US 10,872,746 B2Granted

System of mobile charged particle detectors and methods of spent nuclear fuel imaging

AssigneeDecision Sciences International Corporation

InventorKonstantin Borozdin

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Abstract

Systems, devices and methods for inspecting and imaging of contents of a volume is disclosed. One implementation of the disclosed systems, devices and methods includes an apparatus for inspecting and imaging of contents of a volume of interest which includes a first particle tracking unit of detectors to receive incoming charged particles that transit through an object and to measure position and direction of the charged particles that transit through the object while allowing the charged particles to pass through, and a second particle tracking unit of detectors installed relative to the first particle tracking unit of detectors and to the volume of interest containing the object of inspection so that it is positioned to receive the outgoing charged particles that transit through the first particle tracking unit and transit through the object of inspection and to measure a position and a direction of the outgoing charged particles. The apparatus also includes a processor that processes information from the first and second particle tracking units of detectors to yield an estimate of a spatial map of atomic number and a density of the object. The methods disclosed here include triggering algorithms for signal selection, positional calibration algorithms for locating particle tracking units in absolute three dimensional coordinate space, and three-dimensional tomographic image reconstruction algorithms combining the tracking information from multiple pairs of particle tracking units.

Claims21

Dependent claims

An apparatus for inspecting and imaging contents of a volume of interest comprising:

a first particle tracking unit of detectors located to receive incoming charged particles that further transit through an object of inspection contained in the volume of interest;
a second particle tracking unit of detectors located lower relative to the first particle tracking unit of detectors and on a side of the volume of interest opposite the first particle tracking unit of detectors, enabled to receive the charged particles that transit through the first particle tracking unit of detectors and transit through the object and to measure a position and a direction of each charged particle;
a mechanical support structure to keep both the first particle tracking unit of detectors and the second particle tracking unit of detectors in position wherein the first and second particle tracking units of detectors are enabled to receive the charged particles;
and
a processor coupled to both the first particle tracking unit of detectors and the second particle tracking unit of detectors to process information from the first and second particle tracking units of detectors to yield an estimate of a spatial map of an atomic number and a density of the object,
wherein the mechanical support structure further comprises at least two mobile assemblies to provide mobility and support for the first and second particle tracking units of detectors, the mechanical support structure being structured to be in a generally vertical orientation to hold the at least two mobile assemblies at different vertical positions so that the first particle tracking unit of detectors is positioned higher than the second particle tracking unit of detectors, the mechanical support structure enabled to provide geometrical rigidity to the at least two mobile assemblies during the inspection.

3 more elements

A method of operating an inspection apparatus, the method comprising:

positioning an assembly of the first and second particle tracking sensitive units of detectors around the object of inspection to form a system of particle tracking sensitive units by using first and second mobile support structures to hold the first and second particle tracking sensitive units of detectors, respectively, to allow for adjustment of positions of the first and second particle tracking sensitive units of detectors;
receiving at a first particle tracking sensitive unit of detectors, incoming charged particles that further transit through an object of inspection and through a second particle tracking sensitive unit of detectors located lower relative to the first particle tracking detector and to a volume of interest containing the object of inspection;
measuring a position and a direction of each of the charged particles that transit through the object and the first and second particle tracking sensitive units;
collecting the position and the direction of a plurality of charged particles;
processing the position and the direction of the plurality of charged particles as numerical data based on electrical signals generated in the first and second particle tracking sensitive unit of detectors;
determining points of interaction of each charged particle with the first and second particle tracking sensitive unit of detectors;
approximating an incoming trajectory of each charged particle with a straight line based on the determined points of interaction of each charged particle with the first particle tracking sensitive units;
approximating an outgoing trajectory of each charged particle with a straight line based on the determined points of interaction of each charged particle with the second particle tracking sensitive unit of detectors;
and
reconstructing a spatial map of material properties based on densities and radiation lengths of the object in the volume of interest and based on the collection of incoming and outgoing particle trajectories.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/674,891Filed 5 Nov 2019 · continuation
Priority: 2 Nov 2018
Published: US 2020/0144023 A17 May 2020
Granted: 22 Dec 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification23 codes

G01T 5/002
Recording of movements or tracks of particles ; Processing or analysis of such tracks: using a combination of several movement of track recording…
H01J 37/244
Details: detectors; Associated components or circuits therefor
G01N 23/04
By transmitting the radiation through the material: and forming images of the material
G01T 1/00
Measuring x-radiation, gamma radiation, corpuscular radiation, or cosmic radiation