visit of our unit to Drs HAMPEL and DA SILVA from the Institute of Safety Research, Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Germany) in order to consolidate current collaboration. This comforted our common interests in ECT and optical tomography. 2 PhD students from TUL spent 4 months training period working on these topics under German funding.

We have also invited Dr SOLEIMANI to give a keynote during the annual seminar which is co-organized by TUL and the AGH University of Science and Technology of Cracow. This visit was also the opportunity to organize a meeting around the collaboration, but also to prepare new ideas for future collaborations. Especially, Dr SOLEIMANI prepared a British EPSRC grant in which TUL is a partner.

3. Dissemination of results This reporting year has been relatively rich in publication/dissemination of results, with 3 articles published or accepted for publication in international journals/proceeding books, 6 articles submitted to international journals, all currently under revision, 4 published or accepted papers for publication in Polish journals and 6 papers in international conference. This is a substantial improvement compared to the previous reporting period since there are almost 1.5 times more articles accepted/submitted.Details of the scientific outcomes can be found in the document R3_publications.doc.The details regarding each task are described below.

A1.1: 2 papers submitted by Dr. HE about ECT hardware design were presented at an international conference. Dr STYRA has put a lot of efforts in upgrading the tomograph and articles are under preparation. The project about rotating field is very promising and could be patented before the end of the DENIDIA project. A1.2: an article has been submitted by Dr STYRA and Prof. HAMMER on this study.

A1.3: this project has been very productive with 3 articles published (one during the 2nd reporting year), 2 in revision process and 2 presented at an international conference. A2.1: This project has ended up with 1 paper presented at an international conference and 1 paper submitted to an international journal. One paper is under preparation concerning the use of the rotatable sensor for flow measurements. The sensor was also presented during an exhibition at Eureka 2008 (Brussels) for which it received a Silver Medal. It is foreseen if good results are obtained with the rotatable sensor for 3D measurements to put protect the invention with a European patent.

A2.2: the dual modality tomography that combines gamma-ray and EIT is at the level of fabrication. We are waiting for the first tests to decide if it is worth filling a European patent for this project. Before that, Dr MOSOROV had 1 paper presented at an international conference about gamma-ray tomography simulation, and 1 paper has been submitted to an international journal.

A3.1: 1 article has been written and accepted for publication in a Polish journal during Dr GRUDZIEN's training period. It is foreseen that other articles will be produced during the reintegration phase (4th reporting year).

A3.2: So far, 1 paper has been accepted for publication in an international book series, 3 papers has been accepted for publication in a Polish journal, and 1 paper is under revision. It is worth mentioning that the latter paper has been submitted in December 2008, but the journal (e.g. Pattern Recognition) is known for long revision process. More articles should be submitted during the 4th reporting year with Dr BABOUT's training period.

Figures

Fig A1.1.1: (a) general view of the ECT/ERT tomograph designed by Bo and Styra. (b) ECT/ERT sensor

0 deg 30 deg 60 deg 90 deg 120 deg 150 deg

180 deg 210 deg 240 deg 270 deg 300 deg 330 deg

Fig A1.1.2: Finite element modeling of of rotating electric field: different phases of excitation. Case with 3 electrodes

a) b)

Fig A1.3.1: (a) 3D ECT experimental setup (b) 3D ECT sensor layout.

Test phantoms Visualization LBPNonlinear

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Fig A1.3.2: Example of non-linear 3D image reconstruction for letter-shaped phantoms

Fig A1.3.3: Sample validation results using complete model and experimental data

Testing phantom Two-stage based level set reconstruction

Fig A1.3.4: Comparison of example convergence plots for one- and two-stage level set algorithm.

Fig A2.1.1: Evolutions of the reconstructed image and fractional area fph of the phantom cross section inside the inner tube (phantom with square-shape cross-section) with increase number of measurement positions during rotation. (a) Pos1, fph =

33% (b) Pos1->2, fph = 29% (c) Pos1->2->3, fph = 25% (d) Pos1->2->3->4, fph = 22%. Real fraction: 18%

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Fig A2.2.2: Comparison between reconstructed image at different location along the electrode length, in both static and dynamic case. using rotatable sensor with 3 rotation steps (e.g. 4 measurement positions).

Fig A2.2.3: Rotatable sensor is applied on a pneumatic conveying facility for online measurements

Sensor

Fig A2.2.4: Image for rotatable sensor from pneumatic conveying facility with 3 rotating steps (4 positions)

Fig A2.2.5: Rotatable sensor drawing for 3D ECT measurements

Fig A2.2.1: The multi modality process tomography system combining gamma-ray and EIT.

Fig A2.2.2: Simulation for three-component flow (gas, salt water and oil) (electrode thickness is equal to 0.1 mm)

Dual modality process tomograph at KIS

28.11.2008 Erling Hammer

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Fig A3.1.1: silo discharging set-up inside hutch of X-ray tomography machine

Fig A3.1.2: (a) 3D visualization of packing density change during silo discharging (b) tracking particle extraction from

original 3D data set.

Fig A3.2.1: 3D rendering of bridge superimposed to 2D reconstructed image of SCC in stainless steel after hole filling

algorithm (left). 3 bridges crossing the image displayed with different colors (right). The blue and green ones are consistent with triangular bridges.

Fig A3.2.2:correction of airway-tree using hole closing algorithm. (a) segmentation of bronchial tree presents a defect (hole) in the wall (b) branch corrected (hole closed marked in red).

PublicationsIn the following list, superscripts refer to the position of the authors related to the publication/presentation:1 Staff at TUL (host of the project)1a Incoming researcher at TUL1b Outgoing researcher from TUL2 Researcher from Partner 3 Other

**Articles in international journal/proceeding books with scientific committeePublished/accepted:

1. R Banasiak1b, R Wajman1, J Betiuk1, M Soleimani2: Feasibility study of dielectric permittivity inspection using a 3D capacitance CT method. NDT & E International, Vol. 42, 2009, pp. 316-322.

2. M Soleimani2, CN Mitchell2, R Banasiak1b, R Wajman1, A Adler3: Four-dimensional electrical capacitance tomography imaging using experimental data. Progress In Electromagnetics Research, Vol. 90, 2009, pp. 171-186.

3. M Janaszewski1b, M Couprie2, L Babout1: Geometric Approach to Hole Segmentation and Hole Closing in 3D Volumetric Objects. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 5856. 2009, Berlin: Springer. Accepted for Publication.

Submitted:1. D Styra1a, EA Hammer1a, L Babout1: Stray Capacitance Influence on ECT sensitivity. Sensors

and Actuators A: Physical, 20092. R Banasiak1b, R Wajman1, D Sankowski1, M Soleimani2: Three-dimensional nonlinear inversion

of electrical capacitance tomography data using a complete sensor model. Measurement Science & Technology, 2009

3. R Banasiak1b, M Soleimani2: Shape based reconstruction of experimental data in 3D electrical capacitance tomography. NDT & E International, 2009

4. Z Liu1a, L Babout1, R Banasiak1, D Sankowski1: Effectiveness of Rotatable Sensor to Improve Image Accuracy of ECT System. Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 2009

5. V Mosorov1b, GA Johansen2, R Maad2, D Sankowski1: Scatter radiation estimation by Monte Carlo simulation for high-speed gamma ray tomography. Applied Radiation and Isotopes Journal, 2009

6. M. Janaszewski1b, M. Couprie2, L. Babout1: Hole filling in 3D volumetric objects. Pattern Recognition, 2009.

**Articles in Polish journal with scientific committeePublished/Accepted:

1. K Grudzien1b, J Adrien2, L Babout1, A Romanowski1, Z Chaniecki1: Quantitative analysis of bulk solids porosity with use of x-ray tomography system. Automatyka, 2009. in press (in Polish).

2. M Janaszewski1, L Babout1, M Postolski1, L Jopek1: Hole segmentation in volumetric objects. Automatyka, 2009. in press (in Polish).

3. M Janaszewski1, L Babout1, M Postolski1, L Jopek1: Hole closing in 3D volumetric objects. Automatyka, 2009. in press (in Polish).

4. L Babout1, M Janaszewski1: Analysis of bridge ligaments in 3D volumetric images using discrete topology. Automatyka, 2009. in press.

List of participation in conferences**International conference with scientific committee

1. R Banasiak1b, R Wajman1, M Soleimani2, J Betiuk1: Inspection of dielectric materials using a 3D ECT. In 3rd International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-3), 17-19 April 2009, Tokyo.

2. M Soleimani2, R Banasiak1b, R Wajman1: Level set reconstruction algorithm for 3D ECT. In 3rd International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-3), 17-19 April 2009, Tokyo.

3. Z Liu1a, L Babout1, R Banasiak1, D Sankowski1: Effectiveness of Rotatable Sensor to Improve Spatial Resolution of ECT System. In 3rd International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-3), 17-19 April 2009, Tokyo.

4. V Mosorov1b, GA Johansen2, R Maad2, D Sankowski1: Monte Carlo based approach as a Tool for Modeling and Simulation Gamma-ray Tomography System. In 3rd International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-3), 17-19 April 2009, Tokyo, pp. 65-70.

5. YB He1a, R Wajman1, R Banasiak1, M Xu3, D Sankowski1: Design of TCP/IP Based Flexible Three Dimensional Electrical Capacitance Tomography. In 3rd International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-3), 17-19 April 2009, Tokyo.

6. YB He1a, YG Shao3, M Xu3, D Sankowski1: Analysis of Electrical Tomography Sensitive Field Based on Multi Terminal Network. In 3rd International Workshop on Process Tomography (IWPT-3), 17-19 April 2009, Tokyo.

Awards1. L Babout1, Z Liu1a, R Banasiak1, D Sankowski1: A Novel Method To Improve The Image Quality

From Electrical Capacitance Tomography Measurements, Eureka 2008, November 2008, Brussels (Silver medal).