DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW COST- MICROCONTROLLER BASED AUTOMATED GAMMA COLUMN SCANNER (MBAGS) WITH WIRELESS DATA ACQUISITION
Gamma column scanning and radiotracer technology are non-destructive nuclear techniques which are being employed world over as a means of troubleshooting and optimization of industrial processes in order to enhance the efficiency of productions to these industries. Application of these techniques can provide high economic benefit through reduction of plant shutdown time, improved production efficiency and consolidated working safety as well as conservation of materials and energy which in turn reduce negative environmental impact of industrial processes. These techniques make use of a scintillation detector which is connected to a data acquisition systems and PC through wired communication. As a result, more than one personnel are required to operate the equipment during data acquisition especially in the case of the gamma column and pipe scanning. Additionally, the use of cabled communication limits the distance which can be monitored in an industrial process without the requirement of acquisition of longer cables which make the instrumentation bulky. This work involves the development of a novel data acquisition system for use in application of radiation for industrial process. The Microcontroller Based system will eliminate the use of cable connections making it possible to obtain and transmit data wirelessly to a remote hand-held data logger. This shall be achieved through application of artificial intelligence incorporated into the scintillation detector which will transmit acquisition data remotely to a hand-held portable controller for display, control and analysis of data. The anticipated contribution and implications of developing a wireless data acquisition system will be very significant for the safety, efficiency and maintenance of industrial processes and greatly contribute to the government Big 4 Agenda on industrialization.
