Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation 2008 - Professor Horoshenkov

Professor Kirill Horoshenkov, School of Engineering, Design and Technology, University of Bradford Rapid Measurement of Sewer Condition and Blockage Detection Using Novel Acoustic Instrumentation Water companies in the UK are legally required to maintain the conditions of their sewer systems and to reduce flooding incidents. Consequently, monitoring pipes for obstructions and defects forms an important part of the operational and maintenance costs. Existing sewer survey methods are limited to the interpretation of CCTV and LightLine images which are relatively slow - less than 2% of the UK network is surveyed every 5 years. This project hopes to develop an airborne acoustic sensor that can rapidly and objectively measure in-pipe condition, and identify blockages and damage. This technology will be developed to a near-market prototype and offer an up to 100-fold improvement in the productivity of sewer inspection. This work relies on novel MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) devices and advanced methods of signal analysis. Uploaded 22-05-09 More at http://royalsociety.org/grants/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices