Eddy-current testing - Non-destructive testing for flaw detection of metals, coatings and carbon fibres

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1 Technology Offer Eddy-current testing - Non-destructive testing for flaw detection of metals, coatings and carbon fibres Summary A German SME offers the development of task specific eddy-current based non-destructive testing procedures. Eddy-current based material testing offers several advantages compared to radiography and ultrasound screening or dye penetrant inspection. The measuring results are available immediately. The company offers the development, adaption and production of specific measuring probes. The SME is looking for partners for manufacturing agreements and commercial agreements with technical assistance. Creation Date 09 May 2014 Last Update 02 June 2014 Expiration Date 02 June 2015 Reference 11 DE M2I Details Description The German SME is active in non-destructive testing (NDT) services for 35 years and is specialised in eddy-current services. Eddy current (EC) is a very effective tool for many NDT inspection tasks. As long as the part that has to be the tested is electrically-conductive, a wide range of inspections can be carried out. EC offers advantages compared with material testing procedures as radiography and ultrasound screening as also thick walls can be inspected without great effort for radiation protection. Compared with dye penetrant inspection EC based testing routines generate time and cost savings as the cleaning efforts of the parts which have to be tested are dramatically reduced. Inspections can be performed even at running processes on high temperate surfaces up to 200 C (higher temperatures possible). There is no need to remove coatings, only the isolation has to be dissembled and areas with rough deposits have to be cleaned (e.g. water-ice-blasted). The company offers tailor-made material testing services therefore the focus of the company's research and development activities is set to the enhancement and adaptation of the eddy current probes. Each probe has to be adapted to the single inspection task. The company has developed its own software for the interpretation and evaluation of eddy current signals. The documentation software includes a feature to create files with the inspection results into different common CAD-software formats. This makes the documentation results readable for clients without the need to buy and install any special software to work with the inspection results. The company has vast experience in the inspection of heat exchanger tubing in all kind of systems like condensers, reactors, cooling devices, heat exchangers including air coolers with all kinds of common tube dimensions, shapes and materials like Titanium, Brass, various Copper-Nickel-grades, stainless steels, Duplex-grades etc.. Furthermore the company is experienced in the inspections of welds at railways cages, cranes or piping-systems, austenitic wavy compensator systems at power plants and the process industries or Ref: 11 DE M2I Page 1 of 8

2 the inside and outside inspection of highest pressure piping in ethylene plants. Other tasks for the eddy current technology are tests of CFK components such as blades for wind energy converters or car-bodies from the automobile industries. Currently the SME developed a new eddy-current inspection in order to inspect a large number of damaged austenitic valves (of ID 80mm to 530mm). Current and Potential Domain of Application: Non-destructive testing, eddy current services, eddy current probes and technologies. Advantages and Innovations Eddy current material inspection offers several advantages compared to other non-destructive testing procedures such as: - No effort for radiation inspection. - Reduced effort for cleaning the parts before the tests. - Suitable measuring probes for customer-specific test tasks can be delivered. - Suitable for the testing of a wide range of materials. - Fast and easy access to the documentation. Stage of Development Already on the market IPR Status Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted Comment Regarding IPR status The company is certified according to: - Nuclear industry certificate KTA ISO 9001: Norwegian Achilles Audits Certificate - Safety Certificate Contractors Profile Origin Private (in-house) research Client Type and Size of Organisation Behind the Profile Industry SME Partner Sought Type and Role of Partner Sought - Type of partner sought: industry - Specific area of activity of the partner: power production, railway maintenance, shipbuilding and repair, automotive and develoment of CFK products. - Task to be performed by the partner sought: The company is looking for partners interested in joint inspection and maintenance services for the above mentioned sectors. Type of Partnership Considered Ref: 11 DE M2I Page 2 of 8

3 Manufacturing agreement Commercial agreement with technical assistance Technical cooperation agreement Ref: 11 DE M2I Page 3 of 8

4 Technology Offer Device for scanning and recognition of eye iris and eye retina for biometric and ophthalmic use Summary Czech university has patented device able to scan two human eye characteristics eye iris and retina by one device. The main principle is based on optics, camera systems and special rotation carousel inside the device, which enable to acquire both eye characteristics in one compact device. The university is looking for partner interested in license agreement for application in medical systems or biometric systems focused on the public sector and institutions with higher security requirements. Creation Date 07 May 2014 Last Update 03 June 2014 Expiration Date 03 June 2015 Reference TOCZ Details Description The actually developed and constructed device is able to scan eye iris and eye retina in one device, using 3D positioning of a camera system equipped with auto-focus zoom objective. This construction is suitable for positioning the camera system into the eye optical axis. The resolution of this camera system fully depends on requirements of the customer, e.g. full HD or higher resolution. The whole system can be equipped with another measurement method (e.g. intraocular pressure measurement) tailored to customer s needs. The R&D team is looking for a partner for further development of the system or a partner for contract research and development, licensing or any other options, such as spin-off. MEDICAL PART Regarding the software it shows the acquired photo and is able to enhance image parameters (e.g. contrast, colors) that make easier following image analysis by user. Furthermore this software application could be connected to an expert eye disease system, which could suggest the doctor a list of probable diseases. The database of this expert system could be administrated on a server (e.g. of a concrete company), where new diseases with typical characteristics will be added continuously. The doctor could have an off-line version of the expert system which does not include the actual version of the database or a direct connection to the server. This expert system will only help doctors to make a diagnosis showing her/him a list of probable diseases. The database currently contains no data and has not been tested in practice. The database is not protected by a patent and is not direct part of the offer. BIOMETRIC PART The multimodal biometric software acquires images with eye iris and eye retina. These images are sent into the (pre)processing module, which is responsible for image enhancement and segmentation. Then the biometric characteristics are extracted from those images and stored into the biometric template (in the case of user enrollment) or are compared with a stored template, e.g. on a ID card or in the database to verify/identify the person. This biometric approach could be used preferably in a Ref: TOCZ Page 4 of 8

5 verification mode, however identification mode is possible as well. The robustness and security of such biometric system increase with using of the combination of eye iris and eye retina. Another advantage is that system incorporates eye iris and eye retina liveness detection directly, i.e. the system is able to distinguish live and dead eye (falsification). Advantages and Innovations -The unification of two technologies in one device -Small and compact solution -Increase of biometric entropy (increasing safety and reliability) for biometric systems using two characteristics of the human eye a multimodal biometric system -Highly reliable results and very high resistance against spoof attacks -Improvement of medical diagnosis for ophthalmologists using the support software expert system with prediction of pathological findings Stage of Development Available for demonstration IPR Status Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted Comment Regarding IPR status CZ utility model PCT patent application Profile Origin National R&D programme Dissemination Send to Sector Group Healthcare Client Type and Size of Organisation Behind the Profile University Partner Sought Type and Role of Partner Sought - Type of partner sought: SME,MNE - Specific area of activity of the partner: producer of biometric devices, producer of ophthalmic systems. - Task to be performed: implementation of device under granted licence Ref: TOCZ Page 5 of 8

6 Type and Size of Partner Sought >500 Type of Partnership Considered Services agreement License agreement Technical cooperation agreement Research cooperation agreement Ref: TOCZ Page 6 of 8

7 Technology Offer Method and capacitive sensor for counting aerosol nanoparticles Summary A Slovenian research institute has developed a novel method and capacitive sensor for counting aerosol nanoparticles in an electric way. Detectors for nanoparticles in the air can be used for monitoring aerosols in environment and in buildings. The method is demonstrated experimentally and verified by numerical simulations. The counter construction is simple, portable and cheap. Institute is looking for industrial partners interested in further development and license agreement. Creation Date 11 April 2014 Last Update 03 June 2014 Expiration Date 03 June 2015 Reference 11 SI 68CN 3LO2 Details Description A group of Slovenian researchers has developed a novel method for counting nanoparticles in the air, based on measuring capacitance of a condenser with one electrode perforated in a way that nanoparticles can enter the dielectric field and under the impact perturb liquid dielectric and cause electric signal. Detectors for nanoparticles in the air can be used for monitoring aerosols in environment, in production plants, near roads and in special buildings, where the quality of air is important, like hospitals for pulmonary diseases, schools or infection clinics. Such a counter can replace counters based on laser scattering in commercial detectors of nanoparticles and enable production of cheap and portable device. Aerosol particles, onto which a fluid was applied in an earlier process by known methods, change the capacitance of the dielectric of the capacitor when entering its field, which causes an electric signal. The method provides for detection of aerosol particles in a wide scope of their presence in the air and is not specific for any shape or chemical composition of nanoparticles. Current and Potential Domain of Application: Advantages and Innovations The problems and deficiencies of sensor devices that are currently in use are: - technologically very complex - consequently expensive - relatively large and heavy - consume plenty of energy for operation - need frequent servicing The advantages of the offered method and capacitive sensor for counting aerosol nanoparticles are: - the method is suitable for detection of aerosols in wide Ref: 11 DE KOM Page 7 of 8

8 concentration range in the air - the method is not specific for a shape or chemical composition of nanoparticles - the counter allows a construction of a simple and portable nanoparticle detector - price of a single sensor would be low - mass production would be possible - low operating and maintenance costs Stage of Development Available for demonstration IPR Status Patents granted Comment Regarding IPR status WO/2010/ Profile Origin National R&D programme Client Type and Size of Organisation Behind the Profile R&D Institution Partner Sought Type and Role of Partner Sought - Type of partner sought: industry. - Specific area of activity of the partner: Partners from environmental sensing and monitoring technologies. - Task to be performed by the partner sought: Industrial partners interested in further development and license agreement. Type of Partnership Considered License agreement Technical cooperation agreement Ref: 11 DE KOM Page 8 of 8