Development of Electromagnetic Tomography (EMT) for Industrial Applications. Part 1: Sensor Design and Instrumentation

A J Peyton1, M S Beck2, A R Borges3, J E de Oliveira3, G M Lyon1, Z Z Yu1, M W Brown1, J Ferrerra3

1 Engineering Department, Lancaster University, UK, a.peyton@lancaster.ac.uk

2 Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, UMIST, Manchester, UK

3 INESC-Aveiro, Portugal, ruib@inesca.inesca.pt

Abstract - This paper is the first of two parts and reviews results of a project based at the University of Aveiro, UMIST and the University of Lancaster. This research represents a fundamental investigation of the potential of using electromagnetic inductance measurements for industrial tomographic applications.

This paper concentrates on sensor and instrumentation issues. The systems studied can image the distribution of either electrically conducting material ([] > 1 S/m) and / or magnetically permeable materials (JR >1). The technique has analogies with other forms of electrical tomography such as those based on resistance or capacitance methods. The paper describes the overall operation of an electromagnetic tomography (EMT) system, the design of the sensor array and associated conditioning electronics, and finite element simulation studies on the sensor array with selected results. The system is controlled from an embedded PC and image capture rates are listed. Related topics such as the range of image reconstruction algorithms used, the performance of the systems in terms of image resolution / reconstruction rates and potential industrial applications of the technique are discussed.

Keywords : Sensors, Tomography, Electromagnetic, and Inductance.