Ocean environment monitoring system and method for controlling the same
AssigneeNEC Corporation
InventorsKyoko Manmaru, Tsugio Shimono
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ocean environment monitoring system has a sensor inside a sensor chamber provided with a pair of electrodes at the inlet port of the chamber and a pump for introducing seawater inside the chamber. When a voyage is applied to the electrodes, seawater is electrolyzed to produce an antifouling substance. By operating the pump and a power supply unit for the electrodes intermittently, the antifouling substance is supplied to the filter, the interior of the sensor chamber and the sensor. The monitoring system is compact, consumes a reduced amount of electric power, performs measurement substantially without producing errors for a prolonged period of time, and effectively prevents settlement of marine organisms onto the sensor.
Claims22
An ocean environment monitoring system comprising:
- a sensor having a sensing portion thereof, a sensor chamber having a first and a second ports and receiving said sensing portion inside said sensor chamber, a pump for introducing seawater into said sensor chamber from said first port and discharging the seawater from said second port, a pair of electrodes, disposed in the vicinity of said first port, for electrolyzing the seawater to produce an antifouling substance included in seawater, and a power supply unit for applying between said pair of electrodes voltage for the electrolyzing.
An ocean environment monitoring system comprising:
- a sensor having a sensing portion thereof, a sensor chamber having a first and a second ports and receiving said sensing portion inside said sensor chamber, a pump assembly for introducing seawater into said sensor chamber from said first port and discharging the seawater from said second port, said pump assembly further capable of introducing seawater into said sensor chamber from said second port and discharging the seawater from said first port, a pair of electrodes, disposed in the vicinity of at least one of said first and second ports, for electrolyzing the seawater to produce an antifouling substance included in the seawater introduced into said sensor chamber, and a power supply unit for applying between said pair of electrodes voltage for the electrolyzing.
A method for operating an ocean environment monitoring system having a sensor, a sensor chamber receiving at least a sensing portion of the sensor, a pump for introducing seawater into the sensor chamber, and a pair of electrodes generating antifouling substance for the sensing portion, said method comprising the steps of:
- intermittently activating the sensor for measurements while stopping electrolyzing of seawater by the electrodes;
- introducing a antifouling substance by activating the electrodes for electrolyzing seawater and the pump for introducing the seawater into the sensor chamber after each one of the measurements;
- discharging the antifouling substance by stopping the activating of the electrodes while continuing the activating of the pump before a successive one of the measurements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.